Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state is treating Hurricane Isaias “very, very seriously,” warning that the storm’s effects will extend “far beyond” the Panhandle coastline as it bears down on the state ahead of landfall expected in the northwest Florida Panhandle.
DeSantis told reporters that preparations have been “extensive” and that “resources have been flowing” into the region. He drew a direct contrast with Hurricane Sally, noting that storm shifted late and caught some areas off guard.
“We were reminiscing a little bit about Sally and the differences between that and there, Pensacola wasn’t even in the cone for Sally. It kind of shifted late, and the response was good, but there wasn’t the view of going in three or four days out that there was going to be a major event,” DeSantis said.
“There’s going to be major impacts throughout the Florida Panhandle. Everyone has understood that, and everyone’s really been working together to make sure that we are ready to go,” he said.
Isaias has rapidly intensified into a major Category 3 hurricane, with sustained winds approaching 120 miles per hour. DeSantis said forecasters expect the storm to weaken somewhat before landfall due to significant wind shear, but cautioned against banking on that.
“Let’s hope that that’s the case, but we are planning to assume that that will not happen and that it will make landfall as a major hurricane. We are going to be monitoring that, obviously, throughout the course of the day,” he said.
The governor said newer structures built to modern codes should largely withstand wind damage, but storm surge is the real threat to life.
“The surge is really what puts a lot of people’s lives in jeopardy if they haven’t heeded evacuation orders, and does the most significant damage from these storms. And so that is a possibility everywhere — from Pensacola all the way into the Big Bend section of North Florida you could see storm surge. So please take caution of that,” DeSantis said.
He urged residents to understand that danger isn’t limited to where the storm comes ashore.
“We always say, you know, you hide from the wind, but you run from the water. When the water’s rising and things are happening, it’s a very, very difficult conundrum, and you do not want to be caught in that. We are going to see higher water levels throughout not just the Panhandle, but throughout other parts of northern Florida, even throughout parts of central Florida, because of the outer band. Some of these areas are already saturated, so you’re dumping more water on. That is going to create a rise in water. There is going to be an increased risk of flood. Our first responders are keyed into that, and a lot of times we focus on where it hits land, and that’s important — where it enters. But you’re going to continue to see impacts far beyond just the coast here in Northwest Florida.”
DeSantis also told Floridians in the storm’s path to brace for power outages, but said the state already has 16,000 linemen and associated personnel mobilized and ready to move in for rapid restoration.
