(The Center Square) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday morning said time is still available for those in the path of Hurricane Helene in the Big Bend to evacuate, but that time is drawing to a close.
He also urged those in Tallahassee, which has not been hit by a hurricane of this magnitude, to take the storm threat seriously despite a slightly eastward jog in the storm's predicted path.
Helene is expected to make landfall Thursday night as a Category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph or greater. Some forecasts by the National Hurricane Center say the "inner wind core may persist until the center reaches northern Georgia."
Surge forecasts are still unchanged, with a record surge of up to 20 feet expected on the Big Bend coast.
The two-term Republican governor says the state has staged 3,500 National Guardsmen, with another 2,000 on standby, along with 200 Florida Highway Patrol troopers and 1,700 Florida Department of Transportation workers to clear debris from highways after the storm and inspect bridges.
The state also has 550 generators, 230 pieces of large equipment and 40 large pumps also ready.
DeSantis said the state has dispatched 130 generators to older north Florida gas stations that don't have on-site generators so they can continue to run the pumps and sell fuel.
DeSantis said the state sets aside $500 million annually for disaster response that is made possible by the state's excellent fiscal condition.
"We're in good shape to step up and help them," DeSantis said about the state helping fiscally constrained rural counties in the Big Bend. "The debris cost for Mexico Beach was $80 million (after 2018's Hurricane Michael) and their annual budget was $8 million.
Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said inland residents in the path of the storm should treat the hurricane like a tornado when they hear trees snapping.
"Get to an interior part of your home, most likely a bathroom," Guthrie said. "Get as low as you can if you have some type of protective material, a heavy blanket, a comforter, maybe a very, very small, thin mattress. Get to that point, put it over the top of yourself and hunker down there. Treat it just as you would a tornado."
Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue said his agency will be focused on "cut and toss" debris removal operations on highways and inspecting bridges, especially on key arteries of Interstate 10 and U.S. 98.
According to state officials, Tampa International, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Tallahassee airports are closed due to the storm.
DeSantis issued a warning for residents in the path of the storm who own electric vehicles.
"With the electric vehicles, when they have the saltwater intrusion that has generated fires in the past, those are very difficult fires to put out," DeSantis said. "So if you do have one of those, try to get that to higher ground as well, because it does represent a hazard for purpose of safety.
"And we actually had, during Hurricane Ian, we had homes that were completely fine, withstanding a Cat 5 impact, and then got burned down because of an EV that caught on fire in the garage."