TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday warned residents of life-threatening storm surge from Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall in the state's Big Bend region as a powerful Category 3 storm.
The National Hurricane Center said Idalia could bring up to 16 feet of storm surge to the region.
"That level of storm surge is life-threatening," DeSantis said. "Do not go outside in the midst of this storm."
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The governor warned that Idalia's impacts will be felt from Tallahassee to northeast Florida.
Tens of thousands of homes throughout the state are currently without power, according to DeSantis, but power has already been restored to at least 100,000 homes. More than 30,000 utility lineman are stationed.
Even the state's Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee briefly lost power for about five seconds during DeSantis' news conference on Wednesday morning.
"Right on time. Five-second delay and kick those generators in. Thank God that's working," said Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management.
Once the winds have died down and it's safe, search and rescue operations will begin, DeSantis said. Eight Urban Search and Rescue teams and 5,550 National Guardsman are mobilized and ready to respond to storm-related emergencies.
In addition, the Florida Department of Transportation has 650 pieces of heavy equipment and trucks for "cut and toss operations" after Idalia has passed.
"We anticipate there's gonna be a lot of debris, a lot of downed trees, a lot of downed power lines. There's gonna be a need for this," DeSantis said.
In the later news conference, DeSantis said about 70% of necessary areas have been checked.
The governor said that 1.2 million gallons are fuel are staged, with more on the way.
"There's a lot of people that are on deck right now. There's gonna be a lot of efforts as this storm passes," DeSantis said.
