As part of a Wednesday evening press briefing, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a lour and special thanks to a group of three southern governors for the extreme support that they have issued to the state of Florida as it deals with Hurricane Ian.
This past Wednesday evening, the massive hurricane crashed into the southwest section of the state with the power of a category 4 hurricane, knocking out the power infrastructure for well over a million Floridians. With wind speeds first getting up to almost 155MPH upon landfall, Hurricane Ian now holds the title of the 4th strongest hurricane to ever make its way into the state.
“I want to thank the 26 states that have sent us support, including Tennessee, Virginia, Montana, New York, Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, and Georgia,” stated DeSantis as part of a press conference. “I just spoke with Kay Ivy from Alabama and she’s supporting, sending some Blackhawk helicopters down to help. Governor Bill Lee in Tennessee fast-tracked the request that we had from Tennessee. We appreciate that.”
DeSantis also made sure to issue an additional special thanks to the Democratic Governor of Louisiana for the support his state gave to Florida.
“I was also just able to speak with John Bel Edwards from Louisiana,” stated DeSantis. “They’ve helped us, but he said, ‘hey, we’ve got a lot of experience in hurricanes recently so these guys are good, ask us, we want to send more,’ and so we really appreciate that consideration.”
WATCH:
Thank you to the 26 states that have answered our call for assistance with #HurricaneIan, specifically @GovernorKayIvey, @GovBillLee and @LouisianaGov.
Florida is grateful. pic.twitter.com/Vbq26Auzx7
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 29, 2022
Officials with the National Hurricane Center put out a warning that a “catastrophic storm surge inundation of 12 to 18 above ground level” and its intensely destructive waves were slated to slam into the coastline of southwest Florida. The bulletin issued the warning that “catastrophic wind damage” had already been inflicted due to the 155 MPH wind speeds. Officials first warned that the incoming storm presented a “life-threatening situation” and that the residents really needed to “take all necessary actions to protect life and property from rising water and the potential for other dangerous conditions.”
DeSantis warned that same day that the people living in Charlotte, Lee, Collier, and Sarasota counties, if they elected to no abide by evacuation orders, were now no longer able to safely leave and would need to hunker down and prepare for an intense ride.
“If you are in any of those counties, it’s no longer possible to safely evacuate. It’s time to hunker down and prepare for this storm,” stated DeSantis. “This is going to be a nasty nasty day, two days. It’s going to get a lot worse very quickly. So please hunker down.”