LIVE: DeSantis Holds Press Conference

Good afternoon. We're here at the Florida Horse Park in Ocala. This is one of our major logistical staging areas for both resources and personnel for the response to Hurricane Milton. This storm is expected to make landfall on the Florida peninsula, west coast of Florida, sometime late Wednesday evening, maybe early Thursday morning in the wee hours, is kind of where it's looking now. But it has moved a little bit slower than projected over the last 36 hours. There is still a lot of uncertainty about where exactly the eye of the storm is going to hit. I think the most recent models have it somewhere in Manatee County, just south of Tampa Bay. But I would just tell people, one, there's gonna be impacts far beyond wherever the eye of the storm is. Two, you could make landfall anywhere from Citrus County down into southwest Florida. We'll know more over the next 12 to 18 hours. But just cones, all this stuff you see, the impacts will be broader than that, particularly with respect to storm surge on the west coast of Florida. I know that there's a lot of folks who have evacuated, who are in those areas, and you absolutely could get whacked with really serious storm surge, really almost every place on the west coast of Florida could get major storm surge. Today, I held a joint call with state legislative leaders and the cabinet to brief them on Florida's efforts on the storm and about our resources that are being offered and being utilized by the state of Florida. We also did a similar call to Florida's congressional delegation. I've also spoken to the president and the FEMA administrator. We've had our request approved for pre-landfall. We will get a major disaster declaration approved once the storm hits, and that will be things like debris removal and individual assistance. We still have 51 counties that are under a state of emergency. There's pretty much warnings or watches on almost the entire Florida peninsula. A lot of attention is being paid to the storm surge on the west coast of the Florida peninsula, and rightfully so, because that's probably the most serious threat to people's lives and property. But this storm is gonna go across the Florida peninsula, and it's gonna exit on the east coast of Florida into the Atlantic Ocean, likely still as a hurricane. So that is gonna bring significant impacts all across the state. So just be prepared for that. That may mean mobile homes, even interior, other structures that may not be hurricane-proof. That could create hazards, rivers, other bodies of water. As you have more rain and you have flooding, that could be an issue. And then you could have surge on the east coast of Florida. You could have erosion. You could have different things with the coast. So this is not just an event about the west coast of Florida. That will be where the initial impacts, and probably the most significant, but the impacts will not be limited there. So here we are at the Florida Horse Park. We have staging areas around different parts of the state, and there are different sites that are doing different things. I mean, for example, you go to Lake City, you got a lot of the utility linemen there that are staged. We've had a lot of people staged at the Tampa Bay area for utility and other things. But this one right here is really good. I'm not saying Ocala's not gonna have any impacts from the storm, but we fully anticipate be able to move people where they need to go very quickly once the storm passes. And you have, we have different partners that the state contracts with. They have personnel, I think as you hear, as you see, they camp out here. This is where they are, and then they're able to respond. We got massive amounts of equipment here. Things, land, air, sea vehicles, supplies, generators, equipment, bucket trucks, you name it, this stuff is here. And so this is just one of many sites that are ready to go. You know, we spend, the reason why we do state of emergency, we did it over the weekend on Saturday. We knew the storm wasn't likely to hit until middle of the week at the earliest because you wanna start amassing these resources, and that's what we've done. I think it's been really, really important. So on this property, you got over 2,000 pieces of equipment, including a lot of pumps, a lot of generators, light plants, display boards, restroom trailers, laundry trailers, forklifts, air condition units, electrical equipment, water hoses, bunk trailers, and rollback trucks. 400 personnel here, including riggers, equipment operators, pump crews, and drivers. Fuel trucks are also here to be deployed as needed. Florida DEM is currently in the process of completing 1,200 missions. So, so far, you're looking at deploying hundreds of thousands of shelf-stabled meals, hundreds of thousands of water bottles, hundreds of thousands of sandbags, a lot of tarps and a lot of generators, and many other things. And so that is being resourced to the counties. And then, of course, we also have staging areas that we'll do with our pods once the storm passes. We have utilized flood protection devices in areas to protect against storm surge. We've now deployed more than 11,000 feet of those tiger dams. That's really important to protect hospitals, wastewater facilities, and electrical infrastructures. Of course, we've been outfitting counties for years now with Starlink internet, so that's gonna be available to be used as needed. In terms of fuel, we amassed a lot of fuel before this particular emergency. We actually had it for Helene, didn't really need to use it for that. We have 268,000 gallons of diesel, 110,000 gallons of regular gas on standby. That's just from the state. You know, you still have the fuel at the ports that are being brought in. But then we also have another 1.2 million gallons of both diesel and gas that are currently en route to the state. Now, I know there's been a lot of lines at gas stations. You obviously have an inordinate demand for fuel, much more than would typically happen. What's happening is there's long lines, the gas stations run out of fuel, but the fuel supply is available, so then they ask for more fuel to be brought. And so what we're doing is we've authorized Florida Highway Patrols to escort with the siren so they get there quicker, major fuel trucks. So we've had 43 fuel trucks that have already been escorted by Florida Highway Patrol to deliver fuel to stations, particularly in the anticipated impact area. We're also working with companies like Circle K, Gate, Racetrack, Wawa, Shell, and Walmart to ensure fuel trucks are working 24-7 to keep fuel delivered as it comes into our ports. There's no longer fuel coming in to some of the West Coast ports like Tampa and Manatee, but they've got a lot of fuel there on Dockside that is gonna continue to be used. And I spoke with both ports of Tampa and Manatee today, and they've got a lot of fuel. So that's continuing to happen. And then fuel has been coming in to East Coast ports. That's probably gonna stop soon. Maybe it's already stopped now. But again, there's a lot of fuel that's on hand that can be brought out on the Dockside. And that's what we're looking to continue to see happen. Debris removal from Hurricane Helene. I think most people know the counties and the cities, they have contracts for debris removal after a storm. There was not necessarily great job all around on some of the contractors in places like Manatee, Sarasota, Hillsborough counties. We saw this debris once it was clear there was gonna be some type of storm this weekend, we decided to create a state support debris mission. And what we've done is we've mandated the landfills are open 24 hours. We had one county where they didn't have anyone there manning it. We opened it up forcibly, make sure that debris can be brought in. So that's Florida Department of Transportation. They've now deployed over 300 dump trucks so that work to remove debris 24 seven. And they're gonna continue to do it all day today. And as long as they can tomorrow, before we start to feel impacts from the onset of the storm. So as of this morning, Florida Department of Transportation has removed over 1300 truckloads of debris in a little over 48 hours. That's a huge, huge amount. Now there was issues. So the most debris was probably in the Pinellas County beaches. You also had Manatee, the barrier islands like Anna Maria, a lot of debris. That was our initial focus. Sarasota also had a lot of debris on their barrier islands. And I guess their contractor kind of left them holding the ball. So we've now surged over 100 FDOT vehicles between Manatee and Sarasota working to step in where the contractors left off. And we're gonna continue doing that again, all the way until it's no longer safe to do so. We've made a huge dent in this. The more debris we can get picked up, the less damage is gonna happen, whether that's floating into the Gulf of Mexico, whether it's projectiles that go into other buildings. We have hundreds of state search and rescue personnel, a total of 26 teams embedded in potential impact sites along the West Coast to begin immediate rescue operations as soon as the storm pass, should the need arise. I know a lot of people have left and hopefully there's not a need for a lot of rescues, but those personnel will be there if they need. We have 5,000 National Guard that are on duty. That'll expand to 8,000 very, very soon. We have a total of 34 search and rescue aircraft. We've gotten a lot of support from other states and we thank them from that. We have 450 tactical vehicles, including 140 high-wheeled vehicles, aerial water and ground National Guard search and rescue teams. This is probably the largest National Guard mobilization in advance of a storm in Florida history. We also have the Florida State Guard, 10 maritime crews, three high-water UTVs, two UH-60 Blackhawks, four drone teams, 15 cut-and-toss crews, two amphibious rescue crews, and almost 200 Florida State Guard soldiers. Linemen and power restoration resources are being marshaled. We now have over 43,000 linemen who are being brought in from as far away as California, so we appreciate them for power restoration. We've also assisted with the evacuation of 300 healthcare facilities in the potential path of the storm. State veteran nursing homes that are currently located in the cone are accepting families of residents to shelter with them as they are all built to withstand Cat 5 hurricane winds and they're outside of flood zones. Florida Disaster Fund. This was activated after Ian, Idalia, and Helene. If you want to support for Milton, go to FloridaDisasterFund.org. This is really, really significant way to help people. You should be executing your plan now. If you're gonna get out, get out now. You have time today. Time will be running out very shortly if you wait any longer. Of course, there's a lot of mandatory evacs that have been done. We have done the shoulders on the I-4 and the I-75. Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway tolls have been waived. Those can also be used as evacuation routes. I-4 is doing a lot better today than yesterday. Still traffic, but that's it. That's the norm for that. I-75 northbound, 20 to 30% higher volumes. Alligator Alley is pretty jammed right now. We have an unprecedented effort underway. I want to thank everyone that's been involved. It's not easy, especially when you've just responded to a Category 4 storm, Helene, to have it done. I know everybody's tired. Trust me, we get it. We're wearing out the Celsius at the state EOC, but what you're doing is important. Hang in there and let's get the job done. Okay, Kevin. Thank you, Governor, for your leadership and commitment so that we have the resources that we need to respond to this unprecedented event. The State Emergency Response Team continues to work on more than 1,000 missions that the Governor's already mentioned. We will continue to fulfill these requests 24-7 as we prepare for landfall. Once the storm has passed, we have tens of thousands of resources staged and ready to deploy to the impacted communities as soon as it's safe to do so. Life-threatening storm surge is expected along Florida's west coast. Storm surge values shown in some areas could exceed 15 feet. Counties from Levy to Collier have ordered mandatory evacuations, and I urge you to heed those warnings if you're in one of those zones. By now, I hope you know whether if you live in an evacuation zone or not. But if you do not know, please go right now to floridadisaster.org slash know and find out if you live in an evacuation zone. If you are in a mobile or a manufactured home or in a low-lying, flood-prone area, it is never safe to stay in that situation, no matter what year it was built. You need to evacuate. Please remember, evacuating doesn't mean driving hundreds of miles. It means just driving tens of miles to the closest friend, family, or shelter nearest you. I wanna reiterate that shelters are free. Nobody is gonna charge you to go to a school, stay in a shelter, even one of the state shelters that the state of Florida has opened. Shelters are free. Please make sure you bring your pets with you. The state is going to open a series of shelters to supplement county shelters. Should the need arise, we will be ready to take the surge capacity. Two of those shelters that we have already opened are Wiregrass Sports Complex in Wesley Chapel, Florida, and the Seminole Tribe Event Center in Tampa, Florida. I wanna thank both of those private sector entities for their support in helping us protect Floridians. Evacuate today if you've been told to do so. If you've been asked to evacuate and you ask yourself, should I, I would ask you to ask the next question, is it worth the risk? As the governor said before, there are options to assist residents with evacuating. We have a shuttle system that the state of Florida provides. If you need a ride, you can certainly go to Lyft or Uber and put in Milton Relief, that's Milton Relief, to get a free ride, or we'll send a bus to pick you up. That number is 1-800-729-3413. Power outages are expected with this storm. Widespread tree and foliage damage is expected with this storm. Right now is a great time to make sure all of your portable electronic devices are charged. Please make sure your supply kit has at least seven days worth of food in it. Again, today is the day. Today is the day. Time is running out. You need to start to execute your plan. Please be sure to follow our agency on X and Instagram, at F-L-S-E-R-T, that's at Florida cert, and on Facebook, at F-D-E-M, as we continue to share important information in real time. Again, Governor DeSantis, thank you so much for your support. All right, thank you, Governor, for your leadership, and good afternoon. So, FDOT's been hard at work, not only responding to Hurricane Helene, but also switching our focus to preparing for Hurricane Milton. A big part of that is the debris mission that was directed by Governor DeSantis. Hurricane Helene left a lot of debris behind. Governor asked state agencies, marshal all of your resources, bring your people, bring your equipment, get as much debris off the barrier islands as you possibly can before Hurricane Milton makes landfall. We've been hard at work. We've been working with the Department of Agriculture, the Florida State Guard, the Florida National Guard, Southwest Florida Water Management, and the Florida Highway Patrol to move this debris as quickly as possible. You heard from the governor in the past 48 hours, we've removed over 1,300 loads of debris, which is nearly 24,000 cubic yards. That's in just 48 hours. Truly is remarkable. We're also putting in a lot of other efforts to prepare for this event. We do ask our local governments, local municipalities, counties, and their debris contractors and vendors, this is a 24-7 operation. Bring your resources to the table, continue to move debris. The more debris we remove, the better off these communities are going to be. We have suspended tolls in Central and West Florida and also along Alligator Alley and 595 Express in South Florida to facilitate evacuations. Together, FDOT and the Florida Highway Patrol implemented emergency shoulder use along I-4 from Tampa to Orlando and also along I-75 from Tampa to I-10 in Columbia County. We have had very heavy traffic since we did that, but it did begin to relieve. Late last night, it began to return to normal. We have seen heavy traffic and congestion throughout the day. I-4 has returned to normal with the exception of our normal congestion areas. I-75 is still seeing 20 to 30% higher volumes. Alligator Alley today has seen significantly higher volumes. This is a good thing. People are evacuating, they're heeding the evacuation orders. We're gonna continue to support that. We've expanded our Road Ranger Service Patrol. We're providing motorist aid, fuel for stranded motorists, and helping disabled vehicles get out of the travel way. You can still evacuate. There's still time. The window is closing. One thing I would like to say, please do not wait until the last minute. It can be very dangerous to drive with heavy rain and high winds. Every storm season, we end up seeing traffic fatalities from people who wait to the last minute to leave. If you're wondering, should I evacuate? Go ahead and evacuate while you still have time and get you and your family to safety. We're monitoring causeways and bridges on the West Coast, specifically in the Tampa Bay region. If you're planning to evacuate, keep in mind that at some point, the bridges and causeways will have to close. When winds exceed 40 miles per hour and the wave impacts make travel unsafe, we will coordinate with Florida Highway Patrol and local law enforcement to close the bridges and causeways for travel. At some point, it will be unsafe for those troopers to remain in place, and they will have to go find safety. Please obey posted signage and barricades. If you choose to cross a bridge or a causeway that is closed, you are putting yourself and those with you in extreme danger. We have suspended construction on all of our construction projects statewide. We have removed all planned lane closures to facilitate evacuations, and we've also had a statewide call and coordination with our construction industry. They have offered all the resources they have and people they have to help us respond to this emergency. We are expecting significant widespread impacts, and we're gonna be ready to affect any temporary emergency repairs that are needed as quickly as possible. We've staged 156 bridge inspectors around the forecast impacted area. We have 328 team members staged for cut-and-toss operations, and over 1,500 pieces of heavy equipment ready to go. We will be pushing in right behind Hurricane Milton as it makes landfall, and we will push in behind it as it crosses the peninsula to fix and repair roads and clear roads so that the life safety mission can continue. We've been in close coordination with our seaports, Port Key West, Port Tampa Bay, Port St. Pete, Seaport Manatee are all closed on water side, but as the governor mentioned, they are still moving fuel on land side. Port of Port Pierce, Port Palm Beach, Port Everglades, Port Miami, Jacksport, Port Canaveral are still open, but will be closing soon on water side. We've been in close coordination with all of our airports. For any suspensions, cancellations of flights, please get with your airline provider. For traffic information, up-to-date information, we have 10 regional traffic management centers across the entire state that work 24-7. We are updating FL511.com live. This is the source of information for traffic. If you need to know route, if you're getting ready to evacuate and need to know which route to take, go to FL511.com. You can view our traffic cameras live, you can plan your route, and you can get to safety efficiently. Remember, always follow the direction of local law enforcement and emergency personnel. Again, governor, thank you for your leadership as we prepare. Well, we appreciate everybody that's been working hard. As I mentioned, there's been a state of emergency now for over two weeks straight in terms of mobilization, preparation, response to one category four storm, and now mobilization and response to another major hurricane. It's not easy. I know people have been working around the clock, not just with state government, but our local counties and cities, and then all the other partners that participate in this. But people are pushing forward, they're stepping up. I know some of our residents that just experienced hurricane damage from Helene are also fatigued. Just hang in there and do the right thing. Just let's get through this. We can do it together. And then on the other side of it, make sure everybody's safe and we'll put the pieces back together. The state is strong. We're gonna be able to weather it. It's not gonna be easy. We're gonna suffer damage, but don't lose faith. It's a tough thing to do two storms in two weeks, but we'll get through it. Okay, any questions? So the questions about what happens with the price gouging at gas stations, Attorney General Moody is on that. That's her purview. I know she's actively policing that. So if you do have examples of that, I know she'll wanna follow up with that very quickly. So the questions about FEMA staffing that they are limited right now to be able to come down. What I would say is what we have is we have these urban search and rescue teams that have been mobilized. That is done under the auspices of FEMA and DHS, even though a lot of these people are Florida firefighters. So that is being done. I think that's an important component. In terms of like staffers and some of the bureaucracy, fortunately for Florida, we have a machine. I mean, this is something that we work on. We know we've got to deal with it being a tropical state and we do. And so I think what'll happen is once we get major landfall, does that major disaster declaration post landfall that we'll be able to hopefully get that individual assistance, get the debris kicking. So I'm not sure how much of an effect it's gonna have on us because we're gonna have a robust response. I think you look at some of the other parts of the country, the state that didn't have as much of a robust response in some of those areas. So we have more people on hand than we've ever had. I'm confident that the federal government will approve what we need approved going forward. And we'll make sure that we continue doing the best we can for the people of this state. So the questions about this is a massive guard mobilization. What necessitated that? Well, part of it is it's a big storm, powerful storm, and it's going in an ominous track. One of the worst places to take a major hurricane is the Tampa Bay area. It's low lying. You have Pinellas County as a peninsula surrounded by water. The prospect for devastating storm surge is high and it has a chance to damage a lot of property and put a lot of people's lives at risk. Now I think most people have gotten out, but the reality is this is something that we planned for. This is something that we knew could be something that happened, and it's not guaranteed this is gonna go into Tampa Bay as I mentioned. It could go north of it. It could go down further into Southwest Florida. That's all possible as this thing continues to approach the Florida peninsula. But to compare to like Helene, Helene made landfall in the Big Bend of Florida. We had no fatalities in Taylor County at all from a major 15, 20 foot storm surge. That's pretty remarkable, but there's also much fewer people there. You start talking about the greater Tampa Bay area, you know, that's millions of people. And then if the storm rides I-4 out to the Atlantic, that's many millions more. So I think that that reality and possibility necessitated the robust response. Okay, thanks everybody.