Climate & Environment

DeSantis Declares State of Emergency for 25 Counties Ahead of Tropical Depression Nine

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Governor Ron DeSantis signed Executive Order 26‑202 today, declaring a state of emergency for 25 Florida counties in preparation for Tropical Depression Nine, which is expected to strengthen in the coming days. The order allows the Florida Division of Emergency Management to stage critical preparedness resources and ensure the state is ready to respond. "Today, I signed an Executive Order issuing a state of emergency ahead of potential impacts from Tropical Depression 9. This order will allow the Florida Division of Emergency Management to stage critical preparedness resources and ensure Florida is ready to respond," said Governor DeSantis. "Floridians should take this time to get disaster plans in place and ensure their hurricane supply kit is stocked." The Florida State Emergency Response Team (SERT) is mobilizing resources to support storm preparation and response. Staged assets, located in Tallahassee and the Santa Rosa area, include generators, fuel, flood barriers, boxed water pallets, shelf‑stable meals, flood buckets, tarps, tiger dams, and sandbags. The current forecast indicates a tropical storm or hurricane could make landfall somewhere along the central Gulf Coast later this week. Impacts are expected to extend beyond the point of landfall, with heavy rainfall, strong winds, coastal flooding and isolated tornadoes possible across North Florida. Additional precipitation could further saturate soils and increase the potential for flash flooding following the state’s recent significant rainfall. The counties covered by the state of emergency are Baker, Bay, Calhoun, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Suwannee, Taylor, Walton, Wakulla, and Washington. For updates, follow @FLSERT on X. More preparation information is available at FloridaDisaster.org.

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