Florida Gov. DeSantis implores residents to listen to local officials as Dorian approaches
As Hurricane Dorian gains strength on a path to Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis issues a state of emergency for all 67 counties.
Gov. Ron DeSantis urged Floridians to “make preparations" for a seven-day power outage after issuing a state of emergency for all 67 counties as Hurricane Dorian gains strength on its path toward Florida.
“We don’t want people to be insufficiently prepared because that’s when, really, problems can occur,” DeSantis told “Fox & Friends” on Friday.
STAY TUNED TO FOX NEWS FOR CONTINUING COVERAGE OF HURRICANE DORIAN
As of late Friday morning, the Category 2 storm – which has maximum sustained winds blowing at 110 mph – was centered about 660 miles east of West Palm Beach, moving northwest at 10 mph. It was only about 1 mph away from reaching Category 3 status.
The National Hurricane Center on Thursday had bumped up the possible strength of Dorian to a Category 4 storm with sustained winds between 130 and 156 mph off the Florida coast. Hurricane watches are currently in effect for portions of the Bahamas, while the storm is predicted to slam into the U.S. on Monday somewhere between the Florida Keys and southern Georgia.
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“I think a lot of Floridians are heeding the advice because they see that the storm could be really powerful, potentially a major impact,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis said public-private partnerships are underway.
“We’re also working with companies like Publix and Walmart to get those shelves restocked because we know that’s important,” DeSantis said.
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He also said Florida has millions of gallons of water for distribution and FEMA is prepared to distribute water as well.
President Trump on Friday approved an emergency declaration for Florida and "ordered Federal assistance to supplement State, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Dorian," the White House said.
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DeSantis recommends planning for seven days of power outage because the degree of damage is hard to predict. “If you only need one day, then you’re no worse off for it,” he said.
Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this article.