(C) Florida Phoenix
This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



DeSantis emphasizes Floridians' responsibility to prepare for hurricane season • Florida Phoenix [1]

['Jackie Llanos', 'Michael Moline', 'Robert Zullo', 'More From Author', '- June', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']

Date: 2024-06-04  

Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference Tuesday urging Floridians to take advantage of a tax holiday that will last until June 14 to stock up on nonperishable food, water, and other items necessary during hurricane season.

Forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predict above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin this year, with four to seven major hurricanes of category 3 to 5. During the press conference at a Home Depot in Fort Myers, DeSantis expressed skepticism about forecasts but said the state is prepared for hurricane season.

“People can say there’s going to be a lot, not a lot. People have always had their predictions. Look, we prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” DeSantis said. “So, it doesn’t matter what the forecast is, a lot of them aren’t right. If people said that we’re not going to have one, we would not just not do our job. We would be ready to go.”

The sales tax holiday applies to pet food, portable radios, batteries, gas tanks, power banks, generators, tarps, carbon monoxide detectors, and other items. Find the full list through this link. Another sales tax holiday is set for Aug. 24 to Sept. 6, peak hurricane season.

The governor and Kevin Guthrie, the Florida Division of Emergency Management director, stressed the importance of people taking the initiative to prepare their households. That they might not “probably keeps me up more at night than anything else,” he said.

“I need all residents to be ready for their one [hurricane],” Guthrie said. “I, physically, the governor physically, cannot go in your house and prep you for what you need to do. You need to be ready. … Counties are ready; cities are ready; the state government is more than ready and prepared. We need folks to be ready.”

Other tips provided during the press conference included maintaining enough nonperishable food and water to last for up to a week, knowing your evacuation and flood zones, being ready to evacuate within your community instead of driving long distances, and filling up your gas tanks if they’re at least half empty.

Additionally, the governor warned people to use generators safely. To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, generators have to stay outdoors and 20 feet away from doors and windows.

During the press conference, DeSantis awarded Lee County $7.5 million from the Job Growth Grant Fund to rebuild a shrimp deck. Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in September 2022, ravaged the county and Southwest Florida.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/04/desantis-emphasizes-floridians-responsibility-to-prepare-for-hurricane-season/

Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/