Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gave a few remarks in the hours leading up to the landfall of Hurricane Isaias in either Santa Rosa or Okaloosa County in the next few hours, urging residents to finish their storm preparations.
“This is really your last chance,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Tallahassee.
Forecasters have growing confidence that landfall will take place in either of the two counties. As of the latest 1 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Isaias is a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120 mph.
He urged residents to keep at least 72 hours of water, nonperishable food, and fuel, and to run generators outside. The state has staged more than 1,400 generators along with gasoline, food, and water across the region, he added.
More than 16,000 lineman and restoration workers are staged to restore power. Due to outages being in a smaller area, DeSantis said it might be the largest per-capita restoration effort in state history.
The Florida Department of Transportation has more than 1,100 workers, 26o pieces of equipment, and more than 100 water pumps ready to respond to the storm.
The Florida National Guard is mobilizing 5,000 members, with vehicles ready to assist recovery efforts.
