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State Of Emergency Declared For All Of Florida; FEMA Approves Emergency Declaration
September 25, 2022
The entire state of Florida is under a state of emergency due to Tropical Storm Ian, which is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane and make landfall in Florida.
On Saturday, Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded a state of emergency to cover the whole state; the governor originally declared the emergency on Friday for 24 counties
The state of emergency declaration allows for the activation of the National Guard to await orders. It also frees resources and the ability to prepare and respond for both state and local governments.
“The threat posed by Tropical Storm Ian requires that timely precautions are taken to protect the communities, infrastructure, and general welfare of Florida,” DeSantis said Saturday after canceling a planned campaign appearance in Escambia County.
FEMA has approved a pre-landfall emergency declaration as requested by DeSantis with support from Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio. The FEMA declaration does not include the Florida Panhandle.
Comments
13 Responses to “State Of Emergency Declared For All Of Florida; FEMA Approves Emergency Declaration”
@ Barbara
You can go to the Lakeview Center and inform them of your devastating loss.
Good Lord..
People with nothing to say always says the most.
Go to Ft. Meyers or Sarasota if you feel left out!
Then you can play victim!
FEMA will only assist the counties that meet their threshold in damages (to meet the threshold counties need to report their damages in order to get declared). FEMA assists by allowing for the Public Assistance Grant and Individual Assistance grant to open up. Both grants have their requirements that must be met. Immediate assistance such as rescues and obtaining water, food etc is done at the local level (police & fire). Your first source when trying to recover should be your insurance, if you’re insured, FEMA’s individual assistance grant will not help you. If you are uninsured or underinsured FEMA’s IA grant can assist you (but your county has to be declared). Moral of the story is people always depend on FEMA but FEMA doesn’t exactly assist the way you think they do. All they do is open up federal dollars to the states who then help the locals, and that doesn’t always happen bc counties don’t meet their threshold in damages.
Where do we go to apply for assistance?
@Wendi, @ Kathy ~ While there is a lot of overlap, the Governor’s declaration and FEMA’s areas of emergency prep are really two different things. FEMA is federal, and they determine where their resources can best be used. Governor DeSantis declared all of Florida to be under a State of Emergency and, yes, it includes the panhandle. Because we are on the west side of the storm, we are less likely to have devastating damage as opposed to, say, Tampa Bay. By including all of Florida in the declaration, the Governor has ensured that, should things change drastically, FEMA resources can be shifted without additional hoops through which to jump.
Don’t be offended because FEMA isn’t focusing on the panhandle (that’s kind of like pouting because your parents didn’t offer you that food that you don’t like anyway). Instead, try to be thankful that the storm has shifted east again, and we’ll most likely be spared a direct hit.
And, Wendy, we are south of Tallahassee.
Does this include hours of service for grocery carrying distributors has been lifted for the state of Florida?
The current version of FEMA HQ-22-129 states the specific counties covered in the disaster declaration:
Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Desoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, and St. Lucie counties and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
It appears the governor’s Executive Order 22-219 is at odds with the FEMA declaration. You’d think the governor would coordinate with the federal partner before making a blanket statement that the entire state is covered.
Actually the governor’s Executive Order is just a statement that Florida is under a state of emergency. It does not affect anything already in place by FEMA.
@Kathy nah. We’re not part of Florida. As far as the people in charge are concerned Florida is Tallahassee and southward
@stephen…look at the last sentence in the article!
So know u know why people r asking the question “why is the panhandle excluded”?
Not sure what some folks don’t understand about the “entire state of Florida.” Nowhere does it say the panhandle is excluded.
Secondly, the storm was initially supposed to hit the Tampa area which is roughly 500 miles away. Why would we need FEMA assistance here if it wasn’t coming anywhere near here when the initial declaration was made?
Is FEMA going to help me
In the panhandle?
Why was the panhandle excluded? It doesn’t look like we’re out of the woods. And if I’m not mistaken, we’re part of the “entire state of Florida”.
Still reeling from Hurricane Ida, hope our eastern neighbors are spared the worse from Ian. If you can’t find bottled water and have canning jars, you have time to prepare sterilized water. Additional advantage is that the jars can be a permanent part of your yearly hurricane prep.Take advantage of radient heat such as provided by an car enterior to heat water for a daily wash. Never seen it listed on hurricane prep list but don’t forget to purchase a few cans of wasp spray. God’s blessings to the people of Florida.