At least 37,000 Florida linemen and likely thousands more will be on standby as Hurricane Milton hurtles toward the West Coast, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday morning.
He made the promise while giving an update at the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee.
“Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on the west coast of Florida sometime Wednesday night into early Thursday morning,” DeSantis said, noting that the storm was moving a little slower than originally expected. In any case, the governor, who is widely known for his effective response to hurricanes, warned Floridians not to “get hooked on the corn” because the storm could be very shaking. Additionally, the cone of uncertainty only applies to where the actual eye of the typhoon is likely to go. This does not predict widespread impact.
“Know that it could hit north of Tampa Bay, south of Tampa Bay, south of Tampa Bay, anywhere in southwest Florida. But no matter where it lands, it's actually going to hit what the cone shows. “The impact will be far beyond that,” he said, noting that 51 counties are under a state of emergency. As of Tuesday, even counties as far northeast as St. John's were under hurricane warnings.
DeSantis outlined some of the preparations the state is currently making as it continues to “actively address storm-related resource requests.”
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“We currently carry out nearly 1,000 missions to support local communities, including everything from tiger dams and generators to staff support, food and water, and tarpaulins. We have also deployed over 11,000 feet of flood protection system,” he said.
“We have also done things like generators to support special needs shelter operations and, of course, Starlink internet. Every county has access to Starlink internet devices and needs “We have over 350 ambulances and 30 ambulances in operation. We also have another 144 ready for use should the need arise.” The state of Florida also explained, “We are accumulating fuel reserves ahead of Milton and preparing to use them as needed.''
He said the state is dispatching fuel because individual gas stations are running out, but clarified that there is no fuel shortage in the state.
“We have been pumping fuel for the past 24 hours because gas stations are running out. We currently have 268,000 gallons of diesel and 110,000 gallons of gasoline. We have put in a lot of money, so this number is lower than 24 hours ago. “We have an additional 1.2 million gallons of diesel and gasoline currently in transit to Florida,” he stressed, “so there is no longer a fuel shortage.”
“Fuel continues to arrive in Florida from the ports and we are working to get it to the ground, but there are long lines at gas stations. Gas stations are running dry faster than normal. “And that's why the state of Florida supports the mission of making fuel stations accessible to Floridians,” he said, explaining the state of Florida. The Highway Patrol escorted 27 fuel trucks to the area overnight.
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DeSantis said debris removal missions are continuing and state-owned assets, including more than 300 dump trucks, are also being touted.
The governor continued that 8,000 National Guard troops would be mobilized ahead of the Florida landings and thanked other states, including Texas, for sending resources and aid.
“We already have 34 different search and rescue aircraft. We've never had this many resources before the storm,” DeSantis said.
“As is our standard practice, power transmission and power restoration personnel are deployed in advance of the storm,” DeSantis continued, adding, “More than 37,000 power transmission personnel are in Florida. Or on his way to Florida.''
He continued:
As most people know, Cain Helen left a lot of damage in some of the neighboring states. And many linemen have flooded into those states and are still working to restore major power. So some of these linemen come to Florida from as far away as California. So I understand that people want to see linemen staging. … Some of them have traveled long distances so they can come here and help restore power. We expect that number to eventually exceed 40,000. So it's going to be a lot more than we expected for Helene, which was a very quick restoration. Of course, this storm could pose far different challenges. What I want to say is that the electric co-ops have 4,200 linemen in place and their goal is to have 7,500 on their own among these co-ops by the time they land.
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The storm's current maximum sustained wind speed is 150 mph, according to the latest update.
