Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) vowed Wednesday to punish Floridians who leave their dogs leashed in the middle of a storm, as the threat of Hurricane Milton looms over the state's west coast.
“Leaving a dog tied to a pole while a storm approaches is cruel to anyone, and the state of Florida will hold those who abuse pets accountable,” DeSantis said. I wrote it on social platform Xin response to a post from Troop C of the Florida Highway Patrol.
Patrol based in the Tampa, Florida area shared a videoHe explained that he rescued a dog that was tied to a pole on Interstate 75.
The governor responded, “Thank you, @FHPTampa.”
Milton is expected to be catastrophic and is expected to make landfall as early as Wednesday evening. It comes less than two weeks after another devastating storm, Hurricane Helen, hit the Sunshine State.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that up to 5.9 million people in Florida are under mandatory evacuation orders, with orders in place for the Tampa area, which is home to more than 3.3 million people, as the storm approaches.
President Biden warned Tuesday that Milton could be the worst storm to hit the Sunshine State and urged Floridians in the storm's path to follow the instructions of local authorities.
“This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in 100 years,” Biden said. “It wouldn't be if God wanted it to be, but that's the way it is now.”
Milton was initially predicted to be a Category 3 storm by the time it reached land, but it rapidly strengthened over the Gulf of Mexico earlier this week, giving it the strongest rating of a Category 5. The storm is now predicted to weaken as it approaches the coast, but experts warn it remains extremely dangerous.
During the evacuation order, highways are congested and gas stations are running out of fuel due to demand for gasoline.
