TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With Tropical Depression Nine expected to strengthen in the coming days, Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 25 Florida counties as the state prepares for possible impacts.
DeSantis on Tuesday signed Executive Order 26-202, activating emergency measures ahead of the system, which forecasters say could become a tropical storm or hurricane and make landfall somewhere along the central Gulf Coast later this week. Heavy rainfall, strong winds, coastal flooding and isolated tornadoes are possible across North Florida, with impacts expected beyond the point of landfall.
“Today, I signed an Executive Order issuing a state of emergency ahead of potential impacts from Tropical Depression 9. This order will allow the Florida Division of Emergency Management to stage critical preparedness resources and ensure Florida is ready to respond,” DeSantis said. “Floridians should take this time to get disaster plans in place and ensure their hurricane supply kit is stocked.”
The Florida State Emergency Response Team is mobilizing resources to support storm preparation and response efforts, with assets to be staged in Tallahassee and the Santa Rosa area for rapid deployment as needed. Staged supplies include generators, fuel, flood barriers, boxed water pallets, shelf-stable meals, flood buckets, tarps, Tiger Dams and sandbags.
State officials also warned that additional precipitation could further saturate soils and increase the potential for flash flooding following the state’s recent significant rainfall.
The state of emergency covers Baker, Bay, Calhoun, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Suwannee, Taylor, Walton, Wakulla and Washington counties.
Residents can find storm preparation resources at FloridaDisaster.org. Updates are also available from @FLSERT on X.
