'Potential Tropical Cyclone 9': Florida Gov. DeSantis expands emergency, now 61 counties
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 41 of Florida's 67 counties in advance of " Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine ," according to an executive order released Monday.
On Tuesday, he expanded that to another 20 counties, for a total of 61 counties.
"There is a significant threat of storm surge, coastal flooding and erosion, heavy rainfall and flash flooding, and damaging winds to the Florida Gulf Coast," the order says, and "due to ... Hurricane Debby , the water tables and river levels across North and West-Central Florida remain above normal, and the additional incoming heavy rainfall will likely cause significant flooding."
The state of emergency now affects Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington counties.
As the system reaches sustained windspeeds of 39 mph, it would become Tropical Storm Helene.
The National Hurricane Center issued its first advisory on the system at 11 a.m. Eastern time, along with tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches for portions of Mexico and Cuba.
The system is moving toward the northwest near 9 mph. This general motion is expected later today and tonight, followed by a faster northward to north-northeastward motion on Wednesday and Thursday.
Declaring a state of emergency allows state and local governments much more freedom to coordinate their emergency agencies, relax restrictions, cut through red tape and reallocate resources to quickly deal with an imminent or ongoing threat that local services can't handle on their own.
More: What does it mean when the governor declares a state of emergency in Florida?
Stay with Tallahassee.com for the latest on this developing weather story.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This story contains previously published information. Jim Rosica can be reached at jrosica@tallahassee.com . Follow him on X: @ JimRosicaFL .
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida hurricane threat: DeSantis expands emergency, now 61 counties
