DeSantis leaves the campaign trail for projected major Hurricane Idalia response
Amber Jo Cooper contributed to this report.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Already delivering two emergency press briefings and another scheduled for later Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis left the 2024 presidential campaign trail to make sure his home state is prepared for projected major Hurricane Idalia.
“Look, I think when you have situations like this, you’ve got to put the interests of the people first,” DeSantis said at a Monday morning emergency press briefing.
“I mean, there’s time and a place to have political season, but then there’s a time and a place to say that this is something that’s life threatening,” he added. “This is something that could potentially cost somebody their life, it could cost them their livelihood.”
“We have a responsibility as Americans to come together and do what we can to mitigate any damage and to protect people,” DeSantis said. “That’s what I’ve done on all these different issues and that’s what I’ll continue to do when you have these situations, you’ve got to step up.”
Monday, DeSantis announced at least 5,000 of National Guardsman have been mobilized and prepared to respond to tragedy and destruction brought on by projected major Hurricane Idalia.
He also said tens of thousands of linemen will be ready to assist in restoring power to affected Floridians, a similar staging setup DeSantis enacted to prepare for major Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Tropical Storm Idalia is forecasted by the National Hurricane Center to develop into at least a Category 3 storm and make landfall anywhere from Tampa Bay to the eastern Florida Panhandle, subject to change before landfall by Wednesday.
Bryan Griffin, press secretary for DeSantis’ presidential campaign, noted DeSantis will remain in Florida to help preparations.
He announced Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis will be attending South Carolina Republican Rep. Jeffrey Duncan’s Faith & Freedom BBQ in place of the governor.
“Our message is, as these local counties are doing their preparations, there are evacuation orders that have been or will be issued and we’re asking Floridians to heed those orders,” DeSantis said in an interview Monday. “Please take precautions to protect yourself and your family.”
“This is going to come in, if it’s Cat 3+, there’s going to be a lot of trees that are going to get knocked down there’s going to be a lot of debris that is going to interrupt the power lines. So just understand that that is something that’s going to happen.”
