‘There will be impacts,’ DeSantis warns as Hurricane Isaias approaches North Florida

Note: This story has been edited to update the storm’s development and include details about Rick Scott’s visit to Pensacola.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that state emergency planners are preparing for Hurricane Isaias to make landfall as a Category 3 storm near the Florida Panhandle.

As of 4 p.m. Central Time, the National Hurricane Center reported winds near 100 mph, expected to increase, and had in effect a hurricane warning from Mississippi to Gulf County, Florida. The center expected landfall “late Friday or early Saturday.”

Later in the day, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott appeared in Pensacola alongside local leaders urging Escambia County residents to prepare, evacuate, and stay up to date on hurricane information. 

“You’ve got to listen to the locals about evacuations and you have to do it today,” Scott said, recounting hurricanes he experienced as governor. 

“If you don’t evacuate today, even though it might not make landfall until sometime tomorrow, you might not be able to get out because of the tornadoes,” Scott said. 

The wind and water from Hurricane Michael in 2018 directly killed seven people in Florida. 

“Nobody needs to die. There should be no death during the storm and there should be no death after the storm. The biggest thing is you have got to take charge of your life. That means you have to decide to evacuate,” Scott said. 

Speaking from the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee at 2 p.m., DeSantis said  the state was expected to experience wind impacts as early as Friday afternoon, with landfall projected for late Friday night into early Saturday morning.

“It’s moving quickly,” he said. “There will be impacts all across the Florida Panhandle.”

Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue said storm surge from Isaias is forecast to range from five to seven feet.

Mandatory evacuations had already begun in Franklin County, and for residents in Fort Walton County who live in zones A, B, and C began as of noon Thursday Central Time.

The Division of Emergency Management was prepared for the storm, DeSantis said. It has assembled more than 1,000 generators that are either being loaned or staged; 500,000 gallons of gasoline; 1 million gallons of diesel, and 35,000 gallons of aviation fuel. More than 1.1 million bottles of water are available to be distributed.

More than 6,000 utility linemen and restoration personnel were standing by to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible.

In Pensacola, U.S. House member Jimmy Patronis urged people with electric golf carts, electric cars, or electric bikes to get them out of the way of water, particularly salt water, to prevent fires caused when salt water encounters batteries. He suggested putting an electric bike upstairs and moving vehicles or golf carts to higher ground. 

Pensacola had begun evacuations and shelters opened Thursday afternoon, including a special-needs shelter. 

“Everything that we could possibly do that is within our control has been done inside the City of Pensacola and will be done in time,” Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said. 

Eric Gilmore, Escambia County public safety director, said the barrier island fire departments will redeploy equipment  Friday. He said preparation for this specific storm started Monday. 

Residents in northwest Florida who want to know the most up to school closures can go to https://www.fldoe.org/em-response/storm-info.stml.

For road closures, they can go to https://fl511.com/region/Panhandle.

Jay Waagmeester contributed to this story from Pensacola