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Ag Commissioner Downplays Water Shortage, Urges Floridians Fill Bottles Ahead Of Irma

Commissioner Putnam speaking in Polk County with local officials.
Florida Channel

Empty shelves typically stocked with water are cropping up on many Floridians’ social media feeds.  But one state official says the run on water is more panic than real peril.

Florida retailers are having trouble keeping up with demand for necessities like water. But Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam says that shouldn’t be a problem so long as people plan ahead.

“We fill our bathtubs to meet our toilet needs,” Putnam says, “we can fill thermoses and iced tea jugs and everything else with tap water.”

“There’s no municipality in the state that I’m aware of that has lost water service,” he goes on, “so we have the ability fill other types of containers to meet families’ basic needs.”

The rule of thumb is to set aside one gallon of water per person per day.  Ahead of a storm, state officials usually recommend preparing for at least three days.

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.