Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 25 counties in the Panhandle on Tuesday evening, in preparation for Tropical Storm Isaias off the coast of Mexico that could hit the U.S. later in the week.
The system was known as Tropical Depression Nine at the time DeSantis issued the declaration, but it developed into a tropical storm overnight. By Tuesday morning Isaias sat off the eastern coast of Mexico with sustained winds near 40 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The counties included in the emergency declaration are: 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.
“This order will allow the Florida Division of Emergency Management to stage critical preparedness resources and ensure Florida is ready to respond,” DeSantis said in a released statement. “Floridians should take this time to get disaster plans in place and ensure their hurricane supply kit is stocked.”
Some forecasts predict the storm to develop into a hurricane before making landfall on the Gulf Coast on Friday. The National Hurricane Center’s advisory Tuesday morning indicated hurricane watches for the Gulf Coast would likely be issued later in the day.
Much of the Panhandle has already seen large amounts of rain in recent days, up to 9 inches in some areas, “resulting in saturated soils, elevated water levels, overwhelmed drainage systems and an increased potential for flash flooding and riverine flooding,” according to DeSantis’ emergency declaration. Isaias could bring another sustained downpour to the region.
The declaration also warns of high winds and the possibility of tornados in the area spawned by Isaias, even if the storm doesn’t directly hit the state.
“If you have plan outdoors, or plans of any kind, either locally or you are planning to travel west, this is a system that you are going to want to keep up on,” said Mark Wool, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
So far this year, Florida has experienced a relatively calm hurricane season, with only a smattering of systems developing into tropical storms, and none of them threatening the state. No storm has developed into a hurricane, with less than two months left in hurricane season.
“We have not had a hurricane landfall in the U.S. since Milton, right? That would have been late in the 2024 season. So, it’s been a little bit,” Wool said.
