Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a statewide state of emergency in Florida as Hurricane Irma strengthened to a Category 4 storm with potential to impact millions of Floridians, and hurricane warnings have been issued for parts of the Leeward Islands and hurricane watches have been issued for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The order affects all 67 counties in Florida. Although the storm would potentially reach Florida on September 10, the governor declared the state of emergency early to give local, state and federal agencies ample time to prepare.
“Hurricane Irma is a major life-threatening storm and Florida must be prepared,” Scott said in a statement. Scott was briefed by the Florida division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the latest forecasts place Florida in Irma’s path.
“In Florida, we always prepare for the worst and hope for the best and while the exact path of Irma is not absolutely known at this time, we cannot afford to not be prepared,” Scott added.
