Duval Times

Today, Senator Rick Scott visited the Levy County Emergency Operations Center to receive a briefing from Levy County Sheriff Bobby McCallum and Emergency Management Director John MacDonald as Florida prepares for the landfall of category 4 Hurricane Helene. Ahead of Helene’s arrival, Senator Scott has traveled across Florida’s Panhandle and Big Bend urging families to make a plan, evacuate if asked to do so, and stay safe. This week, Senator Scott has had daily calls with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) for updates on Hurricane Helene and received briefings from local officials in Bay County, Franklin County, and Taylor County.

On Monday, Senator Scott and Senator Marco Rubio sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging his immediate approval of the State of Florida’s request for a pre-landfall emergency declaration for potentially impacted counties. Following this letter, President Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida on Tuesday afternoon.

Senator Rick Scott stated, “I just visited the Levy County Emergency Operations Center to receive a briefing from Sheriff Bobby McCallum and Emergency Management Director John MacDonald and thank the folks there working nonstop to keep families safe. Hurricane Helene will be here TODAY – GET PREPARED BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. Levy County is under a MANDATORY evacuation order, with Hurricane Helene expecting to make landfall as a catastrophic category 4 hurricane later tonight, bringing up to 20 feet of storm surge, deadly winds and massive flooding. Families must make the life-saving decision to get out now and STAY SAFE. Let me be clear: 20 feet of storm surge is DEADLY. If law enforcement is advising you to get out, listen to them. Every Floridian needs to do their part because once the storm hits, first responders cannot reach you until the storm passes and roads are safe.”

He continued, “I’ve been talking to NHC Director Dr. Michael Brennan and have remained in constant contact with local officials and law enforcement to make sure they have all the resources they need to prepare for and respond to this storm. Families all along our Gulf Coast have to take this seriously. Continue to monitor the news and listen to local officials for any evacuation instructions, alerts or warnings. Florida is resilient because we prepare for storms. I cannot stress this enough: preparedness saves lives. We can always rebuild a home but we can’t rebuild a life.”

Senator Scott encourages all Floridians to visit his website at www.rickscott.senate.gov/hurricane-preparedness for preparation tips today. Updates on Hurricane Helene can be found at nhc.noaa.gov or @NHC_Atlantic on X (formerly known as Twitter), and from the Florida Division of Emergency Management at floridadisaster.org or @FLSERT.