Gov. Ron DeSantis received multiple briefings Monday on Hurricane Dorian from Division of Emergency Management Director (DEM) Jared Moskowitz and State Meteorologist Amy Godsey. Through this emergency, the governor has remained in communication with federal, state and local weather experts, as well as county emergency management directors and mayors. That is unlikely to change.
At 9 a.m. Monday, monster Hurricane Dorian's western movement had slowed to an agonizing 1 mile per hour, "adrift in a stalled flow with no steering currents" and extending the already battered northern Bahamas' nightmare. The Cat 5 storm's northward turn isn't expected until early Tuesday morning.
Strong winds and waves were starting to rake Florida's East Coast even with Hurricane Dorian some 100 miles to the east.
State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is expected to be in Tampa during the coming week to help host the Florida Energy & Climate Summit.
Fried’s office touted the multi-day event as the first state-level conference to address climate change since 2008, and representatives of a wide range of groups, companies and government agencies were expected to take part.
President Donald Trump called it “an absolute monster” comparable to 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. Others say its relatively compact and “terribly beautiful” eye wall resembles Hurricane Charley’s fist of fury in 2004.
But as Hurricane Dorian churned into open water northeast of the Bahamas Friday morning on a projected beeline for Florida’s Atlantic coast, many were making comparisons with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, perhaps the most savage in state history.
Prominent Second Amendment lobbyist Marion Hammer, with a long career of working in Florida, has been heavily occupied of late. A proposed constitutional amendment to the 2020 ballot requires her attention. Thanks to a recent administrative ruling, she's been freed up from a lingering ethics issue and can finally attend to that heady piece of electoral content.
Curses, say state Democratic leaders. They're still in a tizzy.
Florida doesn’t plan to turn portions of highways into all one-way traffic when evacuation orders are issued for Hurricane Dorian.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state has cleared shoulders on interstates and highways and will lift tolls as evacuations orders are issued. But implementing a process known as “contraflow” isn’t currently being considered.
The reason: All one-way traffic could interfere with storm preparation.
As Hurricane Dorian barrels toward Florida this weekend, all eyes are on the storm’s path and on how Gov. Ron DeSantis handles his first major natural disaster since taking over as the state’s commander-in-chief in January.
So far, the Republican governor has urged Floridians to prepare for the storm’s impact, which he said Friday could be a multi-day “major event” with a “host of issues” for the Sunshine State.
Last week, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Marco Rubio, R-Fla., cheered the Trump administration’s latest efforts against Hezbollah.
