Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference at 1:15 p.m. today at The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island in Destin to address recovery efforts after Hurricane Isaias. He confirmed two people have died as a result of hurricane-related damage.
“One individual in Escambia County had a tree fall on his home and tragically was killed, and another one unfortunately died inside of his garage,” DeSantis said. “When they went to find him, the generator was running.”
DeSantis said structures in Okaloosa County held up well, but fallen trees and debris caused most damage and created challenges for the 16,000 linemen addressing power outages.
“Almost 10,000 of the power outages accounts have been restored, but you have over 430,000 that are without power,” DeSantis said. “325,000 of those are [Florida Power and Light], and the balance of the rest are the co-ops. Folks have been out since daylight. Some of it is you gotta get the debris out of the way before the linemen can connect it. … We’re gonna get more of an update as the day goes on.”
DeSantis said crews deployed thousands of personnel to help clear roads and ensure traveler safety after the hurricane.
“[The Florida Department of Transportation] was here … when it was still pitch black, they were out there clearing roads and making sure that bridges were open. They’ve been able to do that. … They’ve done 67 missions with clearing trees and other downed items. We’ve been able to get 85 traffic signals back up because of generator power.”
Jared Perdue, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said FDOT cleared I-10 and U.S. 98 before the sun came up this morning.
“We’re still working on several arterial facilities; north, south facilities,” Perdue said at the press conference. “A lot of the debris on some of those roads is wrapped in power lines, which is causing some of those power outage issues.”
Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport reopened today, DeSantis said, though Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport and Pensacola International Airport remain closed, but could open “likely pretty soon.”
DeSantis said demand for search and rescue was low in Okaloosa County throughout Hurricane Isaias’ destruction, but personnel will remain on standby for post-storm dangers.
“I talked to the sheriff here in Okaloosa; they didn’t have a lot of 911 calls,” he said. “That’s a good sign. We are keeping our people on standby, because I think if you look, some of these rivers are gonna crest in the next couple of days with all of the inundation. … There’s going to be new flooding that’s going to arise in different parts of the region.”
DeSantis also addressed resources for businesses damaged during the hurricane. Florida Commerce and the State Emergency Response Team activated the Businesses Damage Assessment Survey.
“Business owners can self-report physical and economic damage caused by the hurricane. The responses will allow the state to expedite recovery efforts by gathering data and assessing the needs of impacted businesses.”
Florida Commerce has also begun business-to-business canvassing and found some Okaloosa County businesses are already reopened.
“All Home Depot, Lowes, Publix and Reddy Ice locations have been reported as being open, along with Aldi locations in Pensacola,” DeSantis said.
The Department of Financial Services plans to bring insurance hubs to impacted areas, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said, to smooth Floridians’ insurance claim process.
“We’re looking at setting up one, maybe two, in the next 48 hours in the impacted areas. We will let everybody know when those are set up. This is so people can come and meet their insurance carriers at one central location.”
Ingoglia also recommends taking copious photos of damage and keeping records of any conversations with insurance adjusters.
To close the press conference, DeSantis said he will continue to work with local and state agencies to provide updates as recovery efforts continue.
“There’s damage. I feel like that’s going to be difficult, obviously, for people whose property was damaged, but I also feel like this is very surmountable for us if we all just work together and get the job done.”
