The NHC issued Tropical Storm and Hurricane Watches for a portion of the west coast of Florida and may issue additional watches today. Hurricane Ian is expected to bring life-threating storm surge, hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall along the west coast of Florida and the panhandle by the middle of the week.
On Sept. 24, President Joe Biden approved Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s request for an emergency declaration. The declaration authorizes FEMA to support the state’s response efforts ahead of Ian. Florida activated 2,500 National Guard members to support the state’s response.
“A turn toward the north-northwest is expected today followed by a northward motion on Tuesday with a slightly slower forward speed,” The National Hurricane Center said. “A turn toward the north-northeast is forecast on Tuesday night or early Wednesday. On the forecast track, the center of Ian is expected to pass near or west of the Cayman Islands today, and near or over western Cuba tonight and early Tuesday. Ian will then emerge over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, and pass west of the Florida Keys late Tuesday, and approach the west coast of Florida on Wednesday into Thursday.”
Now is the time for residents in Florida to have hurricane plans in place and closely monitor local media for forecast updates, directions provided by their local officials and to heed local evacuation orders.
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE:
FEMA Actions Ahead of Ian
- FEMA is prepositioning supplies and personnel to strategic locations in Florida and Alabama. This will allow us to get help where it needs to be as soon as possible. Supplies being staged at Maxwell Airforce Base include 3.5 million liters of water and 3.6 million meals. Supplies in Alabama include more than a million liters of water, more than 480,000 meals and more than 7,200 cots. Additional supplies are en route.
- The agency has more than 4,000 reservists available to deploy to support any future disasters. Additionally, more than 7,500 Surge Capacity Force members are rostered to deploy if needed. The agency is establishing a personnel mobilization center to expedite forward movement when needed.
- The National Response Coordination Center in Washington, D.C. and the Region 4 Response Coordination Center in Atlanta are activated. This will help us coordinate federal, state, local, territorial and tribal activity.
- FEMA deployed three Incident Management Teams to Atlanta. Another team and a Mobile Emergency Response Support team are in Tallahassee to support any state coordination needs. Three other Mobile Communications Operation Vehicles are in route to Maxwell Airforce Base in Montgomery, Alabama.
- Two Urban Search and Rescue Teams and an Incident Support Team are in Florida, and one is in Montgomery, Alabama to support Florida response efforts.
- A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers power restoration team is deploying to Craig Field in Alabama ahead of the storm. FEMA ordered four generator packs, with a total of 117 units. Additional fuel supplies are also being staged at Warner Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.
- FEMA activated a National Medical Transport Support contract for 52 ambulances and 100 paratransit seats. These resources will stage at Orange County Convention Center in Florida.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deployed a National Disaster Medical System and two health and medical task forces to Florida. Additional DMATs are on alert to deploy as needed.
