Florida bracing for looming tropical threat this weekend

AccuWeather

AccuWeather speaks with Kevin Guthrie of the Florida Division of Emergency Management who shares how the Sunshine State is preparing for the looming tropical threat approaching them this weekend.

Transcript

00:00Well, Kevin, this could be one of the first hurricanes here for the season of which includes

00:05many counties that are under a state of emergency for the Tampa area. Where are you focusing your

00:10efforts across the state? What we're focusing on right now is a flood event and, you know,

00:16not necessarily a wind event. We do have a lot of rivers and tributaries that are already into

00:22some minor flood stages across the state of Florida. Just here in the north central Big Bend

00:28area we are about eight inches over our normal 30-day totals. So it's not going to take a lot

00:34of rain to cause a flash flooding situation and then an ongoing flooding situation. So those are

00:40the things that we're preparing for right now and making sure that cities and county have the

00:44necessary flood protection devices to go ahead and protect that critical infrastructure so that it

00:50doesn't succumb to, you know, further damage. So those are the things that we're focusing on

00:55right now and that that goes all the way from the Big Bend area down to below the Tampa Bay region.

01:01So that's that's where our primary focus is right now. We know these storms can quickly develop. So

01:08what unique challenges are there that come with these quickly developing storms for your state?

01:15One of the things that's very challenging about this particular storm is it has

01:18it has not developed yet and it's only about, you know, two days away from us. So

01:24we're anticipating that it's going to develop on most likely tomorrow, maybe overnight Saturday

01:29into Sunday. But again, the gulf we've seen this time and time again that rapid intensification

01:36happens. So we are preparing the men and women behind me in the State Emergency Operations Center

01:40are preparing as if it's going to be a cat one hurricane, a strong cat one hurricane. Not saying

01:45that's going to be the case. Right now all models are indicating that it's going to be a tropical

01:49storm at this point in time. But we are preparing and equipping individuals to be in the field.

01:55We got 3,000 National Guardsmen that have been called up for service. So we're going to prepare

02:00a visit as if it's going to be that stronger cat one hurricane or maybe even beyond. And again,

02:05we prepare for the worst. We hope for the best. What are the messages you want to get to not only

02:11your residents but also the visitors in the state? Right now the message is if you are in a low-lying

02:18area, it floods when it rains in your neighborhood, then we want you to be ready. Again, it's not

02:25going to take a lot of rain for some of these areas around the state of Florida to experience

02:30flash flooding and maybe even major flooding. So we want people to be ready if you're in that

02:35low-lying area. Make sure you have your kit ready to go. Make sure that you're ready to evacuate

02:40if a local emergency management director asks you to evacuate from that area. For the tourists

02:46that are in the state of Florida, just know that you're okay. You can stay in the hotel that you're

02:51in. You can stay at the most likely the Airbnb that you're in. Just stay put when the winds come,

02:57the rains come. Just do some indoor type activities. Within a day or two, we're going to be

03:02right back to sun and fun here in the great state of Florida. Kevin Guthrie, Executive Director of

03:07the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Thank you again for joining us this morning.

03:12Thank you for having me.

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