DeSantis Activates National Guard Ahead of ‘Major’ Hurricane Ian

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference at the Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Fla., on Sept. 25, 2022. Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat via AP

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he activated the state National Guard ahead of Hurricane Ian’s potential landfall in the state this week.

Some 5,000 members of the Guard were activated on Sept. 25, the governor told reporters in a news conference.

“It’s too soon to say there’s not going to be a wobble or any kind of curvature back into the Florida peninsula,” DeSantis said of Hurricane Ian’s path. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) estimates that the storm could hit western Florida sometime during the evening of Sept. 29 or on Sept. 30.

Large portions of Florida can expect strong winds, flash flooding, isolated tornadoes, and heavy rains, DeSantis said, adding that residents need to stock up on food, water, batteries, medicine, and fuel.

“This is a really big hurricane at this point,” DeSantis said. “The width of it is about 500 miles wide. If you look at the cone, and if you look at the landfall, going, it still looks to be Levy County, the impacts are going to be much much broader than that.”

NHC Update

According to NHC updates issued on Sept. 26, Ian is currently a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mile-per-hour winds, but the storm is forecast to strengthen into a “major” hurricane with 111 mph winds or more.

“A north-northwestward motion is expected to begin later today, followed by a northward motion on Tuesday with a slightly slower forward speed,” the NHC stated in an 11 a.m. bulletin. “A turn toward the north-northeast with a further reduction in forward speed is forecast on Wednesday.”

After hitting western Cuba and the Cayman Islands, “Ian will then emerge over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, pass west of the Florida Keys late Tuesday, and approach the west coast of Florida on Wednesday into Thursday,” the update said.

The storm will track very close to the Tampa area the morning of Sept. 29, according to an NHC forecast model. It isn’t clear if the storm will make landfall there.

Some officials forecast that Ian could reach Category 4 strength after it passes over Cuba before it approaches the western Florida coast.

“Please treat this storm seriously. It’s the real deal. This is not a drill,” Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley said at a Sept. 26 news conference on storm preparations in Tampa.

President Joe Biden declared an emergency for the state, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts and provide assistance to protect lives and property. The president postponed a scheduled Sept. 27 trip to Florida because of the storm.

A similar declaration issued by DeSantis will free up emergency protective funding and activate members of the Florida National Guard, his office said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.