Sen. Rick Scott urges Floridians to evacuate as Hurricane Dorian approaches
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Rick Scott offered Floridians a reminder that hurricanes are unpredictable and can defy forecasts, as Dorian continued to churn on a path that could see it brush the state.
Scott told "America's Newsroom" that, despite forecasts suggesting the hurricane could miss Florida, “storms constantly change."
"They’ve got a mind of their own and we can predict all we want to predict,” Scott said, urging locals to evacuate or go to a shelter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Scott also noted that the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and National Guard would be present at shelters.
FLORIDA URGED TO PLAN FOR 7 DAYS WITHOUT POWER AS HURRICANE DORIAN APPROACHES
The senator recalled facing Hurricane Michael when it hit southern Florida in 2018, while he was governor. “We evacuated hospitals down in Miami where [Hurricane Michael] was supposed to come and it changed in the last minute and we had patients in the southern part of the city where one of our hospitals got decimated.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We watched Michael, how fast it came up. In two days it changed. No one anticipated it would be a Category 5 storm just last year,” he said.
The National Hurricane Center said that as of 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, the storm was continuing to produce wind gusts of up to 110 mph and a storm surge of 10-to-15 feet "with higher destructive waves." Dorian was tracking northwest at a mere 2 mph, with "dangerous winds and life-threatening" storm surge continuing to impact Grand Bahama Island.
Dorian was about 45 miles north of Freeport on Grand Bahama Island and about 105 miles east of West Palm Beach.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}STAY TUNED TO FOX NEWS FOR CONTINUING COVERAGE OF HURRICANE DORIAN
Scott directed his message, in particular, to Florida residents who recently moved to the state and tourists who are not accustomed to preparing for a hurricane.
Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis urged Floridians to “make preparations" for a seven-day power outage after issuing a state of emergency for all 67 counties. This, as Dorian gained strength on its path toward Florida.
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President Trump approved an emergency declaration for Florida and "ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local response efforts," the White House said.