State of Florida Updates And Hurricane Response

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Thursday afternoon, Governor Ron DeSantis issued updates on Hurricane Ian at the State Emergency Operations Center with Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie. Earlier today, Governor DeSantis, First Lady Casey DeSantis and Director Guthrie surveyed the damage in Charlotte and Lee counties. Full remarks are available here.

More than 700 individuals have been rescued in Charlotte & Lee counties since search and rescue operations began Thursday morning. There are currently 42,000 linemen responding to the more than 2.5 million reported power outages. They have already restored power to more than 200,000 accounts in Southwest Florida. 

First Lady Casey DeSantis also announced that donations have poured in to the Florida Disaster Fund, surpassing $10 million in just 24 hours of being activated. The Florida Disaster Fund is the State of Florida’s official private fund established to provide financial assistance to our communities as they respond to and recover from times of emergency or disaster. To contribute, please visit www.FloridaDisasterFund.org or text DISASTER to 20222.

Full updates on the state’s preparation and response efforts can be found here.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) and its division of the Florida Highway Patrol’s (FHP) response efforts include deploying mobile command centers to southwest Florida to provide enhanced communication capabilities and additional resources.

FHP encourages motorists to report disabled vehicles or dangerous driving conditions to *FHP (*347).
FLHSMV Florida Licensing on Wheels (FLOW) mobile units are preparing to deploy to provide no-fee driver license and identification credentials, vehicle registrations and titles, and vessel registrations and titles to impacted individuals.
FLHSMV driver license and motor vehicle service center closures can be found here.
FLHSMV has issued Emergency Order 092422, which waives specific requirements for commercial motor vehicles providing emergency relief; and waives the replacement fees for driver’s license and identification credentials, vehicle registrations and titles, vessel registrations and titles and temporary parking permits for impacted individuals.