Local residents preparing for Ian as the storm threatens North Florida and South Georgia

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - As Ian continues to threaten Florida and North Georgia, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference Sunday to give an update on the state’s plans moving forward.

Governor DeSantis made it known Sunday that keeping residents safe and shelves stocked are his top priorities as Ian continues its track towards Florida.

As of Sunday, models are showing the west coast of Florida being vulnerable to Ian as it approaches and shows a wide margin of potential impact.

“There are some models that want to tug this thing more deep into the Florida Panhandle, and there are also some that want to bring it for landfall in the Tampa Bay region,” explained Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. “So from the Tampa Bay area all the way up to Escambia County along Florida’s Gulf Coast, we could potentially see it make landfall in any of those places as of right now.”

Governor DeSantis announced that the state has activated guardsmen of the Florida National Guard and encourages all Floridians to take precaution.

“Even if you’re not necessarily right in the eye of the path of the storm, there’s going to be pretty broad impacts throughout the state. You’re going to have wind, water and there can be flooding on the east coast of Florida as the result of this and it’s a big storm,” warned Governor DeSantis. “So just prepare for that and understand that’s something that may happen.

Leon County residents seeming to heed the warnings as the Costco gas station saw people wait up to an hour to reach the pump. Store employees say that the store saw more than 730 people within the first hour of opening.

And at sandbag locations across Tallahassee, residents say they’re preparing for the worst.

“We’re just out here getting ready for all the weather and all the rain that could potentially you know, flood our house,” said Tallahassee resident Emily Knox. “We have a steep driveway so hopefully this will keep the water from getting into the house.”

Washington State native Sophia Persichini says she has never experienced a hurricane before and wants to be as prepared as possible.

“This is kind of all new for me. I’m in a flood zone so I saw that there were free sand bags so we can try to redirect the water,” shared Persichini. “Especially because we have like holes by our doors and stuff where water can get right in so we’re just trying to over prepare.”

Others say however, that they enjoy a little rain.

“Sometimes I like to stick my tongue out and get the rain on my tongue,” exclaimed young Tallahassee resident Ellie Knox.

Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie ensured residents that the state has resources available to respond to the threat of a disaster.

“Specifically in the area of food and water, we are loading, by today we will have loaded 306 street trailers with more than 2 million meals and more and more than 1 million gallons of water to be ready to be sent into impacted areas,” said Guthrie.

As a part of his Executive Order, the governor also completely waived truck size and weight requirements to make the transportation of emergency goods easier.

Governor DeSantis says he will continue to give timely updates on the storm to ensure impacted residents are prepared.

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