Gov. DeSantis visits Florida Horse Park, a Milton relief staging site

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Press Conference Hurricane Milton

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Gov. Ron DeSantis today visited the Florida Horse Park in Marion County, one of the few sites in the state where equipment and personnel are being staged in advance of Hurricane Milton’s impending landfall.

DeSantis said approximately 5,000 members of the Florida National Guard have been activated and that number could grow to 8,000 “very soon.” DeSantis said the National Guard has 11 rotary wing aircraft prepared to provide search-and-response and damage assessment support post-storm.

“This is probably the largest National Guard mobilization in Florida’s history,” DeSantis said.

Additionally, the Florida State Guard is positioning throughout the state. The State Guard—a longtime state defense force that augments the Florida National Guard–includes six search-and-rescue teams, two Blackhawk helicopters, 10 maritime and flood response teams, two amphibious rescue vehicles and 15 crews to cut and clear debris that could result from the storm.

Additionally, Florida Department of Law Enforcement as well as Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have positioned personnel and equipment at base camps to respond after the storm.

The “New York Times” reported on Monday that only 10% of Federal Emergency Management Agency’s staff was available to respond to Milton due to multiple disasters and personnel shortages elsewhere in the country, particulary in the Tennessee-North Carolina region after Hurricane Helene.

When DeSantis was asked by the “Gazette” to provide any context to how that could impact emergency response for Floridians, he replied, “I’m not sure how much of an effect it [FEMA’s staffing limitations] will have on us because we are going to have a robust response.”

DeSantis said “fortunately for Florida we have a team, this is something we have to work on living in a tropical state, and we do.” The governor noted that other states might not have the readiness to respond like Florida does.

DeSantis acknowledged “fatigue” among emergency responders and residents over the past two weeks under a state of emergency because of the back-to-back hurricanes, but he encouraged Floridians: “Just hang in there, we’ll get through it.”