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Following Governor Rick Scott’s request, today President Donald Trump approved a pre-landfall emergency declaration. This declaration will provide important resources and assistance from the federal government, including personnel, equipment and supplies, as well as making available funding sources for emergency protective measures. [Read more…] about Gov. Scott: Federal Pre-Landfall Emergency Declaration Signed by the President
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Governor Rick Scott today requested that President Donald Trump declare a pre-landfall emergency for the State of Florida in preparation for Hurricane Irma. A pre-landfall declaration will provide important resources and assistance from the federal government and would free up funding sources for emergency protective measures such as shoring up beach dunes, building emergency berms and planning for potential evacuations. To view the Governor’s request, click HERE. Governor Scott spoke with President Trump last night after the Governor issued Executive Order 17-235 declaring a state of emergency in all 67 counties within the State of Florida in response to Hurricane Irma.
Governor Scott said, “Last evening, I spoke with President Trump regarding Florida’s preparedness actions and he offered the full resources of the federal government as we get ready for this major storm. This morning, I am requesting the president declare a pre-landfall emergency for the State of Florida to help preposition necessary resources and support emergency protective measures across the state. Our state emergency management officials are working with our federal and local partners to prepare for any potential impacts from this dangerous storm, and it is crucial that we have access to every available resource to protect our families and communities.
“While we do not yet know the exact path of Irma, major impacts to Florida are potentially possible and we cannot wait to take aggressive preparedness actions. I continue to urge all Floridians to remain vigilant, stay tuned into local weather alerts and have a disaster plan in place today. We will remain focused on making sure families and visitors have timely information on Hurricane Irma and we keep issuing important updates as we monitor the storm throughout the day.”
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Senate Democratic Leader Oscar Braynon, II on Monday sent a letter to Governor Rick Scott, calling on him to declare a public health emergency to launch an immediate response to the growing epidemic of opioid abuse in Florida.
“No longer confined to small urban enclaves, heroin and fentanyl have become the scourge of communities throughout Florida, wreaking widespread devastation not only from the ravages of addiction, but the resurgence of deadly diseases associated with drug abuse. There is no family, no race, no ethnicity, no income level this epidemic cannot touch, and no effective state bulwark in place to stop it,” wrote the Miami Gardens Democrat.
The numbers are staggering. According to recent news reports, numbers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement show a nearly 80 percent increase in heroin deaths and 77 percent increase in fentanyl deaths in Florida from 2014 to 2015.
Leader Braynon noted that the governor has responded to previous threats to the public’s health through emergency declarations, including the 2011 multi-pronged strike on pill mills, and even the recent Zika infections in South Florida.
In 2011, for example, as oxycontin overdoses were killing as many as seven Floridians a day, the governor’s Surgeon General issued a public health emergency. And, last year, the governor declared a public health emergency after just nine cases of Zika were confirmed.
“This letter is to request that you issue a similar order urgently needed to address the growing threat and rising body count arising from Florida’s opioid-addiction crisis,” he wrote.
Leader Braynon’s call was made on behalf of the Senate Democratic Caucus, and echoes one made earlier this month by Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay.
“Not only are the lives of Floridians at stake, but resources of the public as an increasing number of unpaid charges for emergency hospital care are passed on to insurers and paying customers. To say nothing of the high financial burdens on local governments from the growing demands on first responders and the need for an increasing supply of the anti-overdose drug, naloxone. Or the terrible consequences that begin in the womb and continue well after birth with the tiniest victims of this crisis – the babies born to addicted mothers,” wrote Leader Braynon.
“This emergency will not end without our intervention and resources. I strongly urge you to take this first step and launch the response our state is still lacking.”
Should Governor Scott issue such a declaration, he would join the governors of Massachusetts and Virginia who have declared similar public health emergencies in order to combat the growing opioid addiction crisis.
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