October 8, 2018
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for 26 counties as Hurricane Michael gathers strength in the Caribbean and heads toward the Florida Panhandle.
The storm was upgraded to a hurricane on Monday, Oct. 8, and is anticipated to bring heavy rains and wind and could make landfall on the Gulf Coast on Wednesday.
The 26 counties under a state of emergency include: Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Bay, Jackson, Calhoun, Gulf, Gadsden, Liberty, Franklin, Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, Madison, Taylor, Hamilton, Suwannee, Lafayette, Dixie, Columbia, Gilchrist, Levy and Citrus.
Gov. Scott warned that Hurricane Michael could reach land as a Category 2 or 3 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 120 mph.
View the Hurricane Preparedness Manual for Counties
UPDATE: An update to Gov Scott’s Executive Order now includes additional counties including, Pasco, Hernando, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Alachua, Union, Bradford and Baker Counties.
UPDATE: The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Animal Industry, has temporarily suspended the intrastate movement requirements for the transportation of animals from the areas expected to be impacted by Hurricane Michael.
In addition, the following states have waived their interstate import requirements for Florida pets and livestock leaving the expected impact areas of Hurricane Michael:
Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Please visit https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Consumer-Resources/Animals/Animal-Related-Emergency-Response for more information.