Landfall

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency for 25 counties ahead of a strengthening storm system in the Gulf of Mexico. The order covers counties across the Panhandle and North Florida, including Baker, Columbia, Bay, Escambia, Leon, Santa Rosa and Walton, among others.

The National Hurricane Center expects the system, now a Category 3 hurricane, to make landfall along the central Gulf Coast as early as Friday night, with impacts extending well beyond the landfall point, including heavy rainfall, strong winds, coastal flooding and isolated tornadoes across North Florida. Some counties are not expected to be seriously impacted directly but are already contending with separate flooding from days of heavy rain, with three to six inches reported in Columbia County; additional rain could further saturate soils and raise flash flooding risk. The state has staged more than 1,000 generators, half a million gallons of gasoline, a million gallons of diesel and over a million bottles of water, mobilized 5,000 National Guard troops, and pre-positioned more than 16,000 linemen for power restoration. DeSantis urged residents to finalize plans and stock supplies for at least 72 hours.