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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 25 Florida counties in preparation for Tropical Depression, which forecasters predicted will strengthen into a Category 3 Hurricane this week.

The governor and the Florida State Emergency Response Team (SERT) are taking precautions now to ensure Florida remains prepared for potential impacts.

“Today, I signed an Executive Order issuing a state of emergency ahead of potential impacts from Tropical Depression 9. This order will allow the Florida Division of Emergency Management to stage critical preparedness resources and ensure Florida is ready to respond,” said DeSantis. “Floridians should take this time to get disaster plans in place and ensure their hurricane supply kit is stocked.”

DeSantis issued the state of emergency for the following counties: Baker, Bay, Calhoun, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Suwannee, Taylor, Walton, Wakulla, and Washington.

SERT teams are currently mobilizing resources to support storm preparation and response efforts. These resources will be strategically staged in Tallahassee and the Santa Rosa area to cover the storm’s rapid deployment as needed. Staged assets include:

*Generators
* Fuel
* Flood Barriers
* Boxed Water Pallets
* Shelf-Stable Meals
* Flood Buckets
* Tarps
* Tiger Dams
* Sandbags

The current forecast indicates a tropical storm, or hurricane could make landfall somewhere along the central Gulf Coast later this week.

Impacts are expected to extend beyond the point of landfall, with heavy rainfall, strong winds, coastal flooding and isolated tornadoes possible across North Florida.

Additional precipitation could further saturate soils and increase the potential for flash flooding following the state’s recent significant rainfall.