JAY, Fla.— Today, Governor Ron DeSantis was joined by Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Jared Perdue in Jay and Florida Department of Commerce Secretary Alex Kelly in Vernon to provide updates on Florida’s ongoing recovery efforts following Hurricane Isaias.
In Jay, Governor DeSantis highlighted the state’s efforts to safely reopen schools and provide additional recovery resources to impacted Floridians. The Governor announced that 11 Points of Distribution are now operating across Escambia, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington counties, providing free water, shelf-stable meals, ice, tarps and other essential supplies to residents impacted by the storm.
Governor DeSantis also announced that power has been restored to 95% of customers in areas impacted by Hurricane Isaias, following nearly 450,000 outages at the height of the storm.
In Vernon, Governor DeSantis announced $2.6 million in Rural Infrastructure Fund awards for Washington County to support roadway improvements, downtown revitalization and economic development. These awards are part of nearly $27 million awarded to 14 small and rural communities across Florida.
Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin at approximately 9:30 p.m. EDT on Friday, October 9, as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. The storm brought damaging winds across Northwest Florida, with gusts reaching 116 mph in portions of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
