Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order issuing a State of Emergency in 33 Florida counties on Saturday in preparation for Tropical Depression 10 as, late Sunday morning, the National Hurricane Center upgraded the system to Tropical Storm Idalia.
Charlotte, DeSoto, Lee, and Sarasota Counties are included in the declaration, which allows state officials to make critical resources available to areas that may be impacted by the storm.
The forecast currently places the system as making landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast late Tuesday into Wednesday.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has activated the State Emergency Operations Center Team to support ongoing operations.
The full list of counties under a state of emergency is as follows:
- Alachua
- Bay
- Calhoun
- Charlotte
- Citrus
- Columbia
- DeSoto
- Dixie
- Franklin
- Gadsden
- Gilchrist
- Gulf
- Hamilton
- Hardee
- Hernando
- Hillsborough
- Jefferson
- Lafayette
- Lee
- Leon
- Levy
- Liberty
- Madison
- Manatee
- Marion
- Pasco
- Pinellas
- Polk
- Sarasota
- Sumter
- Suwannee
- Taylor
- Wakulla
Fox 4 will continue to post updates on Tropical Storm Idalia and on air.
