Florida governor declares state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Irma

Authorities in Florida have issued a state of emergency in preparation for Hurricane Irma, which is expected to make landfall this upcoming weekend.

Hurricane Irma is expected to be an extremely dangerous category 5 hurricane.

The Washington Post reports, “The hurricane is just east of the Caribbean and moving towards the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and potentially the Florida keys and other parts of Florida.”

5 AM: Irma has max sustained winds 150 mph. Everyone should continue to monitor, check supplies, and be ready to implement action plan #FLwx pic.twitter.com/P9JlSm7DIU

— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) September 5, 2017

Following Hurricane Harvey’s record-setting rain, the residents in the area of Hurricane Irma are preparing for the worst. It was suggested by Miami Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez that residents should have at least three days worth of food, water, and other basic supplies ready and accessible.

Florida officials have and continue to urge people to leave the areas that could be affected by the storm.

According to the National Hurricane Center, “This slow motion of the cyclone is expected to exacerbate the potential for catastrophic flooding from heavy rainfall at least through the middle of the next week.”

“If Irma does make landfall as a Category 4 storm or stronger so close after Harvey’s impact on the Gulf Coast, it will be the first time on record that two storms of that strength hit the United States during the same hurricane season.”

Hurricanes and Trucking

The FMCSA posted to their Facebook page the following announcement, “Emergency Declarations trigger the temporary suspension of certain Federal safety regulations for motor carriers and drivers engaged in specific aspects of the emergency relief, including direct assistance for the immediate restoration of essential services (such as electrical, sewer, water, and telecommunications) or essential supplies (such as food, water, medical supplies, and fuel).” 

During Hurricane Harvey, hours of service (HOS) regulations were also suspended to provide direct help to Texas residents.

The suspended regulation applied to all states where drivers are driving through on their route to the emergency: essentially, whatever route the driver needed to take in order to get to affected areas of the hurricane they could take without HOS regulations.

A FMCSA Regional Emergency Declaration continues to exist for Hurricane Harvey.

Read more about Hurricane Harvey here.

Read more about Florida’s last hurricane, Hurricane Matthew here.