Florida Sens. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat, are urging President Trump to grant a pre-landfall emergency declaration for Florida as the state prepares for Hurricane Irma to make landfall.
The two senators sent Trump a letter Tuesday after Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, requested from the president an emergency declaration to unlock federal resources for all of Florida’s 67 counties.
“As the current projections indicate, this major hurricane will heavily impact Florida communities, and we urge you to immediately approve this request to ensure that full federal resources are made available,” Nelson and Rubio wrote.
The National Hurricane Center classified Hurricane Irma as a category 5 storm, and projections indicate the hurricane will hit nearly all of Florida south of Orlando.
As a category 5 hurricane, Irma has maximum sustained winds of 175 miles per hour and is expected to make landfall in Puerto Rico on Wednesday. The storm is forecast to hit Florida later this week.
“While the storm is not predicted to make landfall until later this week, the state and federal government must work together in order to help reduce the potential loss of life and destruction of property,” Nelson and Rubio said. “As we recently witnessed with Hurricane Harvey, preparation and up-front resources are paramount.”
