FEMA Administrator Brock Long said as Hurricane Irma’s predicted track moves further west, the agency continues to stay in touch with local officials in Georgia and Alabama, noting especially that storm surge in the Gulf waters will be a key concern.
“Storm surge has the highest potential to kill the most amount of people and cause the most money damage,” Long said on “Fox News Sunday.” “My biggest concern is when people fail to heed a warning early from local government officials and then they make a last-minute ditch to try to get to a shelter or into a facility to withstand the winds and in some cases the water starts to rise and they get trapped because they didn’t heed the warning early and that’s my greatest concern.”
As of 9:15 a.m. Eastern Time, the eye of Hurricane Irma was directly over the Florida Keys and the center of the storm will begin moving up the western coast of Florida. The full width of Florida could feel hurricane force winds in the next 24 hours.
“This is a complex event, but as far as positioning goes, we’ve done pretty much all weekend,” Long added.
Forecasters believe the center of the storm will be in the Tampa Bay area later this evening and tonight, and by mid-morning Monday will be in northern Florida, Georgia and Alabama.
Long also praised the hurricane relief bill passed earlier this week and signed by President Trump.
“The Congress did its due diligence and passed the supplemental to allow us to keep moving and as I’ve been saying, paperwork and money should not get in the way of saving lives and I believe the congress recognizes that,” Long said. “There’s great communication between the White House and the congress in regards to emergency management.”
