Could mean sustained periods of damaging winds, heavy rain, and destruction when the storm makes landfall in the coming days. Yesterday, we submitted a request to the federal government for prelandfall declaration for assistance for protective measures. We anticipate a positive response. That has been endorsed by the entire florida delegation in the u. S. Congress and we appreciate them for their support on that. Floridians need to be prepared. The bad news Going Forward is it could potentially have impact before it reaches landfall but you have time to prepare if you have not done so. We urge all floridians to seven days worth of food, medicine, and water. This is potentially a multi day event where it will churn slowly across the state. It creates a whole host of issues but if you are in an area that has an impact from this storm you should assume youll lose power. If you are in an area that flooded during Hurricane Irma and you are impacted by this you should assume youll see flooding again after this storm. Be prepared. Be prepared for potentially a multi day event. Now, lookal officials are making determinations i think today about evacuations whether to issue evacuations and how youll do those. We are asking floridians please heed those directives from your local folks. They are considering a variety of factors and obviously monitoring the storms path. So those decisions are not made lightly. If you in an evacuation zone and ordered to evacuate, please do so. Put your safety first. Better to evacuate and not end up hitting you than to remain be in there and end up being in jeopardy of loss of life. If you are in an evacuation zone know which zone you are in and your evacuation route. We, in terms of highways here, the Florida Department of transportation has already cleared the shoulders of all our major highways. I95 and i75. And so theyve been swept, cleared, and we will open those shoulders for traffic once evacuation orders are handed down. As of right now the d. O. T. Has not identified any abnormal traffic patterns but obviously we know that, you know, once counties make determinations for evacuation orders youll see people start to get on the road. Nonessential lane closures that reduce capacity throughout the state are being opened to deal with the storm. Fuel is an issue. There are gas stations that have run out of fuel. We in the Emergency Declaration waive service and truck rates for fuel trucks so we can increase the capacity of fuel that is being brought in. Were also going to be, starting today, implementing florida Highway Patrol escorts for fuel trucks to facilitate refueling in critical parts of the state. There are some parts of the state where you have major lines and it makes it more difficult for trucks to get in and replenish the gas supply. We think the escorts will help with that. We have a lot of fuel in florida. We just have limited capacity to bring it to the gas stations because you can only have so many trucks at one time doing that. So recognizing that weve worked with fema to get fuel from out of state, so fema and jerod have worked with mississippi, alabama, and georgia to waive their service and truck weights so we can facilitate fuel coming in from out of state. That is happening as we speak. In terms of nursing homes, obviously an issue in the past, the agency for Health Care Administration is making site visits or calls to all facilities where the state does not have updated info about generators. We now have a website through the agency of Health Care Administration where you can go in each county and see whos got the generators, who doesnt. And so we think its statewide, about what, 120 that we dont have the information for. So theres going to be site checks. Theres going to be phone calls to make sure that they have a plan to deal with folks that are in their care and then once the storm passes, there will be spot checks with the department of health to see where there may be needs after the storm and who has lost power. The website for the generator is flgenerator. Com. Weve been putting that out to the local folks in our counties and the emergency offices there so that they have a sense of where they may need to offer assistance and encourage everyone to take a look at that. Today at my action volunteer florida activated the official private fund established to assist floridas communities as they respond to and recover during times of emergency or disaster. To donate visit www. Volunteerflorida. Org or text disaster to 20222 to make a 10 contribution. We appreciate that. The florida fish and Wildlife Conservation commission is preparing officers and resources for potential deployments in the coming days using a variety of specialized equipment including shallow draft boats, atvs, air boats, four wheel drive vehicles. Jerod has also requested vehicles from the federal government that be able to navigate some potentially flooded streets. Obviously the general is sensitive to that, as well. Youre looking at potentially significant water event throughout major portions of the state. We want resources to navigate that. There had been a number of school closures, daytona state college, eastern Florida State college, indian river state college, valencia college, seminole state college, university of Central Florida, florida atlantic, florida polytechnic, Florida International and the university of Central Florida have issued closures starting today through tuesday. The School Districts in Martin County and veil oubra county have announced closures for tuesday, september 3rd. Monday is labor day so schools were scheduled to be closed anyway. Our Florida Department of Economic Opportunities is extending the deadline for local governments to submit applications for the 85 million rebuild florida infrastructure repair program. And visit florida has activated the expedia visit Florida Hotel accommodation web portal so that if there are evacuation orders you can get a sense whaf would would a sense of what would be available in terms of accommodations. We have close to a million gallons of water. Jared has requested i think another 2 million for fema. We have almost 2 million meals ready for distribution. Now, we have not necessarily received requests for that yet but we stand ready to distribute the meals when we can. And the state, were also working with some of the retailers like publix and walmart to make sure their stores are reshelved. A lot of people are preparing which is good but the flip side is the water is going off the shelf and requires restocking in a quicker fashion. If you want uptodate information on Hurricane Dorian please visit florida disaster. Org info. For local media updates and updates as we do, you can do my twitter account. You can also do the state Emergency Response twitter account which is flsert. The state is also activating a toll free hotline for floridians to receive information and that number is 18003423557. So this is a major event. We still have some degree of uncertainty. But i think if you look at the different forecasts you see potential major impacts from places in south florida potentially going all the way up the coast of florida. Some forecasts have it going through the center of the state. Similar to kind of what irma did in terms of going up the middle and you still have some forecasts that say its going to go across the state and end up in the gulf of mexico. We just have to be prepared for all those circumstances. I think the probabilities of all those are not necessarily equal. But its much better to be prepared and then not have to face it than to go into one of these things unprepared. Finally, i did speak with the president on wednesday night and the administration has been great and theyve assured us theyll provide all the resources we need. The president was scheduled to leave the country and has canceled that trip because i think the administration recognizes this is a really, really serious event. With that wed be happy to take some questions for myself or jared or the general. What is the status of the National Guard, general . Theyre mobilizing. We are mobilizing as we speak. We expect about 2,000 soldiers and airmen from the Florida National guard mobilized by end of day today. By tomorrow probably doubled by about 4,000. Were trying to be responsive but not over zealous in implementing whatever requirements the department of Emergency Management levies on us. We are prepared to respond. Woo he have 12,000 soldiers and airmen in the state and every one of them that is able and in the state, not deployed, will be ready to step up as needed. In addition, we have Emergency Management assistance compacts with various states in the Southern Region especially to be able to fill in any avoids that we have or gaps in our formations that might need specialties like aviation, engineering, high water vehicle transportation and those kinds of things. We also, the general is talking with other states. We anticipate getting support from other states. I know i spoke with the governor of alabama and she authorized National Guard personnel from alabama so that is ongoing. Im sure we will provide those updates once we get them. Governor, just observation, i notice a lot more fema personnel and the trucks previously across the street at dfs are now here in the parking lot. Is this a change with the new administration or just happenstance . Is it a new approach . This is just what we planned, right . Yes. Im not sure exactly how fema did it before i was here but when we did the hurricane exercise, this is how weve anticipated it happening and jared has developed a really Good Relationship with folks in fema and they appreciate all the hard work he is doing so i think were on the same page and will be able to work constructively together. This is your first major hurricane as governor and i am wondering if there was much of a learning curve going into this and do you see your political future tied to how this state performs during this . I dont view it politically at all. Were trying to protect the state, protect people, and assist these local folks who are out there, and theyre all activated now as best we could. I grew up in florida so im not a stranger to hurricanes and of course weve had a number of active hurricane seasons recently. As a u. S. Congressman we had Hurricane Matthew where my district was the district most affected. It could have been worse than the path it ultimately took. Obviously Hurricane Irma affected almost everybody in the state. You know, i have a lot of experience understanding how some of the wheels go in motion. Weve done a lot with Hurricane Michael since ive taken office. This is something we didnt want to see a hurricane this season. I know jared and i both did what we thought we could in different respects to head that off but we also prepared for one. You know, and did a major hurricane exercise, you know, i would ask jared, hey, whats it look like in the caribbean . Whats this . Because we knew this is something that could potentially happen. So at the end of the day well be working really hard to do our best to help the folks in the state of florida. What can you tell us about cell phone coverage and how long people should expect it to go out . That was a big problem for some providers after Hurricane Michael and thats what everyone is on and wants to know about. Obviously i think in michael it was a major problem. It really hindered the ability for folks to be able to take protective measures after the storm. But weve spoken with Companies Like verizon, you know, they have a plan. They are implementing the plan. They recognize the threat from the storm and are taking action. That is really at the end of the day, these are private companies. Weve talked to them, and said, look, the state believes having a plan and being able to take action to restore lost service as quickly as possible is very important. Helps with recovery efforts, helps with people whose livelihoods are at stake. I think they all get that and recognize some of the problems in the past. I would say the same with the utilities. Ive met with a number of the heads of the utilities, Companies LikeFlorida Power and light, and they are executing their plans. Youre seeing a lot of assets being brought to bear in florida right now. Not necessarily for sure where those are going to ultimately be deployed but there is going to be a capacity to do that. And restoring the power once it goes out to as many people as quickly as possible helps jared, me, helps the general, it helps with the recovery effort and the response. So we are sensitive to that. The facilities have plans and are executing those plans. Resources are being brought to bear. I think thats a responsible thing to do. Facebook has a new tool for First Responders to alert communities. Do you have any idea if the state or local governments might be using this . Mayor ron desantos of florida with a press conference showing and really explaining how incredibly complex logistics are for planning for a storm like this. But also issuing a pretty severe warning, assume if youre in the path of this storm he is saying that you could lose power. There could be flooding. This will be a multi day event. Decisions being made even as we speak about vac evacuations. Lets check in with our team on the ground in florida. One of the things we just heard from the governor is that you still have time to prepare. Thats his message and, clearly, thats what the folks behind you are doing. Reporter yes, chris. When you hear from the governor they need to have these folks on the ground, supplies for around seven days, that is what floridians are preparing for. At this costco that just opened its doors here in Palm Beach Gardens the line, chris, wrapping around the building. People here many not considering evacuating now. One gentleman from new jersey in line summed it up best. He said where am i going to go . This looks like it could hit the entire state at this point. Some ladies in line born and bred floridians tell me theyve been through hurricane andrew in 1992, Hurricane Irma two years ago, and they know how to hunker down. But for that you need your list of essentials and that is what folks are getting here. Most of them lining up for water, lining up for those nonperishable items, looking to buy gas canisters to fill up with gasoline and especially generators, chris. Some of them were lining up at a home depot since 5 00 in the morning. Generators there ran out. Now theyre hoping to get their hands on them here at this costco. Were about 14 miles north of west palm beach. The storm looks right now like it could be headed straight here. Chris . Thank you so much for that. Morgan, obviously any time you have a threeday weekend its a busy travel weekend and i wonder what that means there. Reporter chris, certainly shaping up to be a much different Labor Day Weekend here in florida, where airports are making plans ahead of the flights here. A lot of folks either cutting vacation short or changing plans all together here. Not wanting to take any chances with this hurricane as its path has continued to be determined as it approaches the state of florida. We do know that a lot of the major carriers, united, delta, southwest, are offering waivers for travelers who may be changing their flights ahead of dorian, specifically here in the florida and Southeast Area so that is good news for travelers who might want to just play it safe and stay home or go to a different destination right now. We have checked in with popular resort universal orlando ahead of the arrival of the storm. They say that currently theyre open for business. Conditions have not changed at the park. But theyre keeping a very close eye on the arrival of dorian to see if and when it impacts that area. We have also reached out to disney world, obviously very popular this time of the year but weve yet to hear back. As far as we know they are still open for business. In the meantime another industry thats taking a potential hit, cruise lines, so far the only cancellation weve seen is Royal Caribbean and a bahamas cruise but everyone saying the same thing right now, keeping a very close eye on dorian to see where it ends up ahead of this busy holiday weekend. Morgan chesky and Maria Mariana atencio thank you both and take care out there. Let me go to msnbc Michelle Grossman who has the latest on the storms path. And to his point where is it going . Hi, chris. We are talking about a very powerful storm and only getting more powerful. The path is to be determined. Well see several changes. We are still four to five days out from landfall so you can bet on some changes. We have a strong possibility this is going to be a very strong storm where it does make landfall. The latest category 2 storm, northeast of the bahamas. Winds at 110 Miles Per Hour. Keeps getting stronger with every advisory. It is moving quickly at 12 Miles Per Hour and has maintained that speed over the past three days but that will change, too, and is not good news. Lets look at the path between saturday and sunday we expect it to blossom into that power house of a category 4 storm. Sustained winds at 130 Miles Per Hour. Gusting higher than that. You always want t