DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis extended his state of emergency declaration to include 20 additional counties ahead of a potentially major hurricane landfall in Florida's Big Bend area.
The counties added to the list include Duval, St. Johns, Clay and Putnam, among others.
The governor held his first storm preparation press conference Tuesday at the state's emergency operation center. He noted that nearly every county in Florida is now included in the state of emergency outside of southern Florida.
"The storm has not yet formed, but we anticipate that to form in the next 12-24 hours and be a potentially very dangerous storm," DeSantis said.
The National Hurricane Center released the first cone for Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine on Monday. As of Tuesday, it is projected to make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane named Helene.
The entire list of Florida counties under a state of emergency include:
Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton and Washington counties.