TALLLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday that although Hurricane Isaias was downgraded to a tropical storm, he warned that forecasters "do expect it to gain strength as the night goes on."
DeSantis said Floridians living in coastal communities and the east coast will feel the impacts Saturday night and into Sunday.
Even with tropical storm-force winds, DeSantis said, residents can "pretty much be assured you are going to see power outages."
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DeSantis said Palm Beach County has issued voluntary evacuations for coastal residents, but he said that, because of the coronavirus pandemic, such orders will be "limited."
"Look, if it's a close call, err on the side of people just hunkering down rather than sending people on the road," DeSantis said.
Although Isaias has weakened some since his earlier news conference, DeSantis said Floridians shouldn't let their guards down.
"Don't be fooled by the downgrade," DeSantis cautioned. "We do think it will be upgraded back to a hurricane later on this evening."
