Gov. Ron DeSantis said he expects the flooding risk in North Central Florida to continue for the next few days after Hurricane Debby. But the governor said this will not delay the first day of school in the state.
“We're not going to put people in an unsafe environment,” DeSantis said during a press conference in Steinhatchee, adding that “getting kids in school is a must. So the school year is going to start on time.”
The first day of school varies by county, but most start this Monday. That includes public schools in Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco, Pinellas, Hernando, Manatee and Sarasota counties.
The governor said Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie has a plan in place to avoid using schools as shelters for people displaced by flooding in their homes.
“We're not going to be using those schools to house folks who may be displaced over the next couple weeks. So they're already working on how are we going to help shelter folks if they need temporary shelter, while we also have kids in school and everything keeps going,” DeSantis said.
Hurricane Debby made landfall in the Big Bend region Monday and roared through North Florida, killing at least five people and leaving risks for flooding in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
A significant amount of destruction and flooding in Florida was brought about as Debby was still a tropical storm churning off the state's west coast.
