Orange County has officially declared a state of local emergency in response to Hurricane Irma

By Colin Wolf on Thu, Sep 7, 2017 at 2:23 pm

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Orange County has officially declared a state of local emergency in response to Hurricane Irma

Photo via NASA

This afternoon Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs issued a local state of emergency to better prepare for Hurricane Irma.

"As Mayor, my top priority is the health, safety and welfare of our residents, guests and businesses," said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs. "It is urgent that we receive the full cooperation of the people of Orange County in preparing for possible affects from Hurricane Irma. As a region, we are deeply aware of the threats posed by the weather, and must be well prepared for weather emergencies. Through the issuance of Emergency Executive Order 17-09, I am authorizing the full use of Orange County's public safety resources to assist in preparing for impacts from Hurricane Irma."

It's important to note that this executive order is not due to any new information about Irma, but rather it allows the county to have access to more emergency resources.

The county is encouraging residents to take this storm seriously and properly prepare. Orange County currently has 45,000 pre-filled sandbags and expects to distribute more than 70,000 to residents over the next few days.