The conservative-leaning state of Florida is handling its Hurricane Milton preparation with Red State style, as individuals who are fugitives or sex offenders will not be allowed in public storm shelters and current inmates are being put to work to help protect cities.
One Florida sheriff’s office announced on a local news outlet that it will be “ensuring there is a safe environment for anyone” who comes to a shelter during the storm, which means checking people at the door to verify they’re not “a fugitive and not wanted, not a sex offender.”
According to Orlando Weekly, “Anyone on the sex offender registry must seek shelter at a facility that’s been set up at the Orange County Jail.”
Welcome to Florida
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) October 9, 2024
If you’re a convicted sex offender, you aren’t allowed in our hurricane shelters
You can spend the night in the county jail pic.twitter.com/JkJhE1SY7X
Ahead of the storm, inmates around the state were put to work filling sandbags for locals to place around buildings and homes.
Gov DeSantis has inmates at 3 different locations fill sand bags for residents. pic.twitter.com/Y5bPkIfAnS
— 🇺🇸ProudArmyBrat (@leslibless) October 9, 2024
This is the way!
— Steve 🇺🇸 (@SteveLovesAmmo) October 9, 2024
Inmates in Florida are filling sandbags for residents preparing for Hurricane Milton. pic.twitter.com/xoZYctRS5n
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook, announcing the prisoners were “assisting residents that are not capable of filling their own sandbags.”
After Hurricane Helene, Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis suggested inmates could help with cleanup efforts as well.
DeSantis said, “The low-security, low-risk inmates (controlled by the) Department of Corrections, they do prison labor anyways. So they’re bringing them to do debris removal. The good thing about that is you can use that on private property, not just on public.”
Perhaps, the governor will get prisoners to do cleanup work after Milton in exchange for keeping them safe during the major hurricane.
AccuWeather reports, “Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall in Florida late tonight at 11 p.m. EDT as a formidable Category 4 hurricane.”