TALLAHASSEE—As the Sunshine State battens down the hatches in preparation for the potentially major Hurricane Helene, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday that Uber will provide free rides to shelters in counties under a state of emergency.
Luckily—or perhaps unluckily—for Floridians, that offer extends to the 61 counties under a declared state of emergency.
"I'm happy to announce that the Florida Division of Emergency Management has partnered with Uber to provide free rides to shelters for Floridians in counties with a declared state of emergency," Gov. DeSantis said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Tallahassee, one of the most likely points of impact for the rapidly forming Hurricane Helene.
"You use the promo code Helene relief when you book your ride and you can get a free Uber ride to a shelter for areas that are under a state of emergency," he added.
Uber, a popular rideshare app, has provided these services during disasters in the past. They did so during Hurricane Michael in 2018, when the Category 5 storm careened into the Panhandle, and again in San Diego in March 2024 during torrential floods.
Currently a Category 1 storm, Helene is already being heralded as an incredibly dangerous system. Helene's tropical storm wind field before landfall is predicted to be 370 miles wide when in comparison, 2023's Hurricane Idalia, which devastated the Big Bend, had a wind field spanning 220 miles.
"The way this is tracking, [this] is a storm that is stronger than what we've seen in this region I think in anyone's memory," DeSantis warned, stressing the importance of taking preparations or following evacuation orders in the 16 counties either mandating it countywide, requiring it in some areas, or suggesting it.
Helene is expected to slam into the Panhandle area Thursday at 7 p.m. as a Category 3 storm, though, DeSantis warns, some models now predict it will become a Category 4 before landfall. This means maximum sustained winds of up to 129 mph as a Category 3 or up to 150 mph as a Category 4.
Florida is bracing for storm surges of 3 feet to 15 feet from the Upper Keys to Apalachicola, with just three counties—Escambia, Okaloosa, and Santa Rosa—being excluded from any sort of flood, tropical storm, or hurricane watch or warning. Of the 67 counties, 61 are under a state of emergency, and on Tuesday evening, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state.
