Tallahassee, Fla. — Florida is asking Washington for major federal disaster aid after Hurricane Isaias slammed the Panhandle, with the governor formally requesting a Major Disaster Declaration from the White House.

What is happening: Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that the Florida Division of Emergency Management submitted the request to President Donald Trump, formally filed Thursday night at 8 p.m. — less than a week after Isaias came ashore near Destin as a Category 2 hurricane. The request seeks two kinds of help: Public Assistance for 15 Northwest Florida counties, and Individual Assistance for eligible residents in eight of those counties. The eight counties are Bay, Escambia, Gulf, Holmes, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Washington.

Local impacts: The damage numbers keep climbing. Santa Rosa County reports about $247 million in structural damage, with roughly 5,000 structures impacted — around 100 destroyed, 400 severely damaged, and about 1,000 with minor damage, based on resident reports. Escambia County's early estimate of public damage tops $64 million. Pensacola officials put city residents' damage near $71 million, and the city of Milton alone estimates $15 million in damage to city property. Storm debris — especially downed trees — is stacked across the region, and local crews are running debris contracts while the state cleared state roads and bridges.

What to do:

- If you live in one of the eight named counties, keep reporting all storm damage to your county now — FEMA's individual aid depends on documented damage totals.

- Do not assume aid is approved yet — the request is still awaiting a decision, so no individual assistance payments have started.

- Displaced families can ask about the state's Emergency RV temporary housing partnership to stay in their own communities while homes are rebuilt.

Federal Public Assistance, if approved, would reimburse 75 percent of eligible local costs for debris removal and restoring services, with the state and the county or city splitting the remaining quarter.

Source: Pensacola News Journal, October 17, 2026. Reported by TNW News.