MIAMI – Gov. Rick Scott was in Miami on Monday to talk about the Florida tax holiday coinciding with the start of hurricane season.
The holiday allows consumers to stock up on certain hurricane supplies tax-free. It began Friday and lasts until Thursday. The holiday is estimated to save Florida families more than $4.5 million.
"I think it's good that we have a whole week of sales tax holiday to give people another incentive to go ahead and buy their stuff now," Scott said.
The governor made a stop at Shell Lumber and Hardware on Monday as people stocked up on things like batteries, tarps, flashlights and gas cans.
Some items, like plywood and water, are not included in the tax-free holiday, but employees at Shell Lumber said they have plenty of items that are.
"We have an enormous supply. We have another distribution center six miles away that houses more than enough for everybody," one employee said.
As we work to get ourselves hurricane ready, it seems many Florida nursing homes and assisted living facilities are not. A government agency reported that many of the places that take care of our elders are not yet equipped with backup power, despite new rules that went into effect following the tragedy at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills during Hurricane Irma.
Scott called the status of the non-compliant facilities concerning.
"My expectation is that people do it as quickly as possible," Scott said. "Hurricane season has started, so everybody that doesn't already have the generation or backup generator and fuel -- yeah, it concerns me."
DOWNLOAD the Local 10 News Hurricane Survival Guide.
