Congressman Patronis Joins Senator Scott and Local Officials in Pensacola Ahead of Hurricane Isaias

October 8, 2026 Press Release PENSACOLA, FL – Today, Congressman Jimmy Patronis (R-FL) joined Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves, Representative Michelle Salzman, Representative Alex Andrade, Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons, and other state and local officials in Pensacola to discuss hurricane preparedness ahead of Hurricane Isaias. Image To view the full clip click here or above. Congressman Patronis: . Thank you, Senator Scott. You can always count on Senator Scott showing up. There is nobody who I think has taken a better interest in making sure that our citizens, our elected officials, our law enforcement, and our first responders have what they need to do their job. And so you being here the day before the storm, that’s just true to form. I told the senator, you know, for about the past nine years, I’ve dealt with nine storms. We learn something from every storm. So I’m gonna try to leave you with about three good hits to walk away from. As you’re trying to focus, you think about what you’re doing, maybe four hits. When you think about your insurance and your insurance recovery, today’s really the last day that you can do your insurance and your fiscal health preparation. And what I mean by that is I want you to take, we’re a smartphone society, I want you to take your smartphone, I want you to walk around the outside of your house and shoot a video of that house. Show that there’s no damage done to the outside of the house. Inside, you’re gonna do a little bit of a different video. You’re gonna do an inventory. You’re gonna take a picture of your wardrobe, video of your floor covering, your TV, what’s in your garage. Here’s why you’re gonna do that, and you’re gonna email it to yourself. You’re gonna put it in a virtual place, okay? And if you got a copy of your insurance policy, take a picture of it. Email those to yourself. Now, fast forward where the storm is hitting, and God forbid you get hit by a tornado or some storm-force winds or a tree falls on your house. Now you’ve got photographic evidence of what your place looked like before the storm, okay? What’s gonna happen, the insurance company’s gonna send an adjuster out. That’s just a different way of saying an investigator. They’re coming out to investigate what damage they are liable for. So now you’ve got photographic evidence before and after where it makes it a lot easier to show your insurance company, this is what you owe me because this is all new damage. Second, I want you to understand, the predators are going to be pre-staged outside of your neighborhoods better than the power company is, okay? These guys will canvas your neighborhoods. They hate it when I say this, but they are what they are. They’re locusts. They canvas your neighborhoods. They are there because you are vulnerable. You are not prepared to deal with the destruction that a hurricane can bestow on you, your family, your neighborhood, your community, and they know that. So what do they do? They try to get in between you and your insurance claim by getting you to sign something. So here’s the easy part. Just don’t sign anything. As long as you don’t sign any documents, you have no way to get hurt financially by the storm. If your first phone call is to your insurance agent, your insurance carrier, the Department of Financial Services, heck, call my office. We will help put you in touch with the proper insurance authority in getting the claim process started. I want you to also be on the lookout in your inbox, because most insurance companies, they’re not living under a rock. They see this storm approaching the coast also. You’ve probably already got an email from your insurance company saying, hey, it’s coming your way. Why don’t you go ahead and pre-start the claim filing process? Because there is a probability you’re going to have damage, and they want to get you in the pipeline. This is great that they’re doing this, because they’re leaning forward to try to get ahead of the curve of potentially hundreds or maybe even thousands of claims. So please look up that email, fill it out, pay attention. Do it now while you’re not under stress. Now, the last thing I kinda wanna leave with ya is we have seen a growth, a huge spike in EVs, but more so e-bikes. A lot of people, a lot of our friends, they’re great, they get you around fast, not a lot of exercise to ’em. The problem is, is you’re—if you’re in a two-story home, you’re not gonna take that thing upstairs. Those are operated by lithium-ion batteries. When those things interact with salt water, it becomes a thermal runaway. They do not distinguish with water. You can literally throw ’em in the bay, and they’re still gonna burn. The problem you’re gonna run into, as soon as you have any flood in a low-lying area, and it engages that salt water, now you’ve got a fire that can’t be put out, and if it’s at the bottom of your house or in your garage, you know what’s gonna happen? It’s gonna burn down your house, ’cause maybe it survived the storm, but it’s not gonna survive the EV. So, if you’ve got an EV, I want you to take it to higher ground. If you’ve got a golf cart, I want you to get it away from that low-lying area. If you’ve got an e-bike, I want you to get it upstairs. And lastly, look, your first responders, these guys are superheroes. They may not wear capes, but they’re superheroes. They are going to be putting themselves in harm’s way, and just like the senator said, don’t be a knucklehead. Don’t think you can handle this storm. We’ve got 1.8 million new Floridians in the state of Florida since 2018. A lot of those folks have no idea what they’re in for. I’m glad they’re in our state, and I’m glad they’ve decided to retire here and bring their businesses, but they don’t know what a hurricane can do to them, and this is no different. Err on the side of caution. If you’re told to evacuate, please leave. Now here’s another superhero. You got your cape on? We’ve got Sheriff Chip Simmons, our sheriff here in Escambia County. Sheriff.”