What the state of emergency means for Lee County

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. – Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto (R—Fort Myers) said on Wednesday that the state of emergency issued by Gov. Rick Scott over the state’s water conditions will bring additional testing to the water and get help to small businesses in Lee County.

Gov. Scott declared a state of emergency for St. Lucie and Martin counties on June 29. The next day he amended the declaration to include Lee and Palm Beach counties.

Benacquisto said that the emergency declaration also will bring resources like an algae bloom hotline and a focus on storage options to Southwest Florida.

The worsened water conditions have been a concern for much of 2016. Gov. Scott previously declared a state of emergency back in February for Lee, Martin and St. Lucie counties in response to the record amount of water released from Lake Okeechobee by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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