Mayor extends emergency order for St. Pete
October 3, 2022 - St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch extended his state of local emergency order Saturday through Oct. 9. The executive order, signed Saturday night, allows Welch to remove disaster-related debris and prohibit price gouging. According to the legislation, Hurricane Ian brought sustained winds of 60 mph and gusts of up to 77 mph to St. Pete. The city also received four inches of rain, which Welch stated: “was exacerbated by the fact that the ground was already saturated.” He added those combinations of factors resulted in widespread power outages and damage to public and private property that continues “to pose an immediate danger to the public health, safety and welfare that requires emergency action." The city began debris collection Monday morning.