Southwest Florida braces for Hurricane Ian’s potential impact
Manatee County waste management steps up service Monday and Tuesday, but won't do pickup on Wednesday.

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Some models show the area at risk, with storm surge concerns especially high.

With the storm path for Hurricane Ian potentially bringing a major system to Southwest Florida, emergency officials are stepping up preparations.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch from Englewood to the Anclote River, including Tampa Bay, and a tropical storm watch from Englewood south to Chokoloskee. A storm surge warning is in effect from Anclote River south to Card Sound Bridge, covering all of coastal Southwest Florida.

Manatee County announced it has canceled yard waste and recycling for Wednesday, the day the storm could make landfall. But garbage, recycling and yard waste collection workers will aggressively try to clean out as much as possible on Monday and Tuesday.

Manatee County declared a state of emergency on Saturday, and Sarasota County declared one as well, as some models showed Ian tracking to the area.

In Manatee County, self-serve sandbags are available at Bennett Park, Buffalo Creek Park, Rubonia Community Center and Myakka Community Center, pre-made bags are available at Manatee Beach, Bayfront Park and Coquina Beach and full-service distribution is happening at G.T. Bray Park and the Bradenton Area Convention Center. Sarasota County set up self-serve locations at Ed Smith Station, Twin Lakes Park and South County Fleet. Venice city officials opened self-serve sandbagging at Wellfield Park, and North Port did so at the George Mullen Activity Center.

“This is a time to just kind of watch it, stay aware of what’s happening by watching the local media, putting your disaster supply kit (together). Just stay calm and know what you are going to do,” said Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Ed McCrane. “We don’t want people waiting until the light minute to put their supplies together.”

Further south, Charlotte County has partially activated its emergency operations center and continues to closely monitor the storm.

In Lee County, officials have partially activated emergency operations. The European model predicts Ian will make landfall in the Fort Myers-Cape Coral area, but for now, there is no declaration of emergency.

Lee County Schools announced Monday afternoon that schools would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Collier County Commissioners already took that step and declared an emergency when the storm began to track more toward the mainland peninsula.

The University of South Florida canceled classes on all classes from Monday through Thursday, and will close completely beginning Tuesday. New College of Florida quickly followed suit. Florida Gulf Coast University said normal operations will proceed on Monday as officials monitor the storm.

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].


2 comments

  • Jay Smif

    September 26, 2022 at 12:15 pm

    I just hope that pudgy fascist Ron DeSantis doesn’t come begging for any of those “woke, socialist” federal aid funds after this hurricane runs rampant over the state. Bootstraps, Florida!

    Maybe pudgy fascist DeSantis can just hold another press conference where he refers to the President as “brandon” once again and continues to humiliate himself.

    • Art

      September 27, 2022 at 5:14 am

      Typical liberal ass wipe. Slinging disparities and making threats….
      Asswipe

Comments are closed.


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