Approximately 300,000 people will be evacuated from low-lying areas in Hillsborough County alone, according to county administrator Bonnie Wise. Evacuations started Monday afternoon.
A series of shelters in schools and other public building locations are being prepared as shelters. In Tampa distribution sites had bags of sand and bottled water available for residents.
“We must do everything we can to protect our residents. Time is of the essence,” Wise said.
Evacuations will be announced as the storm gets closer.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch urged residents to stay current on the storm news and pay attention to evacuation orders.
“This is a very real threat that this storm poses to our community,” Welch said.
State of Emergency
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared an emergency. And he warned that Hurricane Ian could impact large areas in the state. And power outages along with interruptions in fuel supplies are expected.
“You have a significant storm that may end up being a Category 4 hurricane,” DeSantis said at a news conference. “That’s going to cause a huge amount of storm surge. You’re going to have flood events. You’re going to have a lot of different impacts.”
