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County orders Level A evacuation
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Monday, Aug. 18, 2008 |
PINELLAS COUNTY – The Board of Pinellas County Commissioners approved a resolution on Monday calling for Level A evacuations to begin at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 19.
Twelve shelters will be open, including three special needs, three pet-friendly and three for the homeless.
Pinellas County Schools, county offices and the courts will be closed on Tuesday. The Emergency Operations Center will be open.
Sally Bishop, director of Pinellas County Emergency Management, made the recommendation for the Level A, Category 1, mandatory evacuation. She said although the current track for Tropical Storm Fay would bring the storm east of Pinellas County, a combination of hazards still made it necessary to evacuate people living in mobile homes and Level A evacuation zones.
She said the hazards included the possibility of winds up to 60 mph, storm surge of 4 feet on the beaches, rainfall of 4 to 8 inches and the threat of tornados.
“All the hazards combined warrant the need for an evacuation,” Bishop said.
She also said there was enough time between the 1 p.m. meeting of the board and the 6 a.m. evacuation time to make changes, including rescinding the order if the storm track moved farther east.
“We want people to be preparing and planning on what we know now,” Bishop said. “Any little deviation to the storm track could make a difference to what we need to do.”
Bishop said because Fay was a fairly large storm people should expect some “really lousy weather.”
Commissioner John Morroni asked what impact winds of 60 mph could have. Bishop said tropical storms Francis and Jeanne, which passed through Pinellas in 2004, were examples of what could be expected.
She said debris from falling limbs and power outages were likely. Older mobile homes that are not tied down, carports and other like structures also could be damaged, she said.
“We want people to prepare as if it would be a Category 1 hurricane,” she said.
She also said due to the uncertainty of the storm track, it was possible that Fay would stay longer over open water and strengthen.
“We have to get people ready to move,” Bishop told the board. “If we hesitate, we could cause them to hesitate. One more deviation west could bring the storm over Tampa Bay or off our coast.”
Interim County Administrator Fred Marquis also said it was recommended that people who planned to leave the county do so on Monday night to avoid any traffic problems on Tuesday.
PSTA will be running buses in the evacuation areas and picking up people and taking them to shelters. Bishop said three nursing homes and two assisted living facilities were located in the evacuation zone.
Residents who do not know their evacuation level can call 727-453-3150 and key in their home phone number without the area code or call Pinellas County Emergency Management at 727-464-3800. Regular business hours are from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Evacuation zones are printed on Pinellas County Utility bills and the Truth in Millage (TRIM) Notices sent by the Property Appraiser. Evacuation zones also can be looked up at www.pinellascounty.org/emergency.
Residents can also call the Citizen Information Center at 727-464-4333. Officials remind citizens to not call 911 unless they have an emergency.
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Article published on Monday, Aug. 18, 2008
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