Evacuations Planned In Sarasota County Ahead Of Helene: Officials
SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — With expectations that Potential Tropical Cyclone 9 will strengthen into Hurricane Helene before making landfall in the U.S., likely somewhere in the Florida Panhandle or the Big Bend area, Thursday, evacuations are already planned in Sarasota County, officials said.
The county, which is under a hurricane watch Tuesday morning, has declared a local state of emergency. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also issued a state of emergency for 41 counties, including Sarasota.
Officials will send out an evacuation alert for Level A and manufactured home communities starting Wednesday at 7 a.m.
Evacuation centers , which are all pet friendly, open at noon on Wednesday. The following are locations for evacuation centers:
Residents and business owners can check their evacuation level here .
Sarasota County Schools will close at the end of the school day on Tuesday to prepare schools to serve as emergency evacuation centers. Sandag operations continue Tuesday until 6 p.m. and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the following locations:
There is a 10-bags per-vehicle limit.
Sarasota County government offices are closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
All Breeze services (Breeze bus and trolley routes, Breeze OnDemand, and non-medical Breeze Plus trips) are operating on a normal schedule for Tuesday, Sept. 24.