SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – Sumter County Chairman Craig Estep wants to make sure people in The Villages, Wildwood and all parts of the county have supplies in case they lose power or have other problems due to Hurricane Helene.
“Make sure you have enough water on hand. Make sure you have enough food stocked up to be able to go through a couple days of bad weather and so forth. When it rolls in, we’re looking at really a rain event here and a wind event,” he told News 6. “We currently have our sandbag operation going on right now in Lake Panasoffkee, just west of the fire station and the library there, and our crews from Public Works are there. It is a self-serve; they’ll bring the materials you need to go ahead and put those sandbags together, but you’ll be filling those yourself.”
All Sumter County offices will be closed Thursday.
“Tomorrow morning, we’ll be opening the shelters. We have a special needs shelter that will be at the Wildwood Community Center. That’ll be opening up at 7:00 AM, as well as our general population shelter, which will open at 7 a.m. as well down in Webster at the fairgrounds,” Estep said.
[RELATED: CONE, MODELS, SATELLITE | COUNTY-BY-COUNTY impacts | Timing of Helene in Central Florida | COUNTY-BY-COUNTY: Sandbag locations | Here’s what the ‘dirty side’ of a storm means | DOWNLOAD: WKMG-TV free hurricane app]
Meantime, Wildwood city officials announced Wednesday that City Hall and other city offices will be closed on Thursday due to Hurricane Helene. Offices are tentatively scheduled to reopen the following day, weather permitting.
“Police, public works, and utility personnel will be on hand to address immediate needs with public safety and critical infrastructure,” said Jason McHugh, Wildwood’s city manager. “Our other staff are being asked to stay home and off the roads until the storm has passed, leaving those streets open for emergency responders.”
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