Latest Hurricane Irma Updates:
There is a mandatory curfew in effect for Volusia County at 9 PM Sunday through noon Monday.
A mandatory curfew was issued Saturday evening for Flagler Beaches, and that curfew is expanded to all Flagler County at 7 PM Sunday until 12 PM Monday.
The City of DeLand is implementing a curfew beginning at 3PM Sunday.
Flagler and Volusia Counties remain under tornado watches until midnight Monday.
Bridges will be closed when winds are at a sustained 39 miles-per- hour.
Votran is not running its normal routes Sunday or Monday.
Vehicular access to the beaches is closed.
Volusia County Schools:
All Volusia district public schools will be closed through Tuesday,
Sept. 12. Future closings will be determined on a day-to-day basis.
Daytona Beach International Airport
· The airport passenger terminal will close at 6 p.m. today.
· All airlines flying out of the airport have canceled flights for
Sunday, Sept. 10.
· Travelers should monitor flights next week with the airlines. As the
storm passes, staff will work to restore operations.
· The airport is not a shelter.
Weather status and impacts
· Officials expect conditions to deteriorate Sunday. The storm will not
clear until Monday late afternoon.
· Winds and the potential for flooding are still concerning.
- 3-6 inches of rain today are projected from a system not associated
with Hurricane Irma
- An additional 8-12 inches from Hurricane Irma, and possibly 15-18
inches in isolated areas
· Emergency officials expect damaging sustained tropical storm force
winds in Volusia County for about 30 hours. Residents should be prepared
for wind damage, the potential for flooding and possibly tornadoes.
Shelters
· Shelters at capacity as of 2 p.m. are:
- Atlantic High School
- Citrus Grove Elementary School
- Sweetwater Elementary School
- Hinson Middle School
- Taylor Middle/High School
- Palm Terrace Elementary School
- Cypress Creek Elementary School
- Creekside Middle School
· As of 4 p.m., there were about 3, people in shelters, including law
enforcement and shelter staff.
Special needs shelters
· If you plan on going to a special needs shelters, please be advised:
- Special needs shelters are for people with special needs.
- People with special needs are those who need basic medical
assistance. Examples are:
- People with medical conditions that require electricity
- Medically fragile individuals
- When evacuees arrive at a special needs shelters, staff will review
their medical condition to ensure they are appropriate for a special
needs shelter.
- Department of Health staff can provide very basic medical assistance
and monitoring. Evacuees who need more extensive medical assistance
should bring a caregiver with them.
· The Health Department is fully staffed at the five special needs
shelters.
- The Health Department does not need volunteers at this time.
- The Health Department has a Medical Reserve Corps on standby to
provide medical volunteers.
- Volunteers for other types of services are being coordinated by the
American Red Cross.
Bridges to the barrier islands closures
· The bridges to the barrier island will close when there are sustained
winds of 39 miles per hour, which we anticipate to be Sunday after noon.
This time is subject to change based on the forecasts.
Evacuations
· A mandatory evacuation remains in effect for residents who live on
the beachside and countywide for those who live in low-lying areas and
in RVs, mobile and manufactured homes.
· If you have rain storms regularly and flood or need flood insurance,
you are in a low-lying area.
Citizen Information Center
· As of 1 p.m. today, Volusia County has received 3,469 calls to the
county’s Citizens Information Center.
Beach Erosion
· Earlier this week, Gov. Scott authorized the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection (FDEP) to work with the counties and the
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Five to deploy
emergency sand berms in critical erosional areas of the county. State
Road A1A in Ormond by the Sea was damaged significantly by Hurricane
Matthew. Over the past 11 months, FDOT has been working diligently to
restore the structural integrity of this vital infrastructure. At 8 a.m.
Friday, FDEP's contractor started deploying beach-compatible sand
seaward of Ocean Shore Boulevard in the areas impacted by Hurricane
Matthew. This sand placement should act as a buffer, potentially
minimizing damages from Hurricane Irma. Sand placement was completed at
noon today.
Earlier Reporting:
Hurricane warnings are in effect for Volusia and Flagler Counties
Storm surge watches are in effect for Volusia and Flagler Counties
Mandatory evacuations are in effect:
Volusia County: beachside areas, low lying areas, and manufactured homes
Flagler County: beachside areas (including Flagler Beach along A1A); areas in Zone F (western Flagler County near Dead Lake, specifically St. Johns Park and Haw Creek Basin); people living in mobile homes, manufactured homes, and RVs; residents of low lying areas; elder care facilities, community residential group homes, non-elder care facilities and community residential group homes in zones A, B, and F; and people with special needs, due to potential power loss.
A curfew will begin for all of Volusia County at 9 PM on Sunday and it's expected to lift at 9 AM on Monday; Flagler County has issued a curfew for Zone A (beachside) that will go into effect at 7 PM on Saturday and will be in effect daily from 7 PM to 7 AM until further notice.
Volusia County bridges will close when wind speeds reach 39 mph, and Flagler County bridges will close at 6 PM on Sunday. Once the storm passes, law enforcement will determine when it's safe to open the bridges if there's limited access due to damage from the storm, beachside residents will need a photo ID and a utility bill or other document as proof of residency
If there's limited access due to damage from the storm, beachside residents will need a photo ID and a utility bill or other document as proof of residency.
Volusia beaches are closed to vehicles and beach officials are flying the double-red flag and urging everyone to stay out of the water until they announce it is safe to visit the beach (even after the storm, there could be dangerous debris in the water and along the shore)
Public shelters will be open in Volusia and Flagler Counties on Saturday.
Florida Power & Light expects 3.4 million customers may lose power as a result of Hurricane Irma, and they could experience prolong outages based on the current forecast, but, as of Saturday morning, they have more than 16,000 workers dedicated to planning and preparing to respond to Hurricane Irma.
Volusia County's Citizens Information Center is available for people with questions about how to prepare for Hurricane Irma and the CIC will be operating 24/7 until further notice, the number to call is 866-345-0345
People can also download the EM app, follow Emergency Management on Facebook and Twitter @VCEmergencyInfo
Updates are continuous at Volusia.org/pin
The Flagler County Emergency Operations Center opened a call-in center on Wednesday
The call-in center number is 386-586-5111
Check for current information on Flagler County's website, FlaglerCounty.org
Updates will also be provided through the county's official social media accounts: Flagler County Government (FB: FlaglerCountyGovernment, Twitter: FlaglerCtyGov) and Flagler County Emergency Management (FB: FlaglerEOC, Twitter: FlaglerEM)
