County Braces For Fay's High Wind And Rain

Monday was a day to hurry up and wait as officials prepared for whatever Tropical Storm Fay brings to Hernando County.
The latest projections at 5 p.m. from the National Hurricane Center showed the storm making landfall in the area of Fort Myers and charting east across the state. Pinellas and Hillsborough counties were expected to be under a tropical storm warning around 2 p.m. today, but the conditions did not extend any farther north.
Closer to home, wind gusts of about 50 mph were expected for early afternoon through late evening on Tuesday. Rainfall was expected to be between 3 and 5 inches and the threat of tornados was deemed "moderate" for today.
Officials did not expect to open any shelters or call for evacuations.
Department heads from an array of agencies gathered Monday morning at the Emergency Operations Center to give an update on their preparations.
Firefighters and law enforcement are prepared to stay over an extra shift or two to boost manpower on the street. Emergency generators and county vehicles are topped off with fuel and ready for action.
The Emergency Operations Center will be staffed by emergency management staff only. The phone lines will be open at the Public Information Center all day today. When the center was opened Monday morning, volunteers fielded 71 calls in three hours.
A document declaring Hernando County in a state of emergency is drafted and ready for signature. The agenda for today's Board of County Commissioners meeting has been abbreviated so that it will end before 1 p.m.
About 300 certified community volunteers are on standby for the aftermath.
Both Progress Energy and the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative have activated their hurricane plans. The power companies are bringing in more than 400 line crew members from as far away as Michigan in anticipation of outages.
Now we wait.
"It's still a fluid situation," Interim Emergency Management Director Cecilia Patella said during the Monday morning meeting.
Because early predictions brought the storm farther west, officials were expecting a 5- to 8-foot storm surge along the coast. The need for evacuations in the area west of U.S. 19 was questioned later in the day as the storm veered east and the threat of storm surge diminished.
Still of concern is the expected downpour on already saturated soil. Officials are urging caution for residents in low-lying, flood-prone areas.

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To aid in evacuations, tolls on the Suncoast Parkway will be suspended beginning at 6 a.m. today.
For updates on the county's preparations, residents may call the Public Information Center at 352-754-4083 or the recorded information line at 352-754-4111.
To report an outage:
Progress Energy: 1-800-228-8485.
Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative: Contact local cooperative office listed on bill; corporate headquarters is 352-567-5133.
Brooksville residents can call City Hall at 544-5400.
Sandbags are available at the Brooksville Fire Department on Veterans Avenue, Hernando Beach Volunteer Fire Department on Shoal Line Boulevard, Spring Hill Fire Rescue Station No. 1 on Parker Avenue, The Department of Public Works on South Brooksville Ave. and the Ridge Manor Community Center on Cortez Boulevard.

Tips For Driving In Severe Weather:

* Increase your following distance behind other vehicles.
* If traffic signals are inoperative treat the intersection as a four-way stop.
* Do not drive over downed power lines.
* Turn on your headlights.
Source: The Florida Highway Patrol.

All government buildings in the county and Brooksville are expected to be open except for the schools.