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Most Recent Entries
- Power Outages (TECO)
- Barge Smacks Howard Frankland
- New Friendship Day Care & Culture Center Closed Tuesday
- Pinellas County Does Not Expect Increased Threat
- Pasco County Monitors Storm
- Citrus County Continues to Monitor TS Alberto
- Red Cross Shelter: Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough
- Power Outages (Progress Energy)
- Coastal Areas In Taylor County Prepare For Landfall
- TECO Outages
- Red Cross Shelters In Hillsborough County Open Tonight
- School Closings On Tuesday
- Polk County Schools Closed Tuesday
- The Arts Center's Summer Camp Closed Tuesday
- Hurricane Warning Issued
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TAMPA - As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 13, shelter plans in the three counties are as follows:
All Pinellas County shelters will remain open until noon Tuesday; at which time plans for keeping the shelters open will be re-assessed.
All Hillsborough County shelters are on standby status, in anticipation of potential flooding and/or storm surge, which could cause residents in low-lying areas to evacuate.
In Pasco County, shelters at Trinity Elementary School and Schrader Elementary School shelter have closed. The shelter at River Ridge High School/Middle School, 11646 Town Center Road, remains open until further notice.
The Pasco County Emergency Operations Center is partially activated and will remain staffed through this event.
Pasco County has closed Schrader Elementary (11041 Little Rd., Port Richey) as a shelter.
Residents still needing to evacuate should go to River Ridge Middle School (11646 Town Center Rd., New Port Richey)
The Pasco County Resident Information Center is still open to answer resident questions. The phone numbers are (727) 847-8959 or (352) 521-5137.
New Friendship Day Care & Culture Center will be closed on Tuesday.
UPDATE:
As of 4:30 p.m., Tampa Electric had fewer than 700 TS Alberto-related outages.
As of 9 a.m., TECO says the total number of customers without power is down to 2,500. More details to come.
EARLIER:
According to Tampa Electric Company, customers in the following areas are experiencing power outages.
Hillsborough County - 4,075
Pinellas County - 12
Pasco County - 3
Polk County - 1,116
Total - 5,206
TECO has crews working on restoring power.
By Kevin Begos
The Tampa Tribune
The fish, birds and gators may have the best take on Tropical Storm Alberto as it heads towards making landfall at one of the least populated areas on Florida’s coast, southeast of Tallahassee.
At dawn Tuesday there were reports from the tiny towns of Steinhatchee and Keaton Beach of higher than normal tides, but not reaching the point of submerging roads, according to Mandy Cornelius, public information officer for the Taylor County Emergency Management Center. An update from officials was expected at 8 a.m., with landfall expected sometime this morning.
In Perry, about 20 miles in from the coast, there was steady rain and moderately strong gusts of wind, but not of hurricane force. There were still concerns about flooding in low-lying areas and the possibility of tornadoes.
According to NOAA, the likelihood that Alberto will become a hurricane prior to landfall is decreasing.
Reporter Kevin Begos can be reached at or (850) 222-8382.
According to Progress Energy, about 2900 customers are out of power in Largo and Seminole. Around 500 customers are facing outages in St. Petersburg. Crews are en route but do not have a restoration time.
Progress Energy Customer Service: (800) 228-8485
Citrus County Emergency Management Officials have rescinded the mandatory evacuation notice for mobile home dwellers on the east side of Citrus County.
A mandatory evacuation continues to be in place for all residents living west of U.S. 19 and one-and-a-half miles east of U.S. 19.
To accommodate evacuated residents, two shelters are open at this time. Lecanto Middle School is open for all citizens with special needs and Lecanto High School is open for the general public.
Both the Inverness Middle School and the Citrus High School shelters have closed as of 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Coastal flooding is of major concern for Citrus County at this time.
Storm-related questions and concerns may be directed to (352) 746-5470, 527-2106 or 746-6555.
Pinellas County Does Not Expect Increased Threat
Pinellas County EOC is not expecting any greater threat from the storm than previously anticipated. Residents may face wind gusts of 50-60 mph, coastal storm surge of 5-7 feet and flooding in low lying areas.
At this time, 22 people are in the three Pinellas County shelters.
Our Citizen Information Center will also continue to accept calls at 727-464-4333.
by VALERIE KALFRIN
The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - The U.S. Coast Guard thinks high winds and seas from Tropical Storm Alberto caused a 60-foot work barge to slam into the eastbound lanes of the Howard Frankland Bridge about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Workers closed the right eastbound lane for a few hours to assess the damage, but reopened it by 9:30 a.m., Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marian Scorza said. She had no financial estimate for the damage, which is minor.
Scorza said a contractor hired by FDOT was using the barge to perform small repairs to the bridge’s concrete pilings. The repair project, similar to one at the Courtney Campbell Parkway, began in May.
No one was aboard the barge at the time of the crash. The barge was tied up but got loose from its moorings, Scorza said.
The barge has been leased to M & J Construction Co. of Tarpon Springs, officials said.
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Pinellas County public schools and district offices will be open for normal operations Tuesday, June 13.
Schools and offices will remain open. However, it is up to each parent to determine what is best for his or her child.
Pinellas County Schools’ emergency line, (727) 588-6424, will have a recorded message with information about school system operations that can be accessed 24 hours a day.
Pasco-Hernando Community College will be closing as of 6 p.m., June 12, and will remain closed on Tuesday, June 13.
The college will resume normal operations on Wednesday, June 14.
Visit the web site at http://www.phcc.edu for details or call Lynn Rothman-Venus at 1-727-919-3324 with questions.
The Courts in Pasco County will be closed on Tuesday, June 13.
Residents of both Pasco and Pinellas counties who have been summoned for jury duty on Tuesday (June 13) are excused. Potential jurors should not report to any courthouse in the Sixth Judicial Circuit on Tuesday.
The next first appearance advisory hearings for Pasco County will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday (June 14). They will be held by video conference between the Pasco County Detention Center and Courthouse in Dade City.
At this time, the only effect on Pinellas Court operations is the decision for jurors not to report.
The Courts in Pinellas County will be open on Tuesday, June 13th. This court’s website (http://www.jud6.org
All Pasco County Government Offices will be closed Tuesday.
* All Pasco County Public Schools and Pre-K Programs for children will be closed Tuesday.
* All Pasco County parks will be closed Tuesday. This includes all day camps, pools and swimming lesions taking place in county parks.
* The Pasco County Solid Waste Resource Recovery Plant and East Pasco Transfer Station will remain open for commercial operators.
* The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners regularly scheduled board meeting for tomorrow (Tuesday, June 13) has been rescheduled for next Tuesday, June 20, at the Historic Court House in Dade City, 1:30 p.m. time certain. This includes all scheduled public hearings.
St. Petersburg - Tuesday’s residential garbage collection will be postponed to Wednesday in St. Petersburg. Residents should refrain from placing their garbage cans on the street until Wednesday.
Residents are also reminded to secure other loose items in their yards - such as outdoor furniture, tools, etc.
The 4 churches designated to serve as Red Cross shelters will open at 7 p.m. tonight.
The shelters are listed below:
* The First Apostolic Church, 1830 30th St. Ruskin 33570, (Capy. 140)
* The Bible Based Fellowship Church, 8718 N. 46th St, Tampa 33617 (Capy 200)
* St Johns Presbyterian Church, 4120 N. MacDill Ave 33607 (Capy 75)
* Town n’ Country Baptist Church, Tampa 33615 (Capy 100).
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