Polk County Public Schools will be closed Thursday and Friday as a precaution against winds and rain spun off by Tropical Storm Helene as it churns north through the Gulf of Mexico.
Schools will remain open Wednesday, but no after-school events will be held after 6 p.m., PCPS said in a statement posted online and sent by email to parents and staff.
Tropical storm watch: Polk County was placed under tropical storm watch this morning by the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters warn of potential flooding in Polk between Wednesday evening and Friday morning as Helene strengthens, making its way up the Gulf of Mexico from its current position southeast of the Yucatan Peninsula.
The National Hurricane Center’s 2 p.m. track shows the storm likely to make landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida’s panhandle as a major hurricane on Thursday evening. The cone of danger, however, stretches from north of Tampa all the way to Panama City Beach.
“As the storm progresses, we anticipate that Polk County will begin experiencing rain bands and winds between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Wednesday evening,” PCPS wrote in its message to parents and staff. “The current forecast indicates that our county may face tropical storm conditions from Thursday morning through 2 a.m. on Friday.”
After-school events: Parents and students are advised to check with their school to see whether any after-school events scheduled for today have been canceled or postponed.
At least five high school football games in Polk have been moved from Friday night to tonight or Wednesday, The Ledger reports.
Lakeland high schools whose games are being moved are Lake Gibson at Lakeland and Sebring at Kathleen, which are now scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, and Ridge Community at George Jenkins has been switched to Wednesday at 7 p.m.
For now, there are no plans for schools to be used as emergency shelters, the PCPS statement said. It also noted that the decision does not extend to charter schools or private schools, which will make their own decisions.
The Schools of McKeel Academy announced today that their campuses will also be closed on Thursday and Friday.
Colleges: Several colleges have announced changes for safety reasons.
Florida Southern College has shifted all classes scheduled on Thursday and Friday to a virtual format. In-person classes will resume on Monday. In addition, all campus activities for Thursday are cancelled.
Florida Polytechnic University has cancelled Thursday classes and has not yet decided on Friday’s classes.
Polk State College cancelled Thursday and Friday classes.
Southeastern University and Polk State College officials said they are monitoring the weather and will have updates as the storm progresses.
Emergency operations: Florida’s Emergency Operations Center was put on alert Tuesday and is coordinating statewide efforts.
Polk County’s Emergency Operations Center has been activated for several days, Polk County Emergency Management Director Paul Womble said.
“(We) make sure we have a shelter strategy — we get the forecast from the National Weather Service and the Hurricane Center,” Womble said. “That’s what drives our actions and timings and things that need to be done. It took a slight tick to the left at the 11 o’clock forecast, but it could wobble back to the right.”
Womble said he expects Helene to be like a prolonged summer storm in Polk County.
“The difference would be a summer storm would last a few minutes to an hour generally, but we might have several bands coming in overnight Wednesday through Thursday,” he added. “The major impact is going to be storm surge along the coast and winds up in the Big Bend.”
Sandbags: Residents living in flood-prone areas are encouraged to sandbag their homes. Polk County now has sandbags available. Locations are open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. today and Wednesday.
Lakeland locations are:
- North Lakeland – 8970 N. Campbell Road
- Mulberry/South Lakeland – Loyce E. Harpe Park, 500 W. Carter Road
A maximum of 10 sandbags will be provided to each household address to help prevent water intrusion into the home. You will need to bring a driver license to show your local address.
City of Lakeland: Police and firefighters have been alerted for potential emergency activation, according to City Manager Shawn Sherrouse.
“Solid Waste is deploying extra trucks for yard debris and bulk pickups today and tomorrow,” he shared in a memo to city commissioners. In addition, departments throughout city government are fueling vehicles and clearing debris from city property.
Lakeland Electric: “We are ready to help restore power to our community as quickly and safely as possible, no matter the storm’s impacts,” spokeswoman Cathryn Lacy said. “We are well stocked with equipment and materials to repair the electric grid.”
Residents can check on power outages by visiting the outage map.
Residents can keep up with weather information on NOAA Weather Radio. Frequencies for Polk County are: 162.500 and 162.550 MHz.
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