The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

Update: County Emergency Management has a new Web Page about Irma with good info about Shelters and more. National Hurricane Center Tracking  IRMA Maps - downloadable PDFs: Hurricane Preparation Guide   Sarasota County Shelters and Evacuation Routes  (pet shelters as designated)  Checklist of things to stock up on  Web Pages: Online Map showing shelter locations IRMA - Stay Informed What to bring to Shelters Manatee County Shelters Code Red - Sarasota Weather Warning  Sarasota County Emergency Services Sandbags: They are still giving out sandags today and tomorrow. 10 per household. The county’s three sandbag locations open at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and will stay open until 6 p.m . They also be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday. There is a 10 bag limit per person. Identification is not required. The locations where sandbags are being offered are as follows:  Newtown Estates Park, 2800 Newtown Blvd.  Twin...

Tropical Storm Isaac could affect our area. Get updates from the National Hurricane Center as well as other sites. Some useful links: NHC IbisEye Fox Hurricane Storm info from Sarasota County Hurricane Guide - Preparation Sarasota County Emergency Services Hurricane Shelter List  (Pet shelters indicated) Another Shelter List (that can be printed out) Pet Preparedness Pet Shelter Admission Form Evacuation Routes  ( noted in red) Road Conditions - F511 Statewide Disaster Info

The usual advice on hurricane preparedness from Sarasota Patch : List of Sarasota Shelters Sarasota County’s Emergency Management Chief Ed McCrane describes this weather season as being in neutral having going in between a La Nina and El Nino, which will start about October. When forecasts are given this year, the National Weather Service will talk about hurricanes in terms of category and storm surge to help flood planning. “The category of the storm is determined by the winds associated with that hurricane,” McCrane said. “The storm tide or storm surge is going to be a totally different matter. You may hear that it’s only a Category 2 hurricane but carrying 20 feet of storm surge. That’s a big indicator of what we use of what evacuation zones we need to evacuate.” McCrane stressed having a good disaster kit ready along with some other pre-storm preparations.  “We want them to have enough provisions for at least three days preferably a week,” McCrane said, “but they...

Sarasota Hurricane Shelter Info - this will be a permalink in the right-hand column.