Hurricane Irma: Voluntary Evacuation Issued For Manatee County

BRADENTON, FL — With Hurricane Irma expected to bring 9-foot storm surges to the Gulf Coast of Florida over the weekend, Manatee County has issued a voluntary evacuation order for people in low-lying areas and mobile homes. The order goes into place at 7 a.m. Friday.

“The voluntary evacuation applies to those living in mobile homes and anyone in the county’s evacuation Level A,” the county explained in a Thursday morning email to media. Residents can check their evacuation zone on the county’s website. (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Bradenton Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Hurricane Irma was moving west-northwest off the coast of Hispaniola by the National Hurricane Center’s 8 a.m. Sept. 7 update. The storm was heading toward the Turk and Caicos Islands, located about 165 miles southeast of Grand Turk. Irma was still packing maximum sustained winds of 180 mph, down only slightly after its catastrophic run through the region in the overnight hours.

Watch: Deaths, Destruction Reported As Hurricane Irma Heads Toward Florida

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Irma was following a projected path that is expected to bring the storm north of Cuba early Saturday morning before it takes a turn toward the north, and Florida. The entire peninsula remained in the storm’s projected path including vulnerable south Florida and the Tampa Bay area. Irma is expected to follow a path that could pose a threat for Georgia and South Carolina by early next week.

• Also see: Deadly Hurricane Irma Tracks Toward Florida, Georgia, Carolinas

Hurricane-force winds extended out from Irma by 50 miles Thursday morning. Tropical-storm force winds extended out 185 miles.

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