Manatee County Suspends Bus Service Ahead Of Irma

BRADENTON, FL — Folks who use Manatee County Area Transit services to get around will find themselves out of luck for a few days. The county on Thursday said it intends to suspend operations on Friday ahead of Hurricane Irma’s arrival in Florida.

The closing affects fixed-route buses, the Anna Maria Island Trolley and the Longboat Key Shuttle. The Handy Bus will also stop running, but scheduled dialysis trips on Friday and Saturday will be honored, an email from the county said. (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.)

“No new reservations will be taken for Monday or Tuesday,” the county’s email said. “Some buses will be used for evacuation transportation for those on the Special Needs Registry. The length of the suspension is yet to be determined, but officials advised it could last through Wednesday, September 13, depending on the impact of the storm.”

Analysis: Irma's 'Cone Of Uncertainty' Is Massive

Like Bradenton Patch on Facebook and keep reading below:

By 2 p.m. Thursday, Irma was located about 70 miles southeast of Grand Turk Island. The Category 5 storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 175 mph while moving west-northwest at 16 mph.

On its current projected path, Hurricane Irma is expected to pass by Cuba on Friday and Saturday with the potential for landfall in south Florida on Sunday morning. As of the National Hurricane Center’s 2 p.m. Sept. 7 update, almost the entire peninsula of Florida remained in the storm’s possible path.

Hurricane-force winds extended out from Irma by 60 miles Thursday morning. Tropical storm-force winds extended out 185 miles. Forecasters say, “some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful Category 4 or 5 hurricane during the next couple of days.”

The National Weather Service’s Ruskin office expects the Tampa Bay area to witness deteriorating conditions over the next few days.

In nearby Sarasota, city officials say there is a 70 percent chance of 70 mph wind gusts blowing into the area Saturday night. Irma is expected to be near the south Florida coastline Sunday morning.

Photo courtesy of Manatee County