Shelters Opening In Manatee County As Hurricane Irma Nears

BRADENTON, FL — Manatee County residents who live in low-lying areas or mobile homes will find four shelters available to serve them if they evacuate ahead of Hurricane Irma’s arrival in the Sunshine State. The county on Thursday announced plans to open shelters on Friday as a voluntary evacuation order goes into effect.

According to the county, all four shelters will open at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 8. They are:

• Myakka Elementary School, 37205 Manatee Ave., Myakka City
• Braden River High School, 6545 State Road 70 E., (pet friendly)
• Manatee High School, 1000 32nd St. W., Bradenton (pet friendly)
• Mills Elementary School, 7200 69th St. E., Palmetto (pet friendly)

The county announced the voluntary evacuation on Thursday morning after receiving word that Irma may deliver 9-foot storm surges to Florida’s Gulf Coast over the weekend. 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.)

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

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.

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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.

Graphic courtesy of the National Hurricane Center