No Evacuations, But Pinellas County Opening Shelters Ahead of Hurricane Matthew

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — As powerful Hurricane Matthew heads toward Florida’s east coast, Pinellas County officials are opening three shelters and warning residents to prepare for possible tropical storm conditions.

The county announced that its emergency operations center would open at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 6. The Citizen Information Center is also open and will remain so until 11 p.m. The number to call is 727-464-4333.

Pinellas County and others in the Tampa Bay area remain under a tropical storm watch. The National Weather Service expects the area to witness sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph and occasional gusts up to 55 mph starting early Friday morning and lasting throughout much of the day.

• Keep up with Hurricane Matthew: Download the new Patch news app for real-time notifications.

“According to the official forecast from the National Weather Service, the predicted track of Hurricane Matthew can still change, which could further increase the expected wind speeds,” the county wrote in an email to media. “However, the amount of rainfall is predicted to be about one inch and there is no forecast for storm surge. Pinellas County will not be issuing sandbags.”

While no evacuations are being ordered and flooding isn’t a likely concern, the county is warning of a high risk of rip currents along Pinellas beaches Friday and tides that could be up to 2 feet above normal. The conditions are expected from Tarpon Springs to Indian Rocks Beach.

“Clearwater Beach is expecting a northwest wind influence that is expected to cause wave run-up and beach erosion,” the county warned.

Out of an abundance of caution, the county is opening three shelters at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6. They are located at:

• Dunedin Community Center, 1920 Pinehurst Road, Dunedin
• Ross Norton Recreation Center, 1426 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., Clearwater
• Northside Baptist Church, 6000 38th Ave. N., St. Petersburg

Residents are also being asked to sign up for the Alert Pinellas notification system at www.pinellascounty.org/alertpinellas. The system sends emergency notifications via phone, text or email.

As of the National Hurricane Center's 8 a.m. Oct. 6 update, Hurricane Matthew was positioned about 30 miles south-southwest of Nassau, Bahamas. The system was moving northwest at 12 mph.

“Additional strengthening is expected today, and Matthew is forecast to be a Category 4 hurricane as it approaches the east coast of Florida,” the hurricane center’s report said. Hurricane-force winds extended out up to 40 miles Thursday morning. Tropical-storm force winds extended out 160 miles, forecasters said.

Image via the National Weather Service's Facebook page