Pinellas County Issues Mandatory Evacuation Order Ahead Of Irma

CLEARWATER, FL — As Hurricane Irma continues to threaten the Tampa Bay area, Pinellas County has issued a mandatory evacuation order for people in low-lying areas and mobile homes. The order goes into place at 6 a.m. Friday, Sept. 8. The county has also declared a local state of emergency ahead of the storm’s arrival in the Sunshine State.

As of Thursday, the county’s evacuation order affected only those in the Level A evacuation zones. Those are people in coastal areas and residents who live in mobile homes. “Additional evacuations up to Level C may be ordered to start on Saturday,” an email from the county said. “Levels B and C may leave at residents’ choice prior to the order.”

Residents in Level A zones and mobile homes have from 6 a.m. Friday through 8 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 10 to leave their homes, 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 Clearwater Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The county intends to open the following shelters to serve evacuees starting at noon on Friday:

• Tarpon Springs Middle School, 501 N. Florida Ave., Tarpon Springs
• Palm Harbor University High, 1900 Omaha St., Palm Harbor
• Dunedin Highland Middle, 70 Patricia Ave., Dunedin
• Oak Grove Middle, 410 Missouri Ave., Largo
• Gibbs High, 850 34th St. S., St. Petersburg
• John Hopkins Middle, 701 16th St. S., St. Petersburg

Dunedin, Oak Grove and John Hopkins are special needs and pet-friendly shelters.

Watch: Evacuations Underway In Florida

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Residents who are unsure of the evacuation zones can look them up on the county’s website. Residents can keep up with updates in evacuations and other emergency information from the county by signing up for Alert Pinellas.

By 2 p.m. Thursday, Hurricane Irma was located about 70 miles southeast of Grand Turk Island. The storm was moving west-northwest at 16 mph while packing maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. On its current projected path, Irma is expected to reach south Florida by Sunday morning.

Graphic courtesy of the National Hurricane Center