Hurricane Irma Aftermath: Polk Lifts Curfew

BARTOW, FL — With the lights back on in many areas and life beginning to return to the new post-Hurricane Irma normal, Polk County officials on Friday lifted the mandatory curfew for residents. Jim Freeman, county manager, signed the official order late Friday morning. It went into effect immediately.

“The county’s curfew was established to deter crimes of opportunity, such as looting, and to provide safety for Polk residents in damaged areas,” the Polk County Sheriff’s Office wrote on its Facebook page. Since conditions across the county have improved, Sheriff Grady Judd and Pete McNally, emergency management director, both recommended lifting the order. (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Lakeland Patch. Click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

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After Irma ravaged the area, the county enacted the curfew. It prohibited people from being on the roads and streets between midnight and 5 a.m.

As of Friday morning, about 13 percent of Polk County residents remained without power, down from 21 percent on Thursday. (See also: Central Florida County-By-County Power Outages.)

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