Hurricane Irma: Pasco County Opening Shelters

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — Pasco County residents in need of a place to ride out Hurricane Irma will find five shelters opening to serve them starting Friday morning.

While the shelters will open at 11 a.m. Sept. 8, Doug Tobin, county spokesman, stressed they should be a refuge of last resort. Residents “should first attempt to find shelter with neighbors, relatives or friends,” Tobin wrote in a Thursday email. “If that is not an option, citizens can self-evacuate directly to the shelter.” (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from New Port Richey 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 following schools will open up to serve evacuees on Friday morning:

• Fivay High School, 12115 Chicago Ave., Hudson
• River Ridge Middle/High, 11646 Town Center Road, New Port Richey
• Sunlake High School, 3023 Sunlake Blvd., Land O’ Lakes
• Wesley Chapel High School, 30651 Wells Road, Wesley Chapel
• Wiregrass Ranch High School, 2909 Mansfield Blvd., Wesley Chapel

Wiregrass Ranch is the only pet-friendly shelter opening Friday morning.

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

• Also see: Hurricane Irma: What Pasco County Wants You To Know

Residents are asked to eat a meal before they arrive at a shelter. The county has no plans to serve lunch on Friday. The first meal planned is dinner Friday evening. Also, evacuees are urged to bring snacks and water for their own personal use.

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Pasco County also has a shelter program for residents who have special needs. To find out more, residents are asked to call 727-847-2411 to register for access to the Fasano Regional Hurricane Shelter at 11611 Denton Ave. in Hudson.

• Also see: Hurricane Irma Barrels Toward Florida, Georgia, Carolinas

By 11 a.m. Thursday, Hurricane Irma was packing 175 mph winds while moving on a path that is expected to impact Florida over the weekend.

Hurricane-force winds extended out from Irma by 60 miles. 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.”

Image courtesy of the National Hurricane Center