Manatee included in Gov. Scott’s emergency order, but no current local state of emergency

Hurricane Michael is approaching northern Florida and as Gov. Rick Scott expanded his state of emergency declaration to include Manatee County, local officials are urging residents to be prepared but have not issued a state of emergency.

Monday afternoon, Scott announced he expanded the declaration to include Manatee County, along with Bradford, Pasco, Hernando, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Alachua, Union and Baker counties. There are now 35 counties included in the state of emergency.

Manatee County also was included in Scott’s request that President Donald Trump declare a pre-landfall emergency in those 35 counties in preparation for Hurricane Michael. The declaration would free up funding for protective measures as well as provide federal resources and assistance.

Michael was upgraded to a hurricane Monday and is expected to strengthen to a Category 3 hurricane before reaching the Panhandle and Big Bend area on Wednesday.

Locally, Manatee County Public Safety officials were not ready to declare a local state of emergency, but are in a “monitor and wait” pattern, director Bob Smith said during a news conference.

Manatee County is under storm surge and tropical storm watches. The storm surge watch stretches from Anna Maria Island to Navarre, while the tropical storm watch stretches to the Suwanee River.

The conditions presented by county officials Monday are subject to change as the storm continues to track closer to Florida’s coast.

“At this time ... there are no plans for (a local state of emergency) but the storm is changing and shifting, so if there is a need to do that, between now and then, then commissioners (Tuesday) morning would learn of that,” Manatee County information outreach manager Nick Azzara said.

“My mindset is we want to be hopeful but we want to be prepared in case it does make a turn,” Congressman Vern Buchanan said during Monday’s news conference.

Interim Emergency Management Chief Steve Litschauer said several county and Anna Maria Island officials had a conference call with state National Hurricane Center partners Monday to discuss the county’s response to Hurricane Michael.

Litschauer was named interim Emergency Management Chief after former chief Sherilyn Burris resigned in September after approximately two years in the position.

He said there were no plans to open shelter or sandbag locations. However, later Monday, county officials announced sandbags would be available at three locations on Tuesday:

• G.T. Bray Park, 5502 33rd Ave. Dr. W., Bradenton;
• Bennett Park, 400 Cypress Creek Blvd., Bradenton;
• Bradenton Area Convention Center, 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto.

Manatee County residents can pick up sandbags from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, with a limit of 10 per household. ID is required.

Litschauer said the area likely will tropical storm force winds from Michael from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning and could see 2 to 4 feet of storm surge along the coast with an additional 2 to 8 inches of rain. King tides also could factor in to how much water the area will see, but, he said, those also are being monitored.

“So dependent on where that eye is, is going to make a determination on what we’re going to see in wind, rain and surge as it goes up,” Litschauer said.

County commissioners will receive and update from Public Safety officials Tuesday morning, Azzara said.

School District of Manatee County officials said in a statement Monday afternoon the district is “working closely with local and state Emergency Management officials to monitor the movements and potential impact of Hurricane Michael.”

There were no plans to close schools as of Monday, the statement said.

Azzara said residents should continue to monitor local news and government and school social media accounts and websites for updates.

This story was originally published October 8, 2018 at 2:31 PM.