Pinellas County Government: Update 6: BCC Declares State Of Local Emergency For TS Elsa

Press release from the Pinellas County Government:

July 4, 2021

The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners on Sunday declared a State of Local Emergency for Tropical Storm Elsa. Effective for seven days, the declaration gives County Administrator Barry A. Burton authority to quickly approve expenditures and issue special orders to ensure public safety if needed.

At 5 p.m. Sunday, Tropical Storm Elsa was located just south of Cuba and had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. While there remains a high level of uncertainty as to the future intensity and arrival of the storm, forecasting models are mostly in agreement that that storm will track up the Florida west coast. Pinellas County may experience flooding in coastal and low-lying areas and loss of power due to downed trees and limbs Tuesday and Wednesday. Tornadoes and waterspouts also are possible.

The National Weather Service has placed the Tampa Bay area under both a tropical storm watch and storm surge watch. A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible in the watch area within 48 hours. A storm surge watch means there is a possibility of life-threatening inundation from rising water moving inland from the coastline.

Pinellas County Response/Action

·        The County Information Center (CIC) will be open Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Call 727-464-4333.

o  Residents who are deaf or hard of hearing can contact the CIC via online chat at www.bit.ly/PinellasChat.

·        Pinellas County is proactively reaching out to flood prone communities and communities in low-lying areas to advise them of potential risks.

·        The County has not initiated sandbag operations, but certain municipalities have. Check with your municipality.

·        Pinellas County road crews are standing by to clear roads after the storm.

·        No evacuations have been ordered, and no shelters are open at this time. Please continue to monitor www.pinellascounty.org for updates.

Advice & Information for Residents

·        Pinellas County has launched a new Tropical Storm Surge Flooding Risk map to show residents their risk from Tropical Storm Elsa at https://storm.pinellascounty.org.

·        For safety tips before, during and after a flood, visit https://www.pinellascounty.org/flooding/safety.htm.

·        Make a plan now in case you need to shelter in place of leave your home - locate evacuation zone: www.pinellascounty.org/knowyourzone.

·        Finalize preparedness plans: http://www.pinellascounty.org/emergency/prepareahead

·        Monitor local news media, National Weather Service, www.pinellascounty.org, Facebook @PinellasCountyNews and Twitter @PinellasCoNews, search hashtag #PCElsa.

·        Register for emergency alerts at http://www.pinellascounty.org/alertpinellas.

·        Preregister for special needs shelters by calling the County Information Center at (727) 464-4333. Pre-registration is recommended for those transporting themselves. For those needing transportation assistance, registration is required. (Residents only need to register for special needs shelters once per season, so doing it now will help you for the rest of the year).

This press release was produced by the Pinellas County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.