Hurricane Irma: 3 Lee County Shelters Have Space

LEE COUNTY, FL — Hurricane Irma continued to make its way up Sunday after making landfall in the Florida Keys.

In Lee County, evacuation orders were expanded Saturday and more shelters were scheduled to open as many were filled to capacity.

According to the latest information from the Lee County Office of Emergency Management, mandatory evacuations were expanded to include Zone B south of the Caloosahatchee in Fort Myers and Zone B south of Pine Island Road in Cape Coral. (For the latest on Irma and up to date information for Fort Myers residents, subscribe to the Fort Myers Patch for real time alerts.)

Watch: Florida Governor, ‘Irma Now Impacting Our State'

Mandatory evacuations ordered earlier include:

• All of the barrier islands (Boca Grande/Gasparilla, Cayo Costa, Useppa, Cabbage Key, North Captiva, Captiva, Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach, San Carlos Island, Bonita Beach)
• Cape Coral west of Burnt Store Road and south of Cape Coral Parkway, east of Del Prado Boulevard to Viscaya Parkway
• North Fort Myers south of Bay Shore Road from Moody Road to State Road 31 and areas south of North River Road from State Road 31 to Fichters Creek.
• Areas of Iona south of Maple Drive, west of U.S. 41
• San Carlos Park west of U.S. 41,
• Estero west of U.S. 41, north of the Estero River
• Bonita Springs communities along Estero Bay and the Imperial River Basin

>>>You can check your evacuation zone by clicking here.

Shelters that have space available as of Sunday morning include:

• Harns Marsh Elementary School, 1800 Unice Ave N, Lehigh Acres
• Mirror Lakes Elementary School, 525 Charwood Ave. South, Lehigh Acres
• Veterans Park Recreation Center, 49 Homestead Road, Lehigh Acres

Shelters that are at full capacity:

• East Lee County High School
• Estero Recreation Center
• FGCU's Alico Arena
• Germain Arena
• Harns Marsh MIddle School
• Island Coast High School
• North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts
• Oak Hammock Middle School
• Ray V. Pottorf Elementary
• South Fort Myers High School
• Varsity Lakes Middle School

The Lee County Sheriff's Office was also reassuring evacuees that Germain Arena was a safe shelter.

"Inaccuracies reported by a national media outlet are leading to some unrest in one of our shelters," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "The outlet falsely reported that Germain Arena is not a safe shelter to be in. Germain Arena is a hardened building that is structurally sound and a safe place for people to be. During blue-sky times, Lee County works with its public-private partners to harden facilities. We also work with shelter managers to ensure everyone’s safety."

You can find the latest information on shelters by visiting the Lee County Office of Emergency Management website.

Photo by Desmond Boylan/Associated Press