News Features

Milton Prep Dominates Life In North Lake This Week

    North Lake County spent the early part of this week preparing for the potential impacts of Hurricane Milton. Area governments, Lake County Schools, and citizens at large were making storm plans and gathering supplies in advance of the storm's expected arrival sometime on Wednesday.
   Traffic was heavy at area sandbag, fuel, and propane locations on Monday, as residents prepared. Throughout the day Monday, announcements flowed from Lake County authorities signaling event cancellations and office closings.
   Lake County Schools announced late on Monday afternoon that there would be no classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with after-school activities canceled for all days. Friday was previously scheduled as a teacher-only work day.
   “Teachers will have the option to work from home or their school site,” said LCS communications officer Sherri Owens.
   Lake County made sandbags available in Sorrento, Umatilla, Astor, Minneola, Leesburg, Clermont, and Tavares, providing staffing from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to assist residents in need of bags. The Lake County Historic Courthouse received protective boarding early Tuesday, believed to be the first time the building was covered since 1960, when it was still the official county courthouse.
   The county’s solid waste pickup schedule was suspended on Tuesday, but yard debris pickup continued through Wednesday until the storm’s arrival forced suspension of that service.
   Lake’s Citizen Information Hotline was activated on Monday, to provide non-emergency information to residents with questions about the storm and area response. The line is staffed from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. until further notice at 352-253-9999.
   Boat ramps in Astor at Lake George Road, East Pearl Street, and Butler Street were closed and will remain so until further notice.
   In addition, the Astor Area Chamber of Commerce rescheduled its meeting planned for this Wednesday to October 16. That meeting will convene at 6 p.m. at the chamber office, located on SR 40.
   SECO Energy was among the area utilities ramping up in anticipation of service disruption, with crews returning from supporting Hurricane Helene impacts to prep for local work.
   “SECO Energy crews have returned from providing mutual aid to other cooperatives in Florida and Georgia affected by Hurricane Helene,” said Eneida Robaina in a release on Monday. “Crews are fueling trucks and prepping with essential supplies and materials to prepare for possible outages.”
   Lake Sumter State College on Monday announced it would be closing at 4 p.m. on Tuesday and remain closed through Thursday. The closure was for all LSSC campuses.
   County offices began announcing closures on Monday afternoon, with the Lake County Clerk announcing offices would be closed Wednesday and Thursday, with a potential Friday reopening. Later in the day, the Supervisor of Elections office announced a closure beginning at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, lasting through Thursday.
   The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission late Monday sent out a call for all boat owners to immediately secure their vessels in advance of the storm.
   “This storm has the potential to cause the kind of widespread damage we saw with Hurricane Ian,” said Col. Brian Smith, director of the FWC Division of Law Enforcement. “With Ian, we saw hundreds of boats on land and derelict in our waterways. We know how to prevent this from happening again and need boat owners to take this seriously. I cannot stress enough how imperative it is that you secure your boats now. Do not wait until it is too late.”
   Lake County and Lake County Schools partnered to open storm shelters throughout the county, including in Paisley at Spring Creek Charter School, in Eustis at Eustis High School, in Mount Dora at Mount Dora High School, in Tavares at Tavares High School, in Umatilla at Umatilla Elementary, and in Mount Dora at Round Lake Elementary. The county offered transportation to those in need to shelters on Wednesday as conditions allowed.
   Municipal governments prepped for the storm by hardening off facilities, checking emergency generators, and setting up emergency operation centers. In Umatilla, the police station was activated as the city’s emergency operations center. In Eustis, the city offered sandbags at the fire department on Norton Avenue, while city offices, the library and pool, as well as recreation programs and parks were closed by Tuesday afternoon. City hall also closed for Wednesday and Thursday.