VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia County leaders are preparing for Tropical Storm Nicole by issuing mandatory evacuation orders for certain areas that may receive some of the worst impacts of the storm.
The evacuations are set to begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday for the following areas:
- All areas east of the Intracoastal Waterway
- All persons living in mobile or manufactured homes east of Interstate 95
- All low-lying areas and other flood-prone areas
- All campsites and recreational vehicle parks
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All evacuations must be completed by 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to Volusia County Community Information Director Kevin Captain. He added that all residents countywide who live in manufactured or mobile homes are also encouraged to evacuate, in addition to those living east of I-95, who must evacuate.
“A low-category hurricane or even a tropical storm will cause more damage than usual due to the weakened infrastructure we have,” said Volusia County Manager George Recktenwald. “If you are impacted with flooding from Hurricane Ian, you can expect to be impacted by this upcoming storm as well.”
The county’s emergency manager, Jim Judge, said that somewhere between three and five feet of storm surge is expected from this storm, adding that “6 feet of storm surge is not out of the question.”
“We will have four shelters open to on the east side, two on the west side,” Judge said. “We do have Creekside (Middle School), and Heritage (Middle School) will be our special needs shelters and then also Henson (Middle School) and University High School where be our general population shelters.”
All four shelters are pet friendly, according to the district.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood also announced that a curfew will take effect Wednesday night from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m Thursday morning.
“The beachside in particular the peninsula will be locked down. We will not be allowing anyone back over there unless they are residents to pick up supplies,” Chitwood said.
According to the sheriff, all parts of the county are expected to receive 45-60 mph sustained winds and hurricane-strength gusts.
Chitwood said that bridges across the Intracoastal Waterway will be closed to eastbound traffic once sustained winds reach 39 mph. When the curfew begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the bridges will be closed in both directions.
For a list of evacuation shelters in Volusia County, click here.
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