City begins prep for Hurricane Irma

Winter Park has begun the process of bracing for the upcoming storm.With Hurricane Irma looming out in the Caribbean, the City of Winter Park is now readying for the impact.

While it is currently topped off as a Category 5 storm, projections on path and strength by the time it reaches the area are up in the air – though many projections have it at Category 3 when it makes it to Central Florida.

At the moment the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is working at Level 3, which the City said could be bumped up to a higher level depending on how things develop.

As a part of their hurricane preparedness process, supplies of sandbags – which are limited to 12 per person – are available for city residents of Winter Park at the Public Works Compound – located at 1409 Howell Branch Road.

Sandbags can be picked up from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. between Sept. 6 and 8. Residents are required to bring proof of residency.

To provide as much help as they can all city departments will be fully staffed, while extra crews will be on stand-by to help out in different aspects of prep, recovery, and restoration.

RESOURCES

Official City online resources

• Website cityofwinterpark.org
• citEnews > cityofwinterpark.org/citEnews receive city info via email
• Facebook® cityofwinterpark.org/facebook (@winterparkfla)
• Twitter® cityofwinterpark.org/twitter (@winterparkfl)Nextdoor® > sign up at nextdoor.com

 Other important resources

• Non-emergency information line 407-599-3494
       (goes live upon Emergency Operations Center activation)
• Message Center email [email protected]
         (goes live upon Emergency Operations Center activation)
• Electric utility power outages 1-877-811-8700
• Water & wastewater utilities outages 407-599-3219

Outreach
Per the City of Winter Park, residents can "sign up for the city’s emergency alert system to receive updates on extreme weather conditions, boil water alerts, power restoration status, and hurricane/tornado warnings."

If you're looking to sign up for OUTREACH, locals can visit the city's website (cityofwinterpark.org). From there, visitors can click on the OUTREACH icon located at the bottom right corner of the homepage.