Hernando County Officials Declare State of Emergency, Mandatory Evacuations Begin Tomorrow

BROOKSVILLE – Hernando County Officials assembled at the Emergency Operations Center this morning, to provide an update on evacuation orders, closures, and services available to the community during Hurricane Ian.

According to officials, all schools and government offices will be closed on Tuesday and will remain closed through the end of the week.

Voluntary evacuations of coastal areas begin today and will become mandatory starting tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. All residences west of US-19, low lying areas, and mobile homes, are included in the mandatory evacuation order.

A special needs shelter will be open at Challenger K-8, located at 13400 Elgin Blvd in Spring Hill. The general public can go to Explorer K-8, located at 10252 Northcliffe Blvd, and they are pet friendly. Brooksville residents can go to the Mining Association Enrichment Center, located at 800 John Gary Grubbs Road.

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will be operating 24 hours per day, staring tomorrow morning and they have activated a level one emergency.

Weather experts now say the storm will impact the immediate area on Thursday.

Officials expect severe flooding in low lying areas and on roadways, for the duration of this storm. The east side of the storm is the most dangerous and will bring damaging winds to the area.

We will bring more on Hurricane Ian is it develops.