Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for Tropical Storm Hermine, which covers most of central Florida. Hermine is expected to bring heavy rain and the possibility of tornadoes, strong winds and flooding.
Central Florida residents have been picking up free sandbags Wednesday. John Mulhall with Orange County Emergency Management said we’re used to storms here but this is a good chance to educate new central Florida residents about severe weather.
“These are the types of events that we use to dust off our emergency plans, make sure we’re ready, make sure all of our contacts are up to date. Our Public Works Department is offering sandbags at eight different locations throughout the county,” said Mulhall.
Those are Orange County’s eight Maintenance Units. The county is distributing sandbags until 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
The cities of Orlando and Kissimmee and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office also helped people load up sandbags Wednesday.
From Orange County, here are the sandbag pickup locations:
Apopka Maintenance Unit
3258 Clarcona Road
Apopka, FL 32703
Bithlo Maintenance Unit
18753 Old Cheney Highway
Bithlo, FL 32820
John Young Maintenance Unit
4200 S. John Young Parkway
Orlando, FL 32839
Taft Maintenance Unit
11442 Intermodal Way
Orlando, FL 32824
Three Points Maintenance Unit
4631 Young Pine Road
Orlando, FL 32829
West Orange Maintenance Unit
644 Beulah Road
Winter Garden, FL 34787
Zellwood Maintenance Unit
3400 Golden Gem Road
Zellwood, FL 32712
Goldenrod Maintenance Unit
2530 N. Forsyth Road
Orlando, FL 32792