Reeling from Helene, Tampa Bay braces for Milton

Reeling and far from recovering from Helene, Tampa Bay braces for Hurricane Milton.

With the region under a hurricane watch, Hillsborough County issued a mandatory evacuation order for zones A and B Monday morning and started opening up shelters. Here are the shelters open in Hillsborough.

General population, pet friendly shelters:

• Burnett Middle School (pet friendly), 1010 N. Kingsway Rd., Seffner, FL 33584
• Durant High School (pet friendly), 4748 Cougar Path, Plant City, FL 33567
• Middleton High School (pet friendly), 4801 N. 22nd St., Tampa, FL 33610
• Shields Middle School (pet friendly), 15732 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin, FL 33573
• Sickles High School (pet friendly), 7950 Gunn Hwy., Tampa, FL 33626

General population, no pet shelter:

• Pizzo Elementary School, 11701 USF Bull Run Dr., Tampa, FL 33617

Special needs, pet friendly shelters:

• Erwin Technical College (special needs only, pet friendly), 2010 E. Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, FL 33610
• Sumner High School (special needs only, pet friendly), 10650 County Rd. 672, Riverview, FL 33579
• Strawberry Crest High School (special needs only, pet friendly), 4691 Gallagher Rd., Dover, FL 33527

Pinellas County has a mandatory evacuation order in place for residential healthcare facilities, special needs residents and individuals who need electricity for medical devices in zones A, B and C. As of early Monday afternoon, a voluntary evacuation is in place for residents in A, B and C and mobile and manufactured homes. 

Pinellas has opened these shelters as of noon Monday:
 

• Largo High School (general population and pet friendly), 410 Missouri Ave. N., Largo
• Gibbs High School (general population and pet friendly), 850 34^th St. S. St. Petersburg
• Palm Harbor University High School (general population and pet friendly),1900 Omaha St, Palm Harbor
• Palm Harbor University High School Bldg. 19 (special needs), 1900 Omaha St, Palm Harbor
• Dunedin Highland Middle School (special needs), 70 Patricia Ave., Dunedin
• Oak Grove Middle School (special needs), 1370 S. Belcher Road, Clearwater

Pasco County has a mandatory evacuation order for zones A and B, manufactured and mobile homes and low-lying and flood-prone areas. Voluntary evacuation is in place for zone C and shelters begin to open at noon. 

Manatee County has mandatory evacuation orders in place for A and B opens shelters starting Monday afternoon. Sarasota County has an evacuation order in place for A and B and mobile and manufactures homes and will open shelters Tuesday morning.

Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater are offering free parking in city-owned parking garage. This comes after Helene flooded vehicles, with salt water intrusion in lithium-ion batteries causing electric vehicles to catch fire.

In Tampa, free parking will be available at the following garages through 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 10th: 

Parking will be available at the following Tampa ity garages, with upper-level parking offered on a first-come, first-served basis:

• Fort Brooke Garage: 107 N. Franklin St.
• Twiggs Street Garage: 901 E. Twiggs St.
• Centro Ybor Garage: 1500 E. 5th Ave.
• Palm Fernando Garage: 2010 N. 13th St.
• Pam Iorio Garage: 301 Channelside Dr.
• Whiting Garage: 118 S. Florida Ave.
• Tampa Convention Center Garage: 141 E. Brorein St.
• William F Poe Garage: 802 N. Ashley Dr.

Electric vehicles should be on the third floor or higher.

St. Petersburg will offer free parking at the South Core parking garage (101 First Ave. S) on a space-available basis. The entrance is accessible from First Ave. S between First and Second streets. The garage will allow free entry from 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7 until is full or 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8th, whichever comes first. To park for free, vehicles need to be retrieved by noon, Saturday, Oct. 12th.

Clearwater has opened the Garden Avenue Garage, 28 N. Garden Ave., for residents to move cars to higher ground. As of Monday mid-afternoon, that garage is full.

The Pinellas County Parking Garage, at 310 Court St. in downtown Clearwater, is also open for the public to park until the county buildings re-open.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell joins Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Fire Chief Barbara Tripp and Police Chief Lee Bercaw for a press conference at 3:30 p.m. Monday. The press conference will stream on the city's Facebook page