By Kyle Coppola
8am Update from Lake and Sumter Style Weather Center
Ian Powers up to a Category 4 Hurricane Overnight as it nears Florida.
Hurricane Ian has unfortunately been upgraded to a category 4 hurricane. Many of the experts have predicted that the hurricane will maintain wind of 140mph as it reaches shore later on this afternoon into early tonight. Ian was upgraded to a Category 4 at 5am ET this morning.
There is good news for Lake & Sumter Counties the storms eye shifted another 20 nautical miles to the south and that’s totaled over 100 nautical miles in the past 48 hours so the worst of the cone of uncertainty is now headed toward North Port Florida and then it is luckily headed to sparsely populated areas initially up highway 17 as it closes in on Wauchula then on to Kissimmee Florida.
That means Lake and Sumter counties are nearly out of the danger zone. However.. we still need to watch out for major flooding, micro bursts that can bring down tree limbs along with tornados! That’s right we are on the dirty side of the Hurricane so we are not out of the woods yet.
Flooding
As far as flooding is concerned I want to stress that we still could see up to 1 to potentially 2 feet of rain in some areas in our counties. Please be prepared for that. Flash flooding is still a possibility and you should be ready for that especially if you live in an area prone to flooding. Take all precautions necessary and seek evacuation to the sites listed below.
Still Be Prepared for Power Outages!
More than 17,200 customers were affected by power outages in Florida as of early Wednesday morning, as residents got a preview of Hurricane Ian’s force. The Florida Power and Light Company reported a total of 17,255 outages across several counties, including Broward, which has seen more than 6,700 outages, as well as Miami-Dade, where more than 5,700 outages have been reported, as of around 3:15 a.m.
Lake & Sumter county shelters open at 4pm Tuesday
Primary Shelters
- East Ridge High School – 13322 Excalibur Road, Clermont
- East Ridge Middle School – 13201 Excalibur Road, Clermont
- Eustis High School – 1300 E. Washington Ave, Eustis
- Leesburg High School – 1401 Yellow Jacket Way, Leesburg
- Mount Dora High School – 700 N. Highland St. Mount Dora
- Tavares High School – 603 N. New Hampshire Ave, Tavares
Pet Friendly Shelters
- Mascotte Elementary School – 460 Midway Ave, Mascotte
- Round Lake Elementary School – 31333 Round Lake Road, Clermont
- Spring Creek Elementary School – 44440 Spring Creek Road, Paisley
- Treadway Elementary School – 10619 Treadway School Road, Leesburg
- Astatula Elementary School – 13925 Florida Ave, Astatula
- Leesburg Elementary School – 2229 South St, Leesburg
- Lost Lake Elementary School – 1901 Johns Lake Road, Clermont
- Umatilla Elementary School – 401 Lake St, Umatilla
- Villages Elementary School – 695 Rolling Acres Road, Lady Lake
Special Needs Shelters
- Astatula Elementary School – 13925 Florida Ave, Astatula
- Leesburg Elementary School – 2229 South St, Leesburg
- Lost Lake Elementary School – 1901 Johns Lake Road, Clermont
- Umatilla Elementary School – 401 Lake St, Umatilla
- Villages Elementary School – 695 Rolling Acres Road, Lady Lake
Sandbag Locations available from 8am – 5pm daily
- Residents must bring own shovels and are limited to 10 bags
Astor Area (Fire Station #10)
- 23023 State Road 40, Astor, FL 32102
East Lake Sports and Community Complex
- 24809 Wallick Rd, Sorrento, FL 32776
P.E.A.R Park
- 26701 US Hwy 27, Leesburg, FL 34748 (Use Front Entrance)
North Lake Regional Park
- 40730 Roger Giles Rd, Umatilla, FL 32784
Minneola Athletic Complex
- 1300 Fosgate Road (13930 Education Ave) Minneola, FL
The City of Clermont – West Park Ballfields
- 658 12th Street, Clermont
The City Of Eustis – Eustis Fire Station 22
- 100 W Norton Ave, Eustis, FL 32726
If You Have Pets
- Have extra water and food on hand to last one week or more. We recommend having a plan to toilet your pets inside the house during the worst of the storm if necessary. High winds and debris will be potentially dangerous if not lethal to pets so have this plan in place.
- Have a plan in case a pet is injured. There are local urgent care centers in the area which you should inform yourself on.
- Hand powered can opener – In case the power is out for a prolonged period many pet foods are opened by an electronic can opener. Make sure to have a manual one on hand just in case.
- Toys and Treats – To reduce stress make sure to have toys and treats on hand.
- Medical Records – Make sure to have medical records on hand in case, including photos of your pets.
- Microchip – A good rule of thumb is to always have your pets microchipped in order to find them if they get lost.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
