TAMPA - Shell-shocked and weary, Tampa Bay residents and officials began again on Friday a routine that has become all-too-familiar - girding for hurricane battle.
"It's kind of hard to believe we're back here again," Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean said Friday at the start of a press conference at the county's Emergency Operations Center in preparation for Hurricane Ivan.
She said she hoped the damage from Hurricanes Charley and Frances inspired residents to take action and not try to stare down what's possibly a far deadlier system.
"This storm has the potential to be bigger and do more damage than either of the storms so far," Bean said.
In Pinellas County, officials could order the mandatory evacuation of more than a half-million people today. Pinellas school officials said they also would decide today if schools will be open on Monday.
Here is what to expect in the days to come leading up to Ivan's arrival:
Evacuations
The decision on mandatory evacuations in Hillsborough will likely be made Sunday to take effect from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday for zones A, B and C, Bean said.
Residents not living in those zones need to make their own judgment calls about whether to leave, based on the sturdiness of their homes, Bean said.
But for those who do plan to ride out the storm with friends and relatives elsewhere, she advised them to go soon and not wait until the last minute when residents from mandatory evacuation zones are filling the roads.
The county has 43 shelters it can open as needed, Bean said. County employees will work over the weekend to move equipment to the Museum of Science and Industry as a temporary county government facility. The County Center will be closed, and surrounded by an inflatable berm, at least until Wednesday, unless Ivan takes a drastic turn away from Tampa Bay.
The storm remained a Category 4 hurricane Friday with winds of 145 mph. Should it maintain that strength, Pinellas officials would likely order mandatory evacuations through zones C or D - between 430,000 and 532,000 people.
Officials require 15 to 19 hours for a C level evacuation and 18 to 211/2 hours for a D level. Pinellas has shelter capacity for about 70,000 people.
Schools
All Hillsborough public schools will be closed Monday so they can be prepared as potential emergency shelters for Hurricane Ivan.
Hillsborough Superintendent Earl Lennard said he received a call at noon Friday from the Emergency Operation Center saying the schools were needed for evacuees, either locally or from other counties.
There's a chance schools could resume Monday, but only if Ivan takes a "radical change," Lennard said.
A decision on when to reopen schools will be made later.
Gasoline
Spurred by a false rumor about rationing, thousands of drivers sucked the pumps dry Friday at gas stations throughout the Tampa Bay area and Florida. Although supply trucks continued to work around the clock, many stations ran out of fuel, some only had regular grade and others dealt with long lines of nervous customers.
Gov. Jeb Bush and other state officials fought to kill a rumor that gasoline would be rationed to 5 gallons per person. They said it was wrong, impossible and unenforceable.
"It's not true and it's not going to happen," Bush said, adding he would make sure gasoline is available on evacuation routes.
Many stations ran low at the end of August, because drivers filled their tanks in the final days of the gas tax holiday. Then back-to-back hurricanes disrupted distribution temporarily in some areas. But fuel companies have distributed more than 500-million gallons of fuel in five days, compared to a monthly average of 750-million gallons. And more is on the way, with extra delivery trucks working to meet the demand.
Debris
Hillsborough County's contracting crews will continue picking up curbside debris through the weekend, Bean said.
County residents can also bring large debris to one of the following county yard waste processing facilities: Northwest Facility, 8001 W Linebaugh Ave.; Falkenburg Facility, 350 Falkenburg Road; or South Facility, U.S. 41 just north of Big Bend Road.
Likewise, Tampa officials will deploy more than 150 employees to work with the Solid Waste Department and debris removal contractors throughout the weekend to collect debris and yard waste left over from Frances.
Residents should separate building materials - such as plywood, sheet metal, siding, pipes and gutters - from trees and shrubbery.
Residents should not mix household garbage with any debris material.
City residents can drop off debris at the Manhattan Brush Site, 7215 S. Manhattan Ave. or the McKay Bay Waste to Energy Facility, 112 S 34th Street from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Sandbags
The following Hillsborough County Roadway Maintenance Units are issuing sand bags. Sand bags should be picked up by residents who have a need to protect their property from possible flooding.
West: 9805 Sheldon Road, 554-5006/5075
Central: 4115 South 66th St., 744-5518
East: Turkey Creek and Sydney Roads, 757-3861
South: 7820 Big Bend Road, 671-7619.
City residents must show a driver's license or utility bill when picking up sandbags at:
Solid Waste Department, 4010 W. Spruce St.
Himes Sports Complex, 4500 S. Himes Ave.
Jackson Heights YET Center, 3310 E. Lake Ave.
Power
Bay area utility representatives say they are closing in on restoring all power, but about 18,000 people remained without electricity Friday evening.
"We know how hot, sticky, irritable and uncomfortable everyone is who doesn't have power," said Ross Bannister, spokesman for Tampa Electric Co. "We're working just as safely as we can to get it done as quickly as we can."
As of about 5 p.m. Friday, 5,000 Tampa Electric customers remained without power in Hillsborough County, down by half from the day before, and far less than the 263,000 customers in the dark at the beginning of the outage. It appeared the utility would be unable to reach a goal of having all power restored by the end of Friday.
There were also a few hundred outages remaining among Tampa Electric customers in Pasco and Polk counties.
Only 38 Progress Energy customers were still without in Pinellas, 27 in Pasco and 2,340 in Hernando. Still, 10,962 Progress Energy customers remained without power in Citrus.
Each of the area's utilities was hoping to have all power turned back on by the end of the weekend, and were preparing to do it again if Hurricane Ivan unravels the electricity grid once more.
MacDill Air Force Base
All military personnel, civilian employees and their dependents who reside on the base or are assigned to MacDill and live in surge zones A, B and C will evacuate to their listed safe house no later than 8 a.m. Monday. All mission essential personnel will report for duty today. MacDill personnel may call 1-800-435-9941 for current base information and to update their safe house location if needed.
Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport advises travelers to contact their airlines immediately for information on flight cancellations and schedule changes for any flights scheduled to depart Sunday through Tuesday. Travelers are advised to make any travel changes by telephone, and should not come out to the airport before contacting their airline.
In addition, the Aviation Authority advises residents of the Tampa Bay area that the airport is not a shelter. Residents are advised not to come to the airport, or to bring vehicles of any kind to the airport for parking or storage. The airport is within an evacuation zone and airport roadways may become flooded, stranding travelers on the property.
Staff Writers Chris Goffard, Curtis Krueger, Michael Sandler, Joni James, Alisa Ulferts and Melanie Ave contributed to this report.
Projected path