Because evacuees have left shelters, school could resume Tuesday. Officials closed emergency distribution centers but are keeping an eye on Ivan's path.
Citrus County emergency planners are keeping a watchful eye on Hurricane Ivan as the powerful storm prepares to make its entry into the eastern Gulf of Mexico, where it could pose a serious threat to the Gulf Coast or the Panhandle.
After meeting early Sunday at the Emergency Operations Center, emergency officials decided that the best course of action was to wait. The next briefing will be at 3 p.m. today.
"Once Ivan is north of Cuba, it's expected that decisions can best be made in terms of preventive measures for Citrus County," said Gail Tierney, public information officer for the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, which operates the EOC.
Noting that the storm appears to be moving west, away from the Citrus coast, she said decisions such as reopening schools, which have been closed since Tuesday, may be made.
"If things stay the same, I expect that decisions will be made after the briefing. In the meantime, residents should continue with their preparation and securing their property."
As the impact from Frances begins to be brought under control, the county is standing down on many of its emergency measures. Frances passed through Citrus County as a tropical storm Sept. 5 and 6.
The county's emergency distribution centers were all closed by Sunday evening, including the large one at the Citrus County Fairgrounds. All of the public shelters were also closed by Sunday.
Public schools are canceled today, as they have been since Sept. 7, but because the schools will no longer be needed as shelters, school officials have a clear path for reopening the schools on Tuesday. That decision could be made today.
Sumter Electric Cooperative announced that as of Sunday morning, the effort to restore power to the 103,000 customers who lost it during Frances is essentially complete. SECO spokesperson Barry Bowman said that there may be some "scattered outages" or homes whose outside electrical service was damaged and needs to be repaired by an electrician before power is restored. Any Citrus customer of SECO can call 726-3944 to report an outage.
Progress Energy posted a message on its Web site saying that by noon Sunday, power was expected to be restored to the remaining customers without power in Citrus County.
On Friday, 10,962 Citrus customers of Progress Energy were without electricity. By Sunday, the Citrus County number had been lowered to 271, according to the Progress Energy Web site. Progress Energy customers should call toll-free 1-800-228-8485 to report a power outage.
The Withlacoochee River, which had been predicted to flood late last week, is still at a high level, but not yet flooding. Officials are watching and waiting to see what happens this week, Tierney said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency had a team of customer service representatives working in Citrus County to inform people how to start a claim for disaster reimbursement.
FEMA spokesman Jack Heesch said that people should call FEMA's toll-free number, 1-800-621-3362, to register as disaster victims. From there, depending on their insurance and the severity of the damage, FEMA staffers can work with them.
"We have 42 people on the ground, knocking on doors and handing out fliers in Citrus County," Heesch said. "The most important thing people can do is to get registered with FEMA to get things started. I know the wait on the phone is a little long, but it's important."
Heesch said that FEMA has already registered about 319,510 victims from the two storms, Charley and Frances. He said the federal agency has distributed $154.3-million throughout the state in disaster relief.
He said FEMA covers lots of different losses, and only by registering can people find out what type of assistance they might receive. For example, Heesch said, if disaster victims bought or leased an electrical generator after their power was out, FEMA usually reimburses them for the cost.
