It's time to head back to school and work, but it's still too early to know exactly what this powerful storm will do.
With Hurricane Ivan apparently steering a westward course over open water and away from Citrus, life is starting to return to normal.
Among the signs:
-- School is back in session today, after being closed since Sept. 7, as Frances swept through.
-- All county offices and facilities that were closed due to Frances and/or the threat of Ivan will reopen today, although the County Commission meeting scheduled for today is still canceled.
Emergency planners met briefly Monday to monitor Hurricane Ivan's progress and plan a course of action. Their decision: Sit tight and watch the storm.
"The hurricane keeps slowing down and that affects the forecast track, and it hasn't even crossed Cuba yet," said Citrus County sheriff's Capt. Joe Eckstein, commander of the Emergency Operations Center. "It's still too early to tell exactly where it's going to go. We're still in a wait-and-see phase, and it's best not to let your guard down."
While Citrus waits out the storm, county staffers are preparing a damage assessment report to present to the Federal Emergency Management Agency seeking reimbursement for the county's economic losses. The report is expected to be completed this week.
During Monday afternoon's briefing, representatives of Progress Energy and Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative reported that most of the residents who could be supplied with power were back on. Many of those who are still without electricity are waiting for an electrician to make repairs to their homes before power can be restored.
The county's other electricity provider, the Sumter Electric Cooperative, reported Sunday that its power restoration efforts were essentially complete.
In northeast Citrus, the Withlacoochee River near Arrowhead is close to flood level due to the rains from Frances. The crest, if it comes, could arrive today or Wednesday.
"There are some flooded areas in Arrowhead," said County Commission Chairman Josh Wooten, who spoke with Arrowhead residents Monday.
The Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park will reopen today after being closed since Frances ripped through the area, downing trees and knocking out electrical service. Park rangers and volunteers have scrambled to clear debris and reopen trails. The park animals were kept safe in special enclosures during the storm.
Visitors were allowed to view portions of the park late last week with no admission charge before full electricity was restored. Windows of some park buildings will remain boarded up until all threat of Ivan has passed, according to Art Yerian, park manager.
The boats that take people along Pepper Creek from the Visitors Center to the park will not be running today, but the tram service to the Fishbowl Drive entrance will be operational. The park has been closed since Sept. 4.
Citrus school officials decided to reopen schools today.
The decision had been made on Friday to cancel school on Monday for several reasons, according to John Colasanti, the district's health and safety specialist.
At that time, Ivan still was heading toward the west coast of Florida. Parents and staff were also making decisions about whether to evacuate and some were planning on heading far out of the area, since so much of the state had already been affected by previous storms.
Because so many people had been without power, district officials were unable to reach all staffers who would be needed to reopen school, Colasanti said.
Other school districts chose to open school on Monday, but Colasanti said they had other considerations. Pasco schools opened Monday, but he noted that Pasco was outside the strike zone for a longer period of time and had far fewer people without power, so it was easier to get word to the staff in Pasco County.
The county information lines are scheduled to remain open from 6 a.m. to midnight today . The numbers are 746-5470, 527-2106 and 746-6555. Call with storm-related questions.
Also, the county still has three sandbag sites open. They are at the following locations:
-- Palmview and Stokes Ferry Road, Hernando.
-- 9556 E Bushnell Road, Floral City.
-- The fire station at 9837 E Gulf to Lake Highway (State Road 44), Inverness.
-- Jorge Sanchez can be reached at 352 860-7313 or e-mail sanchez@sptimes.com
How Ivan might affect us
