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Bay area braces for possible strike

By MARLON A. WALKER and STEPHANIE HAYES
Published June 11, 2006

The tropical depression churning in the Caribbean and likely heading toward Florida will bring wind and rain to the Tampa Bay area this week.

The storm could make landfall in Florida on Monday. The National Weather Service in Ruskin forecasts thunderstorms and winds reaching 25 mph through Monday night. Today, expect isolated thunderstorms in the morning, increasing as the day goes on, with winds at 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight is expected to bring winds of 10 to 20 mph.

The Pinellas County disaster advisory committee is scheduled to meet today at 2 p.m. to discuss weather conditions, including any plans on how the county will deal with the tropical depression.

"This is (tropical depression) one, so everybody's real cautious, based on what happened last year," county spokeswoman Maggie Hall said.

Hall said the meeting will include officials from cities throughout the county and others with a general role in the county's health, safety or welfare. The committee will determine what suggestions to make to the Pinellas County Commission.

"Whatever the case, the meeting is scheduled," she said. "What we're going to discuss depends on the overnight advisories."

In Hillsborough County, emergency staff is on standby, holding conference phone calls and staying connected via pagers and cell phones, said Emergency Management spokeswoman Holly Wade.

Wade said a weekend skeleton crew is monitoring storm changes at the county's emergency operations center. "There are a lot of things that could still change," she said.

While Wade said Hillsborough County staff is not planning any different operations this year, she said she has seen members of the public taking extra precautions to get ready for storm season.

"On my way home from the (emergency operations center), I did see some people coming out of Publix with extra water. I saw people fueling cars,'' she said. "I'm hoping that the past two seasons have at least made them a little more aware."

[Last modified June 11, 2006, 05:53:32]