BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Brevard County EOC activates Thursday morning ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Helene.
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Even on Central Florida’s east coast emergency officials anticipate there will be storm impacts.
In an update earlier today, Emergency Management Director John Scott mentioned about 4 inches of rainfall, sustained winds of 25-35 mph, and the threat of tornadoes.
“Right now, we really want people to not focus on the track. The track is where we think the eye of the storm is going to go. This is one of the biggest storms we’ve seen in recent history. So, we want to make sure that people are prepared for winds and rain and during Thursday,” said county public information officer Rachel Horst.
Read: Hurricane Helene forms, forecast to strengthen into Cat. 4
Plenty of area residents like Melia Singleton were planning.
Singleton told us, “It’s critical to prepare for a storm, you know, with closures, with school closures and everything going on. You never know how long power is going to be out. You never know how long it’s going to be until you can hit another grocery store.”
The Director of Brevard County’s Beach Management Program, Mike McGarry, said area beaches will certainly experience some effects from Hurricane Helene.
Read: Hurricane Helene: These Florida theme parks are closed for inclement weather
He added that county beaches are in pretty good shape to resist erosive forces.
But certainly, there will be some impacts, and if the storm stalls, or shifts further east, conditions could be worse.
Brevard County Schools and Eastern Florida State College will be closed on Thursday.
And the U.S. Coast Guard is restricting ship traffic at port Canaveral on Thursday.
The Ports CEO, Capt. John Murray told us, “We’ll get out at daybreak on Friday morning and clear the way for the ships to start coming back in.”
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