Live Hurricane Helene updates: What to expect in Polk County, plus closures and cancellations

(This story was updated to include new information.)

Hurricane Helene separated from Mexico's Yucatan peninsula on Wednesday morning and began its northeast trek toward Florida.

Senior meteorologist Nicole Carlisle of the National Weather Service's Tampa Bay office said Helene is expected to strengthen pretty quickly over the next 24 hours as it crosses the Gulf. The hurricane is still projected to make landfall along the Big Bend area of Florida, as its anticipated track has not significantly shifted since Tuesday.

(This story was updated to add new information and photos.)

Polk County is under a tropical storm warning issued by the National Weather Service, meaning when sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph or higher are expected in 36 hours or less. The county is expected to experience heavy rains and strong wind gusts as the storm moves through the Gulf on Thursday.

"There's a lower chance for [Polk] being inland as it will be offshore and passing us to the west. Exact impact will be dependent on where it goes," Carlisle said.

Polk residents should expect to see an estimated 3 to 6 inches of rainfall, with higher amounts possible in some spots on Thursday. Wind guests are expected between 35 mph up to 74 mph.

There is a "likely" chance for some localized flooding, Carlisle said, but she did not have updated predictions available for the Peace River.

The hurricane is expected to move quickly. Once Helene makes landfall, as a potential Category 4, the wind gusts should die down pretty quickly, Carlisle said.

Emergency declaration

Gov. Ron DeSantis included Polk County in an update to the state of emergency on Tuesday. The state is warning of a serious and highly destructive storm and urging coastal residents to evacuate , especially in the Big Bend area.

Polk County Emergency Management

According to Paul Womble, Polk County emergency management director, the county’s EOC continues to monitor the track of the storm.

The county’s sandbag sites remained open Wednesday. On Tuesday, the county distributed 17,388 sandbags and by the end of Wednesday that number could come close to 40,000, Womble said.

He also said the county is not planning to open any shelters. The county’s most medically at-need people were called by the Health Department on Tuesday.

“There wasn't any real concerns at that point,” Womble said. He added “if folks are at home and they have medical equipment that needs power, everybody needs to have an emergency plan.”

In addition to localized flooding, he said the county expects potential power outages from downed trees and power lines because of wind gusts. He urged residents to not approach downed trees or power lines because of the possibility of electrocution.

“If you see power lines down, assume that they're energized until you know for sure they're not,” Womble said.

It'll be dangerous to be on the roads

He also said high-profile vehicles might tip over in strong wind events, so he advised residents to not drive on Thursday during the worst portions of the storm.

In Polk County, if conditions allow a Sheriff’s Office deputy to drive to an emergency, paramedics can also ride with them if the call is for medical reasons, Womble said. Ambulances are considered high profile vehicles and cannot respond to calls when certain wind speeds are prevalent.

Stay out of floodwaters and use generators safely

Womble advised residents not to wade through floodwaters, as they can contain sewage, wildlife or other hidden hazards.

He also said generators must be kept a safe distance from a home or business because of their exhaust containing carbon monoxide, which is an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas. It can cause flu-like symptoms and loss of consciousness, and in some cases the gas can be fatal.

Deaths occur each year when gasoline powered electric generators are placed in homes, garages or too close to a structure.

“Make sure you run them safely and you can’t have them inside,” Womble said.

Lakeland preps for heavy rain

Laurie Smith, Lakeland's manager of lakes and stormwaters, said the city's crews have been watching the development of Hurricane Helene for over a week and taking steps to ensure stormwater drains can cope with the anticipated rainfall.

"It’s been one of those summers we’ve had an extraordinary amount of heavy rain," she said. "The ground is very saturated, the lakes are high, the water table is high and we're trying to make room in the lakes where we can."Smith said she has the full crews out checking drainage ditches, canals and major stormwater systems to make sure there are no blockages or debris. Lakeland's street sweeping crews have been running full speed to get things out of the road before they wind up in a drainage pipe.

Two areas Smith said she's keeping a particularly close eye on are Lake Morton, where the water level can rise quickly because of the large amount of paved, impervious surface in Downtown Lakeland, and Lake Bonny, where she said crews have been pumping water out of the lake for nearly two months as it's already at maximum capacity.

If Lakeland residents should find a blocked stormwater drain or backed up ditch, they should call the city's Lakes and Stormwater Division at 863-834-3300 to report an issue. Smith said all calls will be forwarded to field supervisors.

Trash collection

At this time, Polk County Solid Waste has not canceled or rescheduled its Thursday trash collection, according to Dale Henderson, director of the county’s Solid Waste Division.

“I foresee no service disruptions or changes at this time,” Henderson said Wednesday morning.

Lakeland Linder airport

Lakeland Linder Airport will continue operations Thursday, Airport Director Kris Hallstrand said, while continuing to closely monitoring conditions.

"The airport has zero intentions of closing unless something catastrophic happens," she said.

Hallstrand said she has been notified that Amazon will cease all cargo operations temporarily Wednesday evening until the storm passes. Avelo Airlines, which is scheduled to have a flight depart at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for New Haven, Connecticut, is closely monitoring the situation while waiting for additional clarity in the forecast to make a decision.

Lakeland Linder's air traffic control tower will shut down if wind speeds hit 60 mph, according to Hallstrand, for the safety of its personnel.

Bus service

According to Tom Phillips, executive director at Citrus Connection, all bus and transit service in Polk County will be unavailable on Thursday because of the storm.

In order to accommodate dialysis patients with standing appointments on Thursdays, Citrus Connection was taking them to the centers on Wednesday, a day ahead of schedule, he said.

Tax Collector

The Polk County Tax Collector's Office will be closed Thursday. All appointments scheduled during the closure will be honored on a priority basis through Oct. 25 during regular hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Customers may experience extended wait times following the storm.

The Tax Collector anticipates reopening for regular business hours on Friday, according to a news release.

Attractions - Hotels

Legoland was open on Wednesday, and a decision about whether to open Thursday had not been made as of Wednesday morning.

Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales will be closed on Thursday. Barring storm-related damage, the attraction will reopen Friday at 8 a.m. with normal operations.

At Legoland, a spokeswoman for the theme park said, the hotel has availability for potential evacuees and is running special rates at the moment.

"We're currently offering our Florida & Georgia Resident Exclusive Offer, which gives residents 20% off their hotel stay," said Stephanie Bechara, senior public relations and marketing manager for Legoland Florida Resort. "In addition, we have our Book 2 Nights, Get 1 Free Package, available to all guests, regardless of residency."

Overall throughout the county, most evacuees checking into hotels are doing so in Lakeland and to a lesser extent in Bartow, according to Jack Cormier, communications specialist with Polk County Sports Marketing.

"Looking at numbers, everyone coming in is coming from the west coast," Cormier said via text Wednesday afternoon. "Not a lot of occupancy, especially in Lakeland."

"Mostly five or 10 rooms a property. Availability opens on Friday, so the stays are tonight and tomorrow," he said.

Clerk of Courts

The Polk County Clerk of Courts office will be closed on Thursday. All operations, including jury service, are schedule to resume on Friday, though that could change based on the storm’s impacts, the office said in an announcement Wednesday afternoon.

All jurors summoned for Thursday should not report. Jury duties are schedule to resume Friday. If you are summoned for Friday, check on Thursday afternoon to see if your number has been called.

All court hearings scheduled for Thursday will be rescheduled, and parties receive a notice with a new court date. Full details about court cases and scheduled hearings can be found at www.polkcountyclerk.net .

Traffic tickets and court fines can be paid online. Deadlines will be extended to end-of-day Friday for those unable to pay online.

Information about first appearances, juvenile detention and juvenile shelter hearing schedules is available at www.jud10.flcourts.org .

Transportation projects

According to Polk County, CSX Transportation’s scheduled closure of the Saddle Creek Road rail crossing at the Saddle Creek Distribution Warehouse complex west of Fish Hatchery Road has been postponed because of the hurricane.

The closure, scheduled to start Wednesday, will be rescheduled and a new notification will be released when a restart date for the repairs has been issued.

School updates

Lake Wales Charter Schools announced that all of its schools and the central office will close Thursday and Friday. The district plans to cancel or reschedule all after-school programs and sport activities at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Polk County Public Schools said it was canceling classes and after-school activities on Thursday and Friday, and any after-school activities on Wednesday would end by 6 p.m.

The Schools of McKeel Academy also canceled after-school activities on Wednesday and will close its schools on Thursday and Friday.

Polk State College and its collegiate high schools will be closed Thursday and Friday in anticipation of the storm. The closure affects all PSC operations, including online and remote classes. The college plans to reopen for classes on Saturday.

Florida Southern College will close its campus Thursday and resort to online classes for Thursday and Friday.

Warner University in Lake Wales announced Wednesday that all traditional classes are canceled for Thursday and Friday.

Florida Polytechnic University will close campus beginning Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. All classes and normal operations will be suspended Thursday and Friday.

Grocery Stores

On social media site X, Publix Super Markets Inc. said in a 1 p.m. update that all stores are operating under normal business hours.

Walmart says it has started a webpage called Hurricane Helene Disaster Response for customers who want to visit a store and check first if the location has potentially been closed because of Helene. This link to store closures also will have the latest on post-storm community relief efforts, Walmart said.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Live Hurricane Helene updates: What to expect in Polk County, plus closures and cancellations