Lee County Sheriff's Office says all inmates across 2 facilities safe during Hurricane Milton

As Hurricane Milton approached Florida's west coast, the Lee County Sheriff's Office said more than 1,500 inmates across their two facilities were safe.

Nestor Montoya, spokesperson for the Lee County Sheriff's Office, said that as of Wednesday afternoon they reported 477 inmates at the main jail and another 1,169 inmates at their Core facility.

Montoya said evacuations of the jail were not in effect Wednesday afternoon, although in the event of flooding inmates would be evacuated to top floors. He said the Jail and Core facilities are fully staffed, and all inmates are in hardened structures.

Tips needed: Woman killed in Fort Myers hit-and-run; Fort Myers police search for pickup driver

Water tanks are on standby if needed for drinking and sanitation, Montoya said, adding that their kitchen is staffed and has two weeks worth of food for inmates and staff.

Montoya said medical staff will maintain 24/7 care and added that both facilities have room and contingency plans if one needs to evacuate to the other.  Vehicles and personnel are staged, he wrote in a statement.

What evacuation zones do Lee County inmates fall into?

Lee County is divided into five evacuation zones — A, B, C, D and E —, with A being the most prone to flooding and E the least likely to become inundated.

According to Lee County's map, the Lee County Jail, 2115 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., falls into Evacuation Zone A, while the Core facility, 2501 Ortiz Ave., is in Evacuation Zone D.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran , Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews .

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Lee County Sheriff's Office says all inmates across 2 facilities safe during Hurricane Milton