Projected to make landfall in the Big Bend of Florida later tonight, local emergency officials continue to monitor the storm. As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, officials had no plans to activate its EOC.
Lt. Chip Wildy, Marion County emergency management director, said he still expects Colin to be only a rain event. Weather experts don't expect wind to pose a problem.
National Weather Service forecast calls for north central Florida to expect up to 5 inches of rain from Tropical Storm Colin today through Tuesday morning. Most of the rain is expected between this afternoon through early Tuesday.
Ben Nelson, a meteorologist for the weather service in Jacksonville, said one of Colin's rain bands contain serve thunderstorms and could pass over Marion County, the worst along the western side, early this afternoon.
Nelson said Dunnellon and Rainbow Lakes Estates could see more rain than other areas.
Nelson said all of Marion and Alachua counties could see increase rain by late afternoon through just after midnight.
“We are still calling for 2 to 5 inches of rain for Marion and Alachua counties,” Nelson noted. “The good news is that Colin is expected to be moving at 30 mph when it comes to shore in the Big Bend area after midnight.”
Meanwhile, Wildy said several city governments and the county are opening sites for people needing sandbags.
Here is a list of agencies and locations to pick up sandbags, Wildy and city officials report.
• City of Ocala: Tuscawilla Park, corner of Eighth Avenue and 14th Street; limit five per resident.
• City of Ocala: Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Complex, 1510 NW 4th Street, Ocala; limit five per resident.
• City of Dunnellon: Public Works Department, 11924 Bostick St., Dunnellon; limit 10 per city resident.
• City of Dunnellon: Dunnellon Fire Department, 20612 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Dunnellon; limit 10 per city resident.
• Sheriff's Office, North Multi-District Office: 8311 N Hwy 441.
• Sheriff's Office, South Multi-District Office: 8230 S.E. 165th Mulberry Lane, off County Road 42, The Villages.
• Sheriff's Office, Dunnellon District Office: 19995 S.W. 86th ST., Unit 3, Dunnellon.
Alert Marion
Emergency Management officials also on Monday launched a new, free emergency notification system called Alert Marion.
Through Alert Marion, citizens can receive the most up-to-date information and warnings on severe storms, tornadoes and other life endangering natural events that may occur in Marion County, according to a release by Lauren Lettelier, a Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.
These notifications will be sent straight to mobile device through text messages, emails and phone calls, the release stated.
Alert Marion is one of the most innovative systems emergency management officials are utilizing today. Certain areas of Marion County can be pinpointed in the event of a severe weather concern in order to send emergency notifications only to the area that is expected to be affected, she said in the release.
“When signing up, citizens can decide what type of weather events they would like to be notified for and can set 'do not disturb' times if they would not like to be disturbed with notifications (at night, for example),” the release states. “However, whenever there is a tornado threat in the area, the 'do not disturb' function will be overridden to warn citizens of this paramount danger.”
Officials are encouraging residents to sign up for this beneficial program. To sign up, visit http://alertmarion.com.
Information line
Meanwhile, Wildy said the agency will activate an information line by early afternoon for citizens to call with question and concerns about the approaching storm. That number is 369-7500.
——
©2016 the Ocala Star-Banner (Ocala, Fla.)
Visit the Ocala Star-Banner (Ocala, Fla.) at www.ocala.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
