Hurricane Ian: St. Lucie County declares local state of emergency

Olivia McKelvey, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·1 min read
Hurricane Ian pushes north over Cuba toward the Gulf of Mexico at roughly 12 mph in satellite imagery taken Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022.

ST. LUCIE COUNTY— Officials have declared a local state of emergency as Hurricane Ian rolls toward Florida.

The decision comes one day after Indian River County officials made the same call.

"This provides us with flexibility and enables the county Emergency Operations Center to respond quickly if anything does occur during the storm," said Public Safety Director Rangel Guerrero.

The Emergency Operations Center here moved up from Level 3 status to Level 2, according to Guerrero.

Residents are urged to review their hurricane preparedness plans, ensuring their hurricane kit is ready and updated with the necessary items such as water, nonperishables, first-aid kits and medication.

As of Tuesday, no evacuations have been ordered and no emergency shelters have opened.

Flooding remains the top concern here, Guerrero said, especially since the county is under a tropical storm warning.

For more information about hurricane preparedness, go to www.stlucieco.gov/EOC.

Olivia McKelvey is TCPalm's watchdog reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach her at olivia.mckelvey@tcpalm.com, 772-521-4380 and on Twitter @olivia_mckelvey.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Hurricane Ian: St. Lucie County declares local state of emergency