Polk County begins assessing damage from Hurricane Ian

Surprisingly placid conditions greeted Polk County residents Thursday morning after Hurricane Ian passed through Central Florida overnight.

Winds had largely subsided in Lakeland by sunrise, and the pelting rain had died down.

Paul Womble, Polk County’s Director of Emergency Management, said county employees were conducting a damage assessment Thursday morning. He said the county must compile a detailed inventory of debris and send it to state and federal authorities to get access to government assistance programs for residents and businesses.

"We've had calls and photos of trees down and water in people's homes," Womble said. "We are not aware of any injuries and certainly no deaths at this time."

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Womble said county officials are closely monitoring the Peace River basin for potential flooding, as well as other areas, including the Walker Road region near Lakeland.

"The good news is we didn't receive the 18 to 24 inches of rain forecast,” Womble said. “We got about a foot of rain in the south end of the county, away from areas like Bartow."

Womble said there were no reports of tornadoes in Polk County, which he said was "kind of odd, considering the storm."

Polk County received about 3,000 people at emergency shelters by Thursday morning, county spokesperson Mianne Nelson said. The county had reported about 2,400 in shelters a day earlier.

“Folks are still there this (Thursday) morning, as most are still learning as to whether they have electricity and clear roads to go home,” Nelson said by email. “Damage from the storm is widespread, but especially bad along the (Lake Wales) Ridge and southern Polk County, which appears to have taken the brunt of the storm. Assessment is ongoing this morning, but could be every bit as much debris as Hurricane Irma (in 2017).”

Beginning Friday, Polk County residents with questions regarding hurricane debris may call the Hurricane Ian Debris Hotline at 800-375-0844.

South Polk and the Peace River

Polk County Commissioner Rick Wilson, whose property borders the Peace River in Bartow, said the water levels around the river were not as high Thursday morning as he had expected.

“I was very well pleased with what I saw when the sun came up,” Wilson said. “Have I seen it higher in the past? Yes, a lot higher. Of course, it’s going to get more and more (water). We’re OK for the moment.”

Fort Meade City Manager Jan Bagnall said power was out to the entire city as of Thursday at about 10 a.m. He said it wasn’t yet clear if the outage resulted mainly from damage to the transmission or distribution network.

Fort Meade operates its own electrical service, and crews were heading out Thursday to begin making assessments of the damage. Bagnall said crews will also be coming from Alabama and Tennessee to help with repairs as part of a mutual aid agreement Fort Meade participates in with other city-owned utilities.

Bagnall said he expected some power to be restored later Thursday.

“We have a lot of trees down in the city, and we had quite a bit going on last night,” Bagnall said by phone as sirens wailed in the background. “But it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be, I’ll say that.”

Bagnall said the U.S. 98 bridge over the Peace River was blocked by downed trees and debris overnight but had been cleared by Thursday morning.

Bagnall said he and city officials were concerned about flooding at the Hammock Lake Estates mobile home park on the south side of Fort Meade. He was headed to the park Thursday morning to help investigate.

Rachel Bailley, the owner of the park, said she was driving to the park Thursday morning and did not yet know the extent of the damage.

“Some people’s trailers were uprooted,” Bailley said. “We’re trying to assess the damage now.”

Bailley said she didn’t yet know if any injuries had occurred.

Bartow reported 12,074 electric customers without power as of 11:17 a.m. Thursday.

Around Lakeland

In Lakeland, fallen trees blocked some roads as the sun came up Thursday morning. The overnight winds uprooted a pair of exotic trees along the west shore of Lake Morton, causing them to block Lake Morton Drive.

City vehicles arrived about 8:45 a.m. and began clearing the road. A worker wielding a chainsaw cut the trees’ trunks, allowing another worker in a truck to deploy a claw grabber and lift away the pieces.

In East Lakeland, the railroad crossing at Airport Road just south of U.S. 92 was stuck in the down position around 8 a.m., likely caused by debris a few hundred yards down the track. Cars were seen driving around the lowered gates.

Those that tried to divert westward on Old Tampa Highway were greeted with a large tree blocking the road. To the east, on Highland Street, another large tree lay across the road, blocking traffic. That tree took down a large section of utility wires.

In the flood-prone Itchepackesassa Creek neighborhood northwest of Lakeland, resident Josh Briggs said he hadn’t seen or heard of any significant flooding as of Thursday morning. Briggs estimated that six inches of rain fell in the area from Wednesday through Thursday morning.

“The water is getting up high, but right now it’s flowing,” Briggs said. “The next three days will determine if we start flooding out more because all the water will catch up from flowing towards us. But so far we’re doing OK.”

At the Wabash Avenue rail crossing next to Old Tampa Highway, the crossing arms were snapped like twigs by Ian's winds.

In downtown Lakeland about 10 a.m., city crews were clearing debris near Munn Park, where several of the smaller, newer trees that were part of a streetscaping project on Main Street lay toppled in the street. But businesses appeared to escape major damage.

As of 11:36 a.m., Lakeland Electric's outage map showed 54,306 customers without power, out of 133,517.

East Polk

David Price, president of Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, said an initial assessment of the botanical attraction Thursday morning suggested the wind damage might not be extensive.

“Generally the trees look good – nothing like Charley at all,” Price said, referring to the 2004 hurricane that ravaged the Gardens. “It’s probably less than Irma (in 2017).”

Price said some wooden power poles along the entrance to the park had broken, sending power lines onto the road. He said he expects the attraction to remain closed through Friday and might be able to reopen Saturday.

Price said he noticed uprooted trees in Lake Wales, mostly laurel oaks, which are not as sturdy as live oaks. He said a fallen tree with a diameter of about 3 feet was blocking Lakeshore Boulevard, which encircles Lake Wailes.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13. Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl for storm updates. Assistant managing editor Andy Kuppers contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Hurricane Ian: Polk County begins to assess damage