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9/2/2019   2:00pm

HURRICANE DORIAN 2PM – MONDAY UPDATE

LAKELAND, FL (Monday, September 2, 2019) – Dorian becomes the strongest hurricane in modern record and delivered catastrophic conditions to the northwestern Bahama Islands. Portions of Polk and Highland Counties continue to be under a Tropical Storm Watch.  The hurricane is moving very slowly toward the west near 1 mph. A slow westward to west-northwestward motion is forecast during the next day or so, followed by a gradual turn toward the northwest and north.  On this track, the core of extremely dangerous Hurricane Dorian will continue to pound Grand Bahama Island through much of today and tonight.  The hurricane is expected to move dangerously close to the Florida east coast late tonight through Wednesday evening and then move toward the Georgia and South Carolina coasts. Maximum sustained winds are near 155 mph with higher gusts.  Dorian is an extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.  Although gradual weakening is forecast, Dorian is expected to remain a powerful hurricane during the next couple of days. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles.

The City of Lakeland will remain closed on Tuesday, September 3rd in preparation of the storm. All personnel report back to work on Wednesday, September 4th with regular business operations resuming. Solid Waste services will resume on Wednesday with the following schedule:

  • Monday customers will be picked up on Wednesday
  • Tuesday customers will be picked up on Thursday
  • Thursday customers will be picked up on Friday
  • Friday customers will be picked up on Saturday

City staff continues to monitor the track of Hurricane Dorian. All operations are prepared and ready to begin any restoration necessary following the storms passing the east coast of Florida. The County EOC continues to be minimally staffed until further notice. The City of Lakeland EOC has begun skeleton staffing. If the track worsens, the EOC will become fully deployed depending on the tropical storm force winds in our area. The EOC is prepared to remain fully operational pending assessment of restoration needs throughout the City.

The Lakeland City Commission rescheduled the Commission meeting to 3 p.m. on Thursday, September 5th.  The Utility Committee meeting will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday and the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Hearing will take place at 6 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers.

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