The City of Winter Park and Orange County are posting more information as Central Florida braces for Hurricane Milton.
Winter Park residents can pick up sandbags on Tuesday, Oct. 8, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Ward Park/Showalter Field parking lot, 288 Perth Lane. A limit of eight sandbags will be given to each resident or owner of a business within the city limits and proof of residency (driver’s license, valid ID or utility bill statement) is required. The usual fill-it-yourself model will be followed with city staff providing shovels, bags and sand on a first-come, first-served basis. Anyone physically unable to fill their own sandbags will be assisted by city staff.
According to the City of Winter Park, all departments are fully staffed with additional crews standing by to assist preparation, recovery, and restoration efforts. Water treatment plants and lift stations are functional and have been checked. Storm drains and outfalls are being actively checked, cleaned and cleared in flood-prone areas to manage stormwater flow. Code and building officials are asking commercial properties to secure their sites.
Closings and cancellations
• City services
Winter Park City Hall and all city administrative offices will be closed October 9 and 10. All advisory board meetings scheduled for both days have been canceled and the October 9 CRA and City Commission meetings have been rescheduled to Thursday, Oct. 17. The October 10 City Commission Work Session has been rescheduled to Thursday, Oct. 24. Additional updates will be posted to the City of Winter Park website and social media accounts. Assessments will be made after the storm to determine when normal business hours will resume.
All city parks and facilities will be closed October 9 until further notice. Dinky Dock will close at noon on October 9.
There will be garbage pickup on October 8 and Waste Pro has not made a decision regarding yard waste pickups on October 9. Orange County residents can bring yard waste to the Orange County Landfill, located at 5901 Young Pine Road, on October 8 during regular operating hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Residential yard waste fees will be waived. Log onto ocfl.net/WasteSites for more information.
Winter Park Library will close Tuesday at 5 p.m. and remain closed Wednesday and Thursday.
• Schools and colleges
Orange County Public Schools posted on its website that all after-school activities on Tuesday, Oct. 8, are canceled except for after-school childcare, which will end by 6pm. All schools and district offices will be closed on Wednesday, Oct. 9, and Thursday, Oct. 10. The district will send messages to OCPS families by phone, email, and text. Updates will be posted to district social media pages and on ocps.net.
Rollins College has canceled all in-person classes October 7-11. The campus will close at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, and residential students must evacuate campus and follow their emergency evacuation plan by 5 p.m. that day. Students needing assistance can contact care@rollins.edu or call 407-646-2345. Rollins Museum of Art is also closed this week.
Valencia College has canceled in-person and online classes Tuesday through Thursday. Plans are to reopen Friday but students should check the college website for updates.
The Full Sail University campus will close from Tuesday, Oct. 8, through Friday, Oct. 11. Tuesday classes and labs will move to remote operations via Zoom with potential rescheduling for select campus labs. All classes will be canceled Wednesday through Friday.
• Transportation
SunRail will halt service on Tuesday, Oct. 8, to begin preparing for the storm. Services will be suspended Wednesday, Oct. 9, and updates will be provided through the SunRail website, SunRail Alerts app, and social media platforms. For more information, visit SunRail.com.
LYNX will operate regular bus, LYMMO, NeighborLink and Road Ranger service on Tuesday. ACCESS LYNX will only provide life sustaining medical trips starting Tuesday, Oct. 8. If sustained winds reach 35 mph, the LYNX transit system will shut down for safety reasons.
The Florida Department of Transportation and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise suspended toll collection at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, for a seven-day period. Tolls are expected to be reinstated on Monday, Oct. 14, at noon, but the suspension may be extended as needed.
*Additional closings and cancellations will be posted as they are received.
As of Tuesday morning, the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival is scheduled to continue as planned on Saturday, Oct. 12, and Sunday, Oct. 13. A post on the Festival Facebook page states that the Winter Park Chamber will continue to monitor the storm and updates will be posted to the event Facebook and Instagram accounts as needed.
• Additional information
Hurricane Milton reached Category 5 status late Monday morning and is expected to maintain strength as it moves toward the state. Long-range forecasts have it weakening to a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall near the Tampa Bay area at approximately 2 a.m. Thursday. It is then expected to move across the I-4 Corridor, bringing winds of more than 80 mph inland before exiting the east coast on Thursday afternoon.
Central Florida is expected to begin experiencing the impacts on Wednesday evening with heavy rain, potential flooding, and the possibility of hurricane-force winds lasting into Thursday afternoon. Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 51 counties, including Orange and Seminole.
Winter Park is currently following the Adaptive Flood Management Guide that was adopted last year and used during Hurricane Helene. Management procedures are based on the following checklist timeline:
- Seven days prior to a storm: Lower lake elevations where possible, remove Lake Killarney’s six drain well risers and Lake Bell’s top weir board.
- Five days prior to a storm: Inspect control and outflow structures and leaf trap devices on lakes; clear all control structures of debris.
- Three days prior to storm: Inspect and clear debris from culvert boxes under bridges on Temple Trail, Sterling and Pennsylvania avenues; inspect drain well intakes on all landlocked lakes and canals within the city’s Chain of Lakes and Howell Creek; coordinate the anticipated removal of fallen tree and debris clearance in creeks and conveyances; prepare sandbag distribution for residents.
- Two days prior to storm: Remove MLK Park drain well and Winter Park Racquet Club pond outfall board.
- One day prior to storm: Remove retractable grass carp barriers at lakes Bell and Berry.
The list of official City of Winter Park information resources is as follows:
- citEnews email service – cityofwinterpark.org/citEnews
- Facebook – facebook.com/WinterParkEmergencyInfo
- Twitter – twitter.com/WinterParkFla
- Nextdoor – sign up at nextdoor.com
- City’s emergency alert system – sign up at cityofwinterpark.org/outreach
- A checklist of items and procedures can be found in the city’s Hurricane Preparedness Guide
Additional resources:
- Non-emergency information line 407-599-3494 (live during Emergency Operation Center activation)
- Report electric utility power outages to 1-877-811-8700
- Report water & wastewater utilities outages to 407-599-3219