Updates from Monroe County regarding Hurricane Irma

  1. The Lower Keys Medical Center is evacuating its patients tonight in a North Carolina National Guard C-130. The patients will be taken by Monroe County Fire Rescue and Key West Fire Rescue to Naval Air Station Key West’s Boca Chica Airfield and transported to Gadsden Regional Medical Center in Alabama.
  2. Monroe County’s two other hospitals, Mariners Hospital in Tavernier and Fishermen’s Hospital in Marathon, will be making decisions on when to close this afternoon.
  3. There is not a fuel shortage in the Florida Keys. No long lines are reported at most stations. The Florida Highway Patrol escorted fuel trucks to stations throughout the Keys. All Tom Thumb convenience stores and gas stations are closing at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Keys. All Circle K’s are already closed in the Keys.
  4. Monroe County’s three transfer stations will close at 2 p.m. Thursday. Trash, recycling and yard waste haulers will continue regular collections until that time. There will be no special collections at this time.
  5. Based on the expectations of the current track, FIU will open a shelter for special needs people in Monroe County at 10 a.m. Thursday. People must register on the Monroe County Special Needs at http://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/index.aspx?nid=148.
  6. Also based on expectations of the current track, FIU will open a shelter for general population of Monroe County at 4 p.m. Thursday. This should be a last resort. People should bring their own bedding, food, medication and toiletries. For what to bring at a shelter, go to http://www.monroecountyem.com/index.aspx?nid=120.
  7. Monroe County’s pet-friendly, general population shelter will be at the E. Darwin Fuchs Pavilion at the Miami-Dade County Fairgrounds and Exposition and open at 5 p.m. Pet owners should bring the pet’s food, medications and vaccination records.
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