LIVE OAK — Suwannee County Sheriff Sam St. John continues to urge residents to prepare for Hurricane Irma.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Hurricane Irma is currently a Category 5 with maximum sustained winds near 180 mph with higher gusts. It is expected to remain a Category 4 or 5 over the next several days, according to the NWS.

Tropical storm conditions are possible for North Florida on Sunday evening or Monday.

St. John urges all residents to prepare by getting a sufficient supply of gas for vehicles and generators, water, food and medicine should Irma make landfall.

He said he and the Division of Emergency Management are preparing to open shelters should it become necessary.

St. John said updates will be placed on the Sheriff’s Office and the Division of Emergency Management’s Facebook page.

The Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners went ahead and pre-approved a resolution declaring a state of emergency on Tuesday.

The effective date has not set yet.

The pre-approval allows County Administrator Randy Harris to set the date as more information of Hurricane Irma’s path becomes available.

The state of emergency resolution is effective for seven days unless extended.

The City of Live Oak is asking city residents to cease placing tree and yard debris or other large items by the road for removal until after the threat of Irma has passed.

With the streets and utility departments busy preparing for the possible impact, it won’t be possible for them to remove the debris near the roads before the potential high winds and rains that will accompany Irma arrive.

The unsecured debris can then become projectiles or be pushed into the roadways creating a great hazard for residents or first responders.

The city stopped debris pickup Thursday and regular trash pickup will continue through Friday. The garbage pickup schedule, and any changes to it, will be determined over the weekend.

The Live Oak Fire Department also has empty sand bags available for the public to pick up at 200 Duval Street NE.

Hurricane Irma evacuees are already seeking refugee in Live Oak.

Hotels in Live Oak are currently booked up until next week.

Chantal Brown of Holiday Inn Express & Suites said all of the rooms are booked until Sept. 16.

“We’ve been getting calls for three days now,” Brown said.

Quality Inn and Econo Lodge are also completely booked with evacuees already staying in rooms.

The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park is still taking reservations for its campground.

In anticipation of potentially severe weather from Hurricane Irma, Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative (SVEC) has activated its Emergency Response Plan.

“We’ve incorporated lessons learned from Hurricane Hermine into our plan, and every employee is ready to fulfill their role in meeting the needs of our members,” said SVEC’s CEO, Michael McWaters.
SVEC members can quickly and conveniently report outages using SVEC’s SmartHub tool, available at svecsmarthub.com. Those who wish to report and track outages from their smartphone or other mobile device can download the SmartHub mobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.