Palm Beach postpones public meeting due to Milton; local storm impacts expected to be minimal
With Hurricane Milton, currently a Category 4 storm, barreling toward Florida’s West Coast, the Palm Beach Town Council has postponed its Wednesday, October 9, meeting until Tuesday, October 15.
Milton is currently expected to make landfall somewhere between Sarasota and Tampa Wednesday evening and overnight into Thursday. But the precise path and speed of the storm remain unpredictable for now, Town Manager Kirk Blouin said at Tuesday’s council meeting. The storm will become more predictable as it nears landfall.
The town should not experience any impacts until Thursday, and no major damage is expected, officials said. But the council decided to postpone the October 8 development review meeting out of consideration for town employees who commute to work and live in locations closer to the storm’s path than Palm Beach.
Mayor Danielle Moore said she anticipates minimal impacts from Milton in Palm Beach. Residents should be fine.
“But my concern is town staff [commuting] from Martin, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties – they may have significant impacts up there,” Moore said.
Council President Bobbie Lindsay said it appears Palm Beach will experience the effects of Milton on Thursday, and that power outages are likely to occur that day.
As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, Palm Beach County was outside of the forecast path, according to the National Weather Service. But a flood watch and tropical storm warning remained in effect for this area, meaning heavy rain, flooding and tropical storm-force winds are possible during the next 36 hours.
Palm Beach County schools are closed on Wednesday and Thursday but could reopen on Friday, officials said.
Public Works Director Paul Brazil said all storm and sanitary stations on the island are completely operational, with emergency power systems in place, and will be monitored remotely by multiple employees.
Crews are working to pick up all landscaping debris that they can before storm conditions arrive.
There will likely be an interruption in sanitation and recycling service but that should be back to normal by mid-day Friday, Brazil said.
Blouin said non-essential employees will be permitted to leave work early if necessary.
Resources:
National Hurricane Center – Hurricane Milton
PBTV Ahead of the Storm – Hurricane Special
Sign up for Town Alerts here
Town of Palm Beach WeatherSTEM
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