Florida Prepares As Tropical Storm Colin Heads Toward Landfall

One Florida county has issued a voluntary evacuation notice as Tropical Storm Colin gains speed and strength Monday on its way to hammer Florida with rains that could cause some serious flooding along much of the state's Gulf coast.

Heavy bands of rain with wind gusts up to 45 mph were reported on Clearwater Beach Monday morning.

Over the weekend officials distributed sandbags along the coast. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told The Weather Channel on Monday morning that 13,000 sandbags had been distributed to Tampa residents.

The mayor said that flooding along Hillsborough Bay is Tampa's biggest concern. High tide is expected there at 3:30 p.m."It's going to impact most of the state in some way," Gov. Rick Scott told the Associated Press. "Hopefully we won't have any significant issues here, but we can have some storm surge, some rain, tornados and some flooding."The center of Colin is expected to approach the coast of the Florida Big Bend area Monday afternoon or evening, forecasters said. Colin is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches and forecasters said up to 8 inches possible across western Florida, eastern Georgia, and coastal areas of the Carolinas through Tuesday.

Franklin County, in the Big Bend area, has issued a voluntary evacuation notice  for anyone in low-lying areas or anyone in RVs in the county.

"The Big Bend area is very prone to storm surge," said weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce. "This isn't a highly populated area, but those residents that do live there should keep a close eye on water levels." Scott warned residents not to simply look at the center of the storm, saying the heaviest rain will be to the east and west of it.

(FORECAST: Track Tropical Storm Colin)

Additionally, Scott said the EOC was elevated to activation status level 2, “The level two activation at the State Emergency Operations Center will help state and local emergency management officials work together to ensure our state is ready to respond to any impacts of this weather event.”

Emergency responders established shelters and prepared high-water vehicles in Tampa on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Times reported. One shelter of note was prepared in St. Petersburg for residents who could possibly be affected Monday morning.

“They’re ready to go right now," Buckhorn, the Tampa mayor, told the station. "So when the calls goes out… the officers will be able to block those streets and stop people from moving through the neighborhoods."

Citrus County schools were closed Monday, but schools across Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties were in normal operation, Bay News 9 reported, with the exception of extracurricular activities in Hillsborough and Hernando counties.  

In Pasco County residents lined up to receive sandbags, which were being filled by inmates from the Pasco County Jail.

"Go get sandbags," said county director of emergency services Kevin Guthrie told WTSP. "You don't need hundreds of sandbags, you just need to protect the areas of what we refer to as intrusion, such as your enter, exit doors, garage door."

There are other things you can do to protect your property during flooding as well, Guthrie said, such as moving valuable items up higher before a storm starts.

"Simply look around the home, move some things up a couple inches and that's going to help protect your valuables and things of that nature."

For more tips on how to prepare for Colin, Floridians and visitors can visit FLGetaPlan.com, run by the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

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