DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. – Jacksonville officials and agencies said they are prepared to respond to the potential impacts of the winter weather storm forecast to impact North Florida and southern Georgia on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
The city of Jacksonville Jacksonville opened warming centers over the next few days to ensure that residents have a place to go when the temperatures drop. Meanwhile, JEA said it has additional crews on standby ready to respond to potential outages.
RELATED | Jacksonville preps for winter storm: Warming centers, dangerous roads, heating safety & more | County-by-county: Southeast Georgia schools closing Wednesday; others still deliberating as winter storm approaches
This cold is something Floridians are not used to but several people News4JAX spoke with said they are preparing.
Cheyenne Greer and Annabella Bentley shopped at Walmart Monday evening to prepare for Tuesday’s incoming winter weather.
“I don’t know what I’m gonna wear, like, like, ‘What’s cute to wear?’” Cheyenne Greer said.
No matter what type of winter weather Jacksonville sees, Karen McCallister, Public Information Officer for JEA, said they’re ready for whatever it brings.
“We prepare throughout the year for severe weather, whether it’s hurricanes or freezing temperatures like we have now,” McCallister said.
Davin Martis and Collin Hand learned about the incoming winter weather when News4JAX approached them outside of Walmart. They said they’re more concerned about what the winter weather will do outside.
“The only concerns, I would say, is the roads, because the roads, they get water on them when it rains. So, I mean, if the roads are going to be freezing, I don’t know how that’s going to turn out. But other than that, think we might be prepared, yeah, cross our fingers that we’re all okay,” Davin Martis and Collin Hand said. “We all know work is going to make us come in, so hopefully the roads are all good.”
More crews will be ready in the event JEA needs them.
“We do have some additional crew members on standby, ready to respond in the event of outages caused by any hail storms,” McCallister said.
MORE | Here are JEA’s tips to protect your home, save money ahead of freezing temperatures
The City of Jacksonville said it will open its warming centers through 9 a.m. Saturday morning.
- Legends Center: 5054 Soutel Dr., open overnight from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. (Monday-Friday)
- Jacksonville Public Main Library: 303 N. Laura St. (Monday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
- COJ Libraries and Community Centers: Open during regular business hours starting Tuesday, serving as daytime warming centers.
The city’s non-profit partners at area shelters will also provide cold-weather shelter services to the homeless population. These shelters include:
- City Rescue Mission: 234 W. State Street in Jacksonville; Check-in at 6:30 p.m.; Shelter will be available until temperatures are at least 40°.
- Mission House: 800 Shetter Avenue in Jacksonville Beach;
- Cold Night Shelter: Community Presbyterian, 150 Sherry Drive in Atlantic Beach
- Sulzbacher Center: 611 East Adams Street in Jacksonville for men; 5455 Springfield Blvd in Jacksonville for women and children. Open for overflow any night that is below 40°.
- Trinity Rescue Mission: 622 W. Union Street in Jacksonville. Men: check-in at 4 p.m.; women and children: check-in at 1:30 p.m.
Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) said schools will be open as normal on Tuesday.
“We continue to monitor the weather, and [Tuesday] afternoon, we will announce a decision about Wednesday,” a DCPS spokesperson said.
