JACKSONVILLE, Fla. With Tropical Storm Isaias predicted to bring high winds and rain to greater Jacksonville by Sunday, Mayor Lenny Curry and the citys Emergency Operations Center director discussed plans Thursday for city preparations and public safety, including how evacuations would be handled during the pandemic. We have a great plan and ready to implement that if we need to, Emergency Operations Director Steve Woodard said. Woodard added that if the storm keeps to the track the National Hurricane Center is predicting, he does not see evacuations being required for Isaias. This has been a long road, folks -- a long, long few months going back to March with COVID-19 (and) thats still with us and now hurricane season. He said they are a key part of the citys emergency plan for storms while theyre already dealing with the pandemic.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said Tuesday he was “cautiously optimistic” about local coronavirus numbers as the Florida Department of Health reported 191 additional COVID-19 deaths, the most the state has announced in a day since the start of the pandemic. Curry said the state Department of Health reported, as of Tuesday morning, Duval County had an overall positive percentage of 10.76%. The mayor said local hospitals are reporting 481 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and 106 people are in intensive care. With the threat of a tropical system impacting Jacksonville in the coming days, the mayor and other leaders are looking ahead. We are in uncertain times, times like we’ve never seen, unpredictable times.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and Steve Woodard, director of the city’s Emergency Preparedness Division, said during a virtual news conference Tuesday that they are monitoring a disturbance that the National Hurricane Center said is forecast to become a tropical storm before reaching the Leeward Islands. I’ve said it before, we’ve been through multiple storms, hurricanes together the five years that I’ve been in office. “That will likely require us to open more shelters, but we have that excess capacity. Depending on the numbers, if we have to open specific shelters just for COVID patients, we’ll do that,” Woodard said. “So to remind people, this is a good time to get your kids ready, be prepared for a storm.