OKEECHOBEE -- Due to the Hurricane track shifting slightly to the East at the 5 a.m. Aug. 31 advisory, Okeechobee County is still in the cone of error. It is still too early to be certain of what impacts there maybe to Okeechobee County. The Public Safety Department and Emergency Management continue to monitor the situation.

With the change in tracking, the Okeechobee Call Center will be operational from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31 and again on Sunday, Sept. 1.

Shelter announcements will be made as soon as possible. Continue to monitor for that announcement. If shelters open, it will likely be on Sunday.

Due to the strength of the storm and the length of time expected for residents to be experiencing tropical storm/hurricane force winds that they should have on hand up to seven days of food and water per inhabitant. Water loss could be due to loss of power or damage to the OUA water distribution system.

The OUA may be issuing a system wide precautionary boil water notice when storm landfall (Florida coastline) is determined. The precautionary boil water notice will be issued because of possible storm damage to the system which will not be known until the storm passes. This Precautionary Boil Water Notice is being issued as a precaution, and will be in effect until a rescission notice is issued later by the OUA.

Note: Timelines of all county activities and preparations may be adjusted based on updated information received from Public Safety Department and Emergency Management.