Hillsborough County Sandbag Location Hours Extended

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Hillsborough County residents who still need to stock up on sandbags in advance of anticipated severe weather later this week are in luck. The county has announced extended hours for its sandbag locations.

The county’s three sandbag locations will be open until 9 p.m. on Tuesday and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday. They’ll also reopen on Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. The locations are as follows:

• West Service Unit – 9805 Sheldon Road, Tampa
• South Service Unit – 8718 Old Big Bend Road, Gibsonton
• East Service Unit – 4702 Sydney Road, Plant City

The county plans to make materials available for residents to assemble their own sandbags. Residents must sign their names to acknowledge receipt of 25 sandbags or less.

As of late Tuesday morning, Tropical Depression Nine was located about 340 miles west of Key West. The storm was moving west-northwest at 7 mph. It is expected to make a turn toward Florida’s west coast later today. It is also anticipated to gain tropical storm strength at some point on Tuesday.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service’s Ruskin office warned residents of the entire Tampa Bay area to keep a close watch on this storm as it develops and nears Florida’s west coast.

“In addition to the heavy rain and flooding threat, increased wind shear within the atmosphere will bring an increased risk of tornadoes during late Wednesday through Thursday,” forecasters wrote in Tuesday morning’s Hazardous Weather Outlook report for Tampa Bay. “The increasing south to southwest wind flow will also support an increasing storm surge threat along the coast.”

The storm is anticipated to bring 4 to 6 inches of rain to interior counties and between 6 to 10 inches along the coastal area from Sarasota north to Cedar Key.

On its current path, the depression is expected to make landfall along the coast of Florida at some point on Thursday. Much of the Tampa Bay area remained in its possible projected path as of late Tuesday morning.

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