Storm closures/reopenings for Hurricane Debby
Staff report
This will be updated as closure information comes in.
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Storm closures are listed below by category.
Monday updates
Airport: American – All flights are canceled until tomorrow. The first flight operating will be tomorrow, August 6, 3877 departing at 10:06 am. Delta – Canceled first two outbound and one inbound flight. The airport is stressing to the public to check with their airlines prior to coming to the airport. Flight information can change at any time. The airport is operational for any storm-related emergency aircraft, military aircraft, scheduled airlines, and private aircraft with one hour notice.
Courts: Courts in all counties of the 8th will be closed Mon, Aug 5. First Appearance, detention, and shelter hearings will follow weekend procedures from the Judge Stephan P. Mickle, Sr. Courthouse. Normal operations will resume on Tues Aug 6. We will update if conditions change.
Alachua County Public Schools
Alachua County Public Schools and district offices will be closed Monday, August 5. This includes all extracurricular activities and regular classes at Rawlings Center for the Fine Arts. Normal operations will resume on Tuesday, August 6.
Alachua County Library District
Libraries will be closed on Monday.
City of Alachua
City Hall and other public facilities will be closed on Monday.
City of Gainesville
City of Gainesville facilities will be closed tomorrow, Aug. 5. All business meetings scheduled to occur during this timeframe will be canceled and rescheduled to a later date. City of Gainesville offices reopen on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
City of Newberry
City offices will be closed on Monday. The planning and zoning meeting is canceled.
City of Waldo
City offices will be closed on Monday.
Parks and Conservation Land
As of 5 p.m. today, all Alachua County parks, preserves, and boat ramps are closed. They will reopen after staff are able to check for storm damage and safety concerns.
All City of Gainesville parks, including Ironwood Golf Course, remain closed. All city parks, recreational facilities, and Ironwood Golf Course are currently being evaluated for storm damage. They will remain closed until inspections are complete.
RTS
RTS buses are running on their normal schedules tomorrow (until winds make it unsafe). RTS is waiving fares on August 4 and 5. Regular bus service resumes on Tuesday, August 6.
Santa Fe College
Santa Fe College will be closed Monday, August 5. This includes all locations. The Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo also will be closed on Monday. For details visit https://brnw.ch/21wLFym
Supervisor of Elections
The start of Early Voting for the 2024 Primary Election has been POSTPONED until 9 a.m. on Tuesday, August 6, due to Tropical Storm Debby. All eight early voting locations, including the Supervisor of Elections Office, will be closed on Monday, August 5. Early voting is still scheduled to end on Saturday, August 17 at 6 p.m.
University of Florida
The University of Florida’s campus in Gainesville will be closed and classes are canceled for Monday, Aug. 5. Classes and all academic and student-related activities, including online classes and exams are canceled as well. The University of Florida will return to normal operating status at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6. Classes and all academic and student-related activities, including online classes, will also resume.
Waste Collection
Due to the potential for high winds, all Alachua County Solid Waste & Resource Recovery facilities and operations will not operate on Monday, August 5, 2024. This includes the Leveda Brown Environmental Park and Transfer Station, the Rural Collection Centers, the Hazardous Waste Collection Center, and the administrative offices.
Residential waste collection services including garbage, recycling, yard waste, and bulky items will not be conducted on Monday, August 5, 2024. These services will resume on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, with all collections being delayed by one day through the rest of the week. Regular collection schedules will resume the following week.
Please bring any waste containers or items that you have placed curbside away from the street and secure them so they will not be scattered by the wind or otherwise become a hazard.
Basically all government offices will be closed Monday but all private businesses will remain open. Bunch of grifting drama queens…This is why nobody has respect for government operations and their employees. We live in Florida…several inches of rain and 45mph gusts is commonplace. No need to shut down the damn city, county and university
I agree. A rainstorm and there’s a panic. Are they going to close the jail on Monday too? What’s next, call out the army?
County offices may be closed but employees are working and required to be on-call through a declared emergency. You have County employees right now managing the shelters, 311 hot line, EOC, assisting citizens as needed, and of course you have Public Works and Fire Rescue out on the roads when possible clearing debris. And Alachua County has several flood zones that are expecting up to 12 inches of water. I’ve been on-call all weekend and working. I am not a grifting drama queen.
Under my executive orders no I MEAN NONE of the donuts shops in Gainesville will be allowed to close. If I can’t get my mouth full of nutz I mean donuts I will be a very unhappy they/them.
What about the courts and associated offices; SAO, Public Defender, Clerk?
Alachua County courts will be open.
Guess hurricanes aren’t one of their recognized holidays.
Maybe they’ll be able to catch up with some of the criminal cases of late.
Court closures are determined by the State of Florida not the County. The governor has not closed the courts.
Governor does not, I believe it’s the Chief Judge of each county who decides closures. Surrounding counties were notified earlier, (even the Florida Bar Offices in Tallahassee knew yesterday), why the delay for Alachua?
If I got paid whether I worked or not, I’d darn well close in an abundance of caution 🤣😂🤣