WINTER HAVEN – Social service organizations and government agencies on Wednesday were pulling out all the stops to make sure people don’t get caught without shelter in the freezing weather that would assail Polk County early Thursday morning and continue the following two nights.
The Citrus Connection on Wednesday was providing free transportation on three of its major bus routes to any persons needing to get to one of three Lakeland shelters overnight.
Citrus Connection spokesman David Walters said it will continue to provide the service Thursday and Friday nights as long as the weather forecast shows freezing weather.
“If we help just one person get to a shelter, it’s worth it,” he said.
Citrus Connection buses will pick up people on the last run for Route 22XL, which leaves the Polk County Courthouse in Bartow at 5:12 p.m., and on Route 12, which leaves its Winter Haven Terminal at 6:15 p.m., according to an agency statement. Both will end at its Lakeland Terminal, which is within walking distance of two shelters – the Talbot House at 814 N. Kentucky Ave. and Lighthouse Ministries at 215 E. Magnolia St.
A Route 47 bus will leave Northside Village on Duff Road in North Lakeland at 6:38 p.m. and take families with children to the Salvation Army of West Polk facility, which is providing shelter only to families.
But the Salvation Army will also pick up families taking routes 22XL and 12 from the Citrus Connection Lakeland Terminal and take them to the shelter, Walters said. In addition, any single adults taking the Route 47 line will be dropped off at the Lakeland Terminal near Talbot and Lighthouse.
People taking all three routes will be given a one-way pass to return to their point of origin the following day.
Citrus Connection provided free transportation following Hurricane Irma in September, but this is the first time it has offered the service during a freeze event, he said.
It's expected to get to freezing or colder for one to four hours early Thursday morning, said Dan Noah, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin, on Wednesday.
But it will get colder for longer on Thursday and Friday nights and into the following mornings, he said.
The Weather Service forecast for Polk shows it will drop between 29 and 32 degrees for two to five hours on both nights, Noah said.
The coldest areas will be off the Central Florida Ridge to the north and west of Lakeland, including the Green Swamp area, he added. But the entire county will experience some freezing temperatures.
On both nights, the temperature will fall to freezing by 4 a.m. and stay there until roughly 8 a.m., Noah said.
Roughly 10 mph winds early Thursday morning will make temperatures feel like 23 to 26 degrees based on the wind chill factor, which measure the effect of cold and wind against bare skin, he said. No significant winds are expected for tonight and Friday night.
Lighthouse and Talbot are the only adult shelters in Polk offering warm beds on a cold night. The Salvation Army in Lakeland and Winter Haven is the only agency sheltering families.
Other social-service agencies outside Lakeland have indicated they would provide a warm place and a floor to sleep on in emergencies for people who can’t make it to the Lakeland shelters.
Meanwhile, farmers in Polk are preparing to protect their strawberries, blueberries and other crops from the freeze.
A citrus freeze requires temperatures of 28 or lower for at least four hours, and the weather is not expected to reach that threshold in Florida’s citrus-growing region south of I-4.
The freeze comes at a particularly bad time for local blueberry growers, said Bill Braswell, a Polk County commissioner and manager of the 400-acre Clear Springs Farms blueberry operation south of Bartow. He expects some damage from the cold despite freeze protection.
“Blueberries right now are beginning their most sensitive stage for frost and cold weather,” Braswell said. “It's bad timing.”
Blueberry and strawberry growers protect their fruit by running irrigation systems. When the water forms ice, it releases heat that protects the fruit.
But high winds can prevent the water from laying down an even blanket of ice, leaving some fruit exposed to the freezing wind. That will ruin the fruit.
“The wind will be a determining factor as to whether we are successful or not,” said Dustin Grooms, the manager of his family’s Plant City strawberry business, Fancy Farms.
Ledger reporter John Chambliss contributed to this report. Kevin Bouffard can be reached at kevin.bouffard@theledger.com or at 863-401-6980.