From City of Ocala Public Information Office
As the community continues to battle with the effects of Tropical Storm Debby, City of Ocala crews have been working through the night responding to power outages and flood reports.
A sandbagging operation has been started at Tuscawilla Park at the 800 block of NE Sanchez Avenue. A truckload of pre-filled sandbags is at the location. Bags can be filled at a station established at Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Complex off West Silver Springs Boulevard. A station also has been set up at Jervey Gantt Park on the SE 24th Street side. There is a 10 bag limit per vehicle.
East SR 40 at the 3600 block remains closed due to flooding.
City street closings include Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue between SR 200 and SW 17th St., NE 4th Street at 18th Avenue and NE 4th Street at 17th Avenue in the Heritage Hills area, Watula Avenue between NE 5th Street and 9th Street, and SE 12th Street at SE 3rd Avenue.
The City has set up three additional pumps at the drainage retention area in the Heritage Hills area where flooding has forced the street closings. Water is being pumped at the retention area off NE 26th Avenue near SR 40 and at the 3100 block of East SR 40. Pumping operations also are under way at the retention area off NW 26th Terrace next to New Bethel Baptist Church.
From 5 p.m. Sunday through 8 a.m. today, Ocala Utility Service crews had responded to 36 power outages affecting 1,652 customers. The outages occurred in all sections of the utility’s service area.