Delays and cancellations across Tampa Bay for Tropical Storm Elsa

The projected arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa on Tuesday is forcing plans to be canceled or put on hold across the Tampa Bay region. We’ll add to this list as information becomes available.

Schools

Hillsborough County schools: Hillsborough will close all summer schools, athletic events and before and after care at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The programs and all district sites will remain closed all day Wednesday.

Pasco County schools: Pasco County schools will close all schools, office and events early, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. They will remain closed all day Wednesday.

Pinellas County schools: All Pinellas County Schools and district offices will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday because of the storm, Pinellas County Schools announced Monday. All summer programs including after-care and childcare as well as school-related activities like summer classes are canceled for those two days. Pinellas County Schools anticipates being back to full operations on Thursday.

Hernando County schools: All Hernando County schools and district offices will close Tuesday at 4 p.m. All after-school activities are canceled and after-care programs will close early. All sites will remain closed Wednesday, including summer camps and prep institutes. Summer food service is canceled for Wednesday. The district anticipates a return to full operations on Thursday, weather permitting.

Citrus County schools: District offices and all school campuses will be closed Wednesday including sites operating summer school, summer camps, and athletics.

Shorecrest Preparatory School: Shorecrest’s summer programs will dismiss at noon Tuesday and all programs are canceled Wednesday.

University of South Florida: The University of South Florida announced that all classes will take place remotely on Tuesday and Wednesday. Residence halls and dining areas will remain open on the Tampa and St. Petersburg campuses. In a letter at its website, USF said, “At this time, residence halls and residential dining facilities at the USF Tampa and USF. St. Petersburg campuses remain open. USF Health clinical operations are expected to continue normally.”

Hillsborough Community College: All campuses and facilities will be closed Tuesday. All online classes will be held as scheduled.

St. Petersburg College: Due to possible impacts from the storm, all classes and services will be delivered virtually on Tuesday and Wednesdays. College campuses and sites will be closed then.

Rasmussen: Rasmussen University is closing its physical campuses in Tampa/Brandon, Central Pasco and Fort Myers Tuesday because of the storm. Students with in-person courses, labs, or clinicals normally scheduled for Tuesday will receive a follow-up communication with further instructions. Remote services and courses, labs, or clinicals will run as normally planned on Tuesday. At this time, there are no changes to normal operations on Wednesday.

Nova Southeastern University’s Tampa Bay Regional Campus in Clearwater will suspend classes Tuesday. All other NSU campuses around Florida will remain open.

Local government

Hillsborough County: Hillsborough County offices and facilities will close at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Offices and facilities will reopen at noon Wednesday. Solid waste collection will continue on Tuesday, but may be suspended later in the day depending on weather conditions. Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation summer camps will be closed on Wednesday, and reopen Thursday. The Hillsborough County Courthouse closed early Tuesday but will reopen Wednesday.

Pinellas County: County buildings and operations will close at 2 p.m. Tuesday and will remain closed through Wednesday. They are scheduled to open again Thursday for regular business hours.

Hernando County: County government offices, including library services, will be closed Wednesday. Transit Services (TheBus) will suspend public transportation services at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Wednesday. Transit services will resume as normal Thursday. Solid waste and recycling facilities will be closed Wednesday and there will be no recycling or yard waste curbside collection. Service will resume on customers’ next regularly scheduled service date. All scheduled summer camps for Wednesday are cancelled and will re-open Thursday, pending damage assessment review. Alfred McKethan/Pine Island Park, located at 10840 Pine Island Drive in Spring Hill, will close at 5 p.m. Tuesday and will remain closed until safety inspections are conducted Thursday.

Tampa: Tampa Parks and Recreation programs, parks and operations closed at noon Tuesday and will remain closed through Wednesday. This includes all summer camps, recreation centers, pools and evening activities. Local recreation centers are handling calls for pick-up issues at summer camps.

Temple Terrace: City facilities including City Hall, public works, the public library, Omar K. Lightfoot Center and the Family Recreation Complex planned to close at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Sandbag distribution also will cease at that time. City Hall and public works will reopen at noon Wednesday. The library, Lightfoot Center and the Family Recreation Complex will open at 1 p.m. Youth programs are cancelled for Wednesday. Sanitation services will continue as normal on Tuesday and Wednesday. The City Council meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday will be rescheduled to Thursday.

St. Petersburg: All city-run buildings will close at noon Tuesday and remain closed through Wednesday. Normal city operations are scheduled to resume Thursday. The St. Pete Pier closed at 2 p.m. on Tuesday and will remain closed until further notice.

Clearwater: All city offices and locations will close at 1 p.m. Tuesday. It is unclear when they will reopen. Lifeguard stands at Clearwater Beach have been moved higher on the stand to avoid rising tides, and lifeguards will remain on duty.

Gulfport: City events for Tuesday and Wednesday were cancelled including the Gulfport Fresh Market, various dance classes. A virtual neighborhood watch meeting and a planning and zoning meeting are still scheduled for Wednesday. Events scheduled for Thursday are not canceled as of Tuesday afternoon.

Largo: City buildings will close at 3 p.m. Tuesday and will remain closed through Wednesday. The city commission meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, is canceled. Residential solid waste schedules will continue as planned, but there will be no commercial front-load solid waste on Wednesday. That will continue on Thursday.

St. Pete Beach: All city buildings closed at 1 p.m. Tuesday including city hall, the St. Pete Beach Library and the St. Pete Beach Community Center. Most city staff will work from home. As of Tuesday afternoon, the city’s facilities are scheduled to open Wednesday. The city waived parking fees through 7 a.m. on Thursday to encourage residents to move their cars to higher ground.

Treasure Island: All offices are closed Tuesday at noon and will remain closed Wednesday. Summer camps are closed through Wednesday as well. The city asked residents to set out their garbage and yard waste on Tuesday morning so it can be collected before the storm. Phone lines are still open for residents to call.

Pinellas Park: City offices and buildings closed on Tuesday. City offices are scheduled to reopen Wednesday at noon. Ponce Library and all recreation centers will remain closed on Wednesday. Pinellas Park has three sandbag sites open Tuesday until 5 p.m. for city residents only.

Hillsborough tax collector: The office will close at 2 p.m. Tuesday and remain closed Wednesday. Customers who had previously scheduled appointments will be notified and rescheduled. Visit hillstax.org for updates. Online services are still available at hillstax.org.

Bus service: Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, HART, will cease service at 5 p.m. Tuesday. It plans to restore service at 10 a.m. Wednesday, if deemed safe. Service may stop for Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority if winds reach 39 mph. Updates will be at social media accounts, including @GoHart and @RidePSTA.

Hernando supervisor of elections: The offices will be closed Wednesday. Normal hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., are expected to resume Thursday. For election information, see http://HernandoVotes.gov .

Pasco County parks: All Pasco County parks will close at 5 p.m. today. Boat ramps will stay open for Marine Patrol purposes, the county said.

Pasco tax collector: Offices will close at 3 p.m. Tuesday. It expects to resume normal operations at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Pasco property appraiser: Offices will close at 3 p.m. Tuesday and remain closed Wednesday. Offices are scheduled to reopen at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

The Pasco County Commission on Tuesday declared a local state of emergency. Pasco County does have the Fasano Hurricane Shelter on standby but currently does not anticipate any evacuations.

The county’s interim emergency management director Laura Wilcoxen said she anticipates the arrival of tropical storm level winds in the county by 8 p.m. There are also no plans to close county operations early but will consider whether to start late on Wednesday depending on conditions, according to county administrator Dan Biles.

Entertainment

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay: The theme park will close at 4 p.m. Tuesday and is expected to reopen at noon on Wednesday. Updates will be posted on social media.

St. Petersburg drone show: The 2021 Duke Energy Drone Light Show at the St. Pete Pier originally planned for Tuesday has been postponed due to the approach of tropical storm Elsa, the city of St. Petersburg said. Read more about it here.

St. Pete Pier: The pier is closing at 2 p.m. Tuesday and will remain closed until further notice.

Zoo Tampa: Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park will close Tuesday for the safety of guests and animals.

Rays game: The Tampa Bay Rays postponed Tuesday’s game against the Indians, will play a doubleheader on Wednesday. Read more here.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium: The aquarium will close at 5 p.m. Tuesday. It will reopen at 9 a.m. Wednesday, but that plan is subject to change.

The Florida Aquarium: The aquarium will close at 5 p.m. Tuesday, cancelling extended hours. Regular hours of 9:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. are anticipated to resume on Wednesday.

Tampa Bay History Center: The museum will close at 2 p.m. Tuesday for the safety of guests and staff. There are tentative plans to reopen on Wednesday at noon, based on safety conditions.

St. Petersburg Museum of History: The museum closed on Tuesday and will post updates about hours for the rest of the week on social media.

The Dalí Museum: The museum will be closed from10 a.m.-noon on Wednesday. Any future updates will be posted on thedali.org.

Tampa Museum of Art: The museum will close at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

The James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art: The museum will close at 5 p.m. Tuesday with plans to reopen at noon on Wednesday.

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art: All Ringling venues, including the art museum, the Circus Museum and Ca’ d’Zan are closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Florida CraftArt: The St. Petersburg gallery closed on Tuesday and might remain closed on Wednesday.

The Morean Art Center, Morean Center for Clay and the Chihuly Collection: All facilities will be closed all day on Wednesday.

Other

Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay: All sites will be closing 1 p.m. Tuesday and will remain closed through Wednesday. Unless otherwise notified, clubs will re-open for camp on Thursday at the normal time after each site has passed safety inspections.

MacDill Air Force Base: Only mission-essential personnel were to be on base Tuesday as MacDill, at the tip of the South Tampa peninsula, issued a declaration similar to a storm warning and known as Hurcon 3. A number of family support programs will be restricted, including a dining center and recreation facilities. Day care closes at noon Tuesday. Complete information is available in a video from base commander Col. Ben Jonsson.

Clearwater camps: There will be no summer camps for children Tuesday or Wednesday at city of Clearwater recreation centers. There also will be no evening programming at recreation centers on Tuesday.

Premier Community HealthCare: Dade City-based Premier Community HealthCare, which provides medical and dental services at 13 locations in Pasco and Hernando counties, will open at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Staff members are working to reschedule appointments. Normal operating hours are expected to resume Thursday.

North Tampa Bay Chamber: The Lutz office will close at noon Tuesday and reopen at 9 a.m. Thursday.

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