PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The Coast Guard's station at the Lake Worth Inlet is ready to help with whatever Hurricane Idalia brings to Florida.
WPTV spoke Tuesday with the commanding officer Rick Seymour, who said the 40 active duty and 30 reservist sailors stationed at his command are in a readiness mode used in bad storms.
"Even though Hurricane Idalia isn't expected to make a direct impact on the Palm Beach area, we're still preparing here for the increased winds and the storm as it passes," Seymour said. "We're also preparing to support the west coast of Florida as they prepare for impact the next couple of days. We'll go over there, and we'll support recovery operations once the storm passes."
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Seymour reminded boaters that our local waters will be turbulent even if Idalia is on the other side of the state. His crews are expecting the wind to cause seas of 6 to 8 feet, which could be dangerous.
Also, the Coast Guard station in Clearwater relocated multiple aircraft to Palm Beach International Airport ahead of the storm.
PBIA spokeswoman Nicole Hughes said four C-130s and five UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are currently at the airport. The aircraft is expected to return to Clearwater by Thursday after the hurricane passes. In addition, there are three Frontier Airlines aircraft at PBIA that were relocated from Tampa.
