JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Editor's Note: This story will be updated as more closures are announced.
Counties on the First Coast — in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia — have began announcing closures Tuesday ahead of Tropical Storm Helene's arrival, which is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane before making landfall.
The National Hurricane Center classified Helene as a tropical storm in its 11 a.m. Tuesday advisory. With the storm forecast to make landfall in Florida's Big Bend region Thursday night, 61 counties in the Sunshine State are under a state of emergency.
Here's a list of closures on the First Coast, county-by-county, due to Helene.
Northeast Florida
Columbia County
On Thursday and Friday, Columbia County libraries, the county's Extension Office, Columbia County Clerk of Courts, county government, the county's Department of Health office, Columbia County Property Appraiser and Columbia County Tax Collector will be closed. Columbia County Emergency Management announced Wednesday that normal business operations at these places will resume as soon as possible on Monday.
Florida Gateway College (FGC), including all offices and campuses, will be closed on Thursday and Friday. All in-person classes, college activities and events during this time are canceled or postponed.
Normal operations for FGC are expected to resume on Monday. Students and employees should monitor their college email accounts, college social media channels and the college's website here for updates.
The Lake City VyStar Credit Union Branch at 411 NW Commons Loop will be closed Thursday.
Garbage collection: Garbage pickup will start at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday and will continue, weather permitting, throughout the day. Garbage pickup on Friday will proceed as normally scheduled.
Duval County
City of Jacksonville offices and the Duval County Courthouse and the Clerk’s beaches branch will be closed Friday.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan announced Tuesday afternoon in a press conference that all schools part of Duval County Public Schools will be closed on Thursday and Friday.
A decision for the beaches will be made Wednesday.
The following will be closed Thursday:
- All Jacksonville Public Library branches will be closed. Library patrons are asked to refrain from returning items to book drops for now.
- The Duval County Tax Collector's Office, but will reopen Friday, weather permitting
- All senior centers and community centers will be closed except for the Legends Center, which is being used as a shelter.
- All Florida Department of Health in Duval County offices; they will remain closed "until further notice"
- The Duval County Clerk of Courts
- The Duval County Supervisor of Elections Office
- The Duval County Property Appraiser's Office
- Parks, including Huguenot Memorial Park and Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park will be closed Thursday
- Atlantic Beach City Hall will be closed Thursday
- All city of Atlantic Beach recreation activities are canceled Thursday
- The Environmental Stewardship Committee Outreach Subcommittee meeting scheduled for Thursday is postponed and will be rescheduled.
- The Downtown Jacksonville VyStar Credit Union Branch & the credit union's San Marco branch
Boys and Girls Clubs are closed Thursday and Friday.
Dutton Island Preserve and Donner Park Splash Pad will be closed Thursday. The Donner Park Fall Festival Saturday is expected to continue as planned, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Donner Park; the public input meeting at Donner Park at 1 p.m. Saturday to solicit input on proposed upgrades to the baseball field and the soccer/football field area is still expected to be held.
Garbage collection for Atlantic Beach: As long as it is safe to do so, trash pickup will proceed as normal on Thursday and Friday. For Thursday customers, GFL's crews will get an early start Thursday at 6:30 a.m.
Clay County
All Clay County Board of County Commissioners' offices will close at noon on Wednesday and will be closed all day Thursday and Friday. This includes libraries, Clay County Animal Services, parks and programs.
The Clay County Clerk of Court and Comptroller will be closed Thursday.
Clay County has shelters are open at the following locations:
- Orange Park High (Pet friendly)
- Keystone Elementary (Pet friendly)
- Lake Asbury Junior High (Special needs shelter)
- Clay High School
- Wilkinson Elementary
Garbage collection: Clay County Director of Communications Laura Christmas told First Coast News Wednesday that curbside garbage collection will be picked up as normal on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, pending safe road conditions. She said to stay tuned here for further information.
Residents can report issues to the county's call center at 1-877-252-9362. Damage can be reported online at alert.claycountygov.com.
Nassau County
School has been closed Thursday and Friday.
The Nassau County Clerk of Courts and Comptroller will be closed Thursday.
The Fernandina Harbor Marina will be closed on Thursday.
St. Johns County
St. Johns County Council on Aging (COA) has announced that all COA senior centers and facilities, including River House, COA administrative offices and COA’s transportation headquarters, will be closed on Thursday. Sunshine Bus and Paratransit transportation services will also be closed Thursday.
The Castillo de San Marcos National Monument will be closed starting Wednesday.
Fort Matanzas National Monument will also close starting Wednesday.
All St. Johns County government offices will be closed on Thursday. This includes all departments of the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners, the Supervisor of Elections' Office, the Property Appraiser's Office, the Tax Collector's Office and the Clerk of Courts and County Comptroller's Office
The Health and Human Services Building will be closed on Friday. This closure includes County Social Services and the Housing and Community Services Department. These specific offices will reopen on Monday at 8 a.m.
All City of St. Augustine government offices will be closed on Thursday.
All City of St. Augustine Beach government offices will be closed on Thursday.
All St. Johns County libraries, bookmobiles and book drops will be closed on Thursday. Additionally, all offsite programs scheduled for Thursday have been canceled. Due dates will be extended and fines will not be incurred until Monday.
The bookmobile stop at the World Golf Village Convention Center that is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays is canceled.
The Solomon Calhoun Community Center will be closed Thursday; information on its reopening has yet to be released. The remaining community centers will be closed on Thursday, but will reopen Friday.
The Solomon Calhoun Pool will be closed Thursday; information on its reopening has yet to be released.
The St. Johns County Family Color Run 5K scheduled for Saturday at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds has been postponed to Saturday, Nov. 16.
The St. Johns County Pier and Gift Shop will be closed Thursday, but will reopen on Friday. The pier will reopen once it is inspected.
The St. Johns Golf Club will be closed on Thursday, but will reopen Friday.
Beach driving will reopen on Friday, pending tides and impacts to the beach.
All permitted and non-permitted events are canceled Thursday. Fields and parks will reopen after inspections are done on Friday.
Garbage collection: St. Johns County with household garbage, recycling and yard debris collection, the Tillman Ridge and Stratton Road Transfer Stations, the city of St. Augustine with household garbage, recycling and yard debris collection, and the city of St. Augustine Beach with household garbage, recycling and yard debris collection will maintain normal business hours on Thursday and Friday.
Baker County
School has been closed Thursday and Friday.
Shelters:
Special Needs: Dopson Family Medical Center - 159 N 3rd St.
General Population: Macclenny Elementary School - 1 Wild Kitten Drive
Putnam County
Closures have not yet been announced.
Southeast Georgia
Camden County
Cumberland Island National Seashore will be closed starting on Wednesday "until further notice," according to the National Park Service. A mandatory evacuation is in place.
All campers, visitors, staff and volunteers must depart the island on the 2:45 p.m. or 4:45 p.m. ferry on Tuesday. The last boat departing the island is at 4:45 p.m. from the Sea Camp dock.
The Mainland Museum and Plum Orchard will be closed Tuesday "until further notice."
The park will remain closed until the storm has passed and it is deemed reasonably safe.
Glynn County
Glynn County Parks & Recreation is cancelling all Thursday recreation and sports activities. City of Brunswick recreation activities are cancelled on Thursday and will resume on Monday.
Both branches of the Glynn County Library will be closed on Thursday, but will reopen Friday at 11 a.m.
Brunswick's Senior Center will be closed on Thursday due to transportation services being suspended; services may resume on Friday depending on availability of transportation being provided by the CRC.
Garbage collection: Republic Services' Friday garbage pickup for Sea Island is delayed until Saturday. All other routes in Brunswick and in Glynn County remain normally scheduled.
Ware County
Closures have not yet been announced.