Staff members and volunteers at the Marion County Emergency Management Operations Center are preparing for Tropical Storm Hermine.

  • Tropical Storm Hermine approaching Florida's Gulf Coast
  • Marion County was under tropical storm watch Wednesday
  • Emergency Management officials urging residents to plan ahead

Right now, they're monitoring the weather, but if needed, the facility will be activated and fully staffed to handle any major weather impact.

Meanwhile, Kelly and Rose Ellis recently moved to Leesburg from Pennsylvania.

"Nasty weather; I was sick of winter," Kelly said as he filled up a dozen sandbags at Fire Station 53 in Fruitland Park.

Lake County is not currently under a tropical storm watch or warning, but the Ellises are worried about the potential rain impact of Hermine.

"We don't know if this part of Florida is going to get a lot of rain, but we just bought the house, and it's just better to be prepared," Kelly said.

Meanwhile, Marion County faces a higher storm threat, so Chip Wildy, the county's Emergency Management director, is urging residents to be prepared.

"It means they need to get ready. It means that probably, bad weather is coming," Wildy said.

He's also in continual communication with other county leaders.

"The school board has to determine whether or not they're going to have school. The [Marion] County Commission has enacted a local state of emergency in case we need to take certain actions or certain precautions," Wildy said.

Kelly and Rose Ellis are taking that message to heart. That's why they're not taking any chances with their first taste of tropical weather.

"I was never a Boy Scout, but it's not hard to know the meaning of being prepared," Kelly Ellis said.