Tampa Bay area braces for Hurricane Nicole ahead of landfall

TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Bay area is getting a reminder hurricane season isn’t quite over yet with tropical storm conditions expected from Hurricane Nicole.

On Wednesday, shelters opened in Hillsborough County and sandbagging stations opened in Polk County among other storm preps in the Bay Area. Polk County emergency management said officials are watching the storm closely.

RELATED: Hurricane Nicole closures, sandbags, storm information for Tampa Bay area

"So we were really worried about early rainfall estimates," said Paul Womble, the director of emergency management for Polk County. "We had flooding in the county even before Ian because of, you know, the large amount of rain we had in the late into the summer, especially those folks around the Peace River and other parts of our county that did have flooding, certainly after Ian."

While forecasters do not expect the same level of destruction as Hurricane Ian, weather experts like FOX 13’s Chief Meteorologist Paul Dellegatto said a tropical storm can still cause problems.   

"For a lot of people, losing power for a length of time is not a fun experience and a 40, 50 mile an hour tropical storm can certainly cause power outages," said Dellegatto.

Some residents in parts of the Tampa Bay area are also worried about their homes holding up post-Ian.

MORE: Nicole reaches hurricane strength as it heads toward Florida

"Some people may still have tarps on their roofs, and you may want to make sure that’s secure because if the wind gets underneath the tarp, it can compromise it. Forty to 50 mile-an-hour winds can certainly rip the tarp again," said Dellegatto.

So the impacts can range, and leaders want people to pay attention to their surroundings.

"We want everyone to be aware that while we don’t expect widespread damage from the wind and the rain, we still have to be very, very cognizant of the branches, the downed power lines, the possibility of flooded streets," said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.

Beyond taking common sense steps before the storm, county officials said it’s important to watch out after the rain and winds roll through too.

"We had an unfortunately a very tragic fatality after Hurricane Ian. Right after the storm, there was a vehicle accident that hit a downed tree and ended up killing somebody. So that's historically we see the most injuries and fatalities post-storm," said Womble.

READ: When was the last time a hurricane made landfall on Florida's east coast in November? 1935

Emergency leaders will monitor conditions overnight for power outages, debris and possible flooding into Thursday.