LAKELAND — Homeless shelters in Polk County were gearing up Saturday for an influx of people seeking refuge from Hurricane Irma, as Polk County Sheriff’s deputies fanned out around the county to help those without homes find a safe place to ride out the storm.
Dale Stabler, a shift manager at Talbot House Ministries in Lakeland, said he expected 150 to 200 people to enter its shelter by Sunday.
A Ledger reporter talked to a woman Friday who said she had nowhere to go because she had been barred from the shelter at Talbot House after getting into an altercation with another woman.
But Stabler said Saturday that Talbot House will not enforce such bans as long as Hurricane Irma threatens.