County to Provide Sandbag Fill Sites

With a possible Hurricane headed toward Florida, Polk County is offering sandbags to residents wanting to protect their homes from water intrusion.

Sandbags will be provided to Polk County residents at all Roads and Drainage maintenance units and another site in Poinciana from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Aug. 22 and 23. A maximum of 10 sandbags will be provided to each vehicle to help prevent water intrusion into the home.

Beginning Aug. 22, the following locations will provide sand and sandbags, so bring your shovel and get prepared.

Sandbag fill site locations are:

• Mulberry – 900 NE 5th St., Mulberry (863) 519-4734

• Lakeland – 8970 N. Campbell Road, Lakeland (863) 815-6701

• Ft. Meade – 1061 NE 9th St., Fort Meade (863) 285-6588

• Frostproof – 350 County Road 630A, Frostproof (863) 635-7879

• Auburndale – 1701 Holt Road, Auburndale (863) 965-5524

• Dundee – 805 Dr. Martin Luther King St. SW, Dundee (863) 421-3367

• Poinciana – Association of Poinciana Villages (APV) Public Works facility, 2012 Hemlock Ave., Poinciana Residents living in flood prone areas are encouraged to sandbag their homes.

To protect against water damage, follow these simple sandbagging techniques. At the area where water can enter a structure:

1. If not working on concrete, a small ditch should be dug just deep enough to go below ground level. The ditch should be back far enough from the entrance to allow room to place optional submersible (sump) pumps into the protected area. The edge of the visqueen should be placed in the ditch as a bottom layer.

2. Place the first row of sandbags in ditch, fold visqueen over the top of first row, place a second row of bags on top, fold visqueen back over, place a third row of bags on top, and so on. This creates an "S" pattern with the visqueen.

3. Depending on the size of the barrier, one or more submersible (sump) pumps should be utilized. The barrier will not completely stop water from entering the protected area. However, with the proper placement of bags, visqueen and sump pumps, water, in most cases, can be removed quickly.