Hurricane Ian slams Florida as schools act as shelters: 'Ready to accept anyone with open arms,' teacher says

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Hurricane Ian leaves more than 1 million without power in Florida

Tampa Electric spokesperson Cherie Jacobs gives the latest utility updates as Category 4 Hurricane Ian makes landfall on 'Your World.'

As Hurricane Ian hits Florida, school buildings have been cleared out and designated as shelters for evacuees and community members who are searching for safety.

Educators and school staff across many counties have been pitching in as the storm, first reported as a Category 4, made landfall Wednesday and left more than a million Floridians without power.

"We are all working around the clock ... to make sure everything is really running smoothly alongside the Tampa Police Department," said De'Quan Wilson, a fourth-grade teacher in Hillsborough County, where some schools have become storm shelters.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had said that Hurricane Ian could be a Category 5 storm by the time it had hit the Sunshine State.

De'Quan Wilson, a fourth-grade teacher at Lockhart Elementary Magnet School in Tampa, Florida, shared this image of a classroom packed up ahead of Hurricane Ian's arrival. (De'Quan Wilson)

"And we understand this is not just a 48-hour ordeal," the governor also said at a news conference. "This is going to be something that is going to be there for days and weeks and months. And, unfortunately, in some circumstances, even years," he added. 

Prior to Ian's landfall on Wednesday just south of Tampa, some 45 classrooms were packed up at the Lockhart Elementary Magnet School in Tampa, where Wilson teaches, in preparation to house evacuees. 

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"It looks as if we are leaving for summer [vacation]," Wilson told Fox News Digital about the empty classrooms.

This image of a classroom inside Lockhart Elementary Magnet School in Tampa, Florida, shows students' chairs stacked up as the school prepares to shelter Floridians amid Hurricane Ian's arrival. (De'Quan Wilson)

Families will sleep in designated areas of the school building and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in the cafeteria, according to Wilson.

Roughly 150 people are already sheltering in place at the school and Wilson said they are not yet at maximum capacity.

"We are ready to accept anyone with open arms," he said. 

A teacher shared a note of welcome and instruction on her whiteboard for Florida families evacuating their homes due to Hurricane Ian. (De'Quan Wilson)

"We are going around continuously monitoring the shelter, making sure [if] the evacuees need anything, that they are OK — that they are comfortable."

"This can be a very scary time, so we are checking in to make sure people feel safe," Wilson added.

There are two types of shelters in Florida: general population shelters and shelters for people with special needs, according to flordiadisaster.org.

A woman holds her cat at a school that's been turned into a pet-friendly storm shelter in Seminole County, Florida. (Seminole County Government)

"It is important to note that not every person with a disability is eligible to evacuate to a special needs shelter," the organization wrote on its website. 

"The best place to shelter for every Floridian is outside the evacuation area, in a safe and secure structure, with family and friends."

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Some facilities are also designated as pet friendly. 

Fox News Digital learned of several schools-turned-shelters that allow pets, including two out of four schools in Osceola County.

Empty pet cages are photographed just before Hurricane Ian hit the state of Florida this week. (Seminole County Government)

"Osceola County Emergency Management, in partnership with Osceola Animal Services, the American Red Cross, and the School District of Osceola County, offers pet-friendly sheltering," the county announced on the emergency management section of its website. 

"Only certain shelter facilities are designated as 'pet friendly.'"

"A huge shoutout to all of our staff who [are] working through the hurricane and manning the schools being used as shelters," Osceola Schools, located in central Florida, tweeted alongside a photo of staff posing in hazard vests at Harmony High School in St. Cloud.

Volunteers walk through a school that is now a storm shelter this week in Seminole County, Florida. (Seminole County Government)

A sign is photographed outside a Seminole County shelter in Florida before Hurricane Ian hit the state. (Seminole County Government)

A representative of Osceola Schools told Fox News Digital that cafeterias and gymnasiums are the spaces that are primarily being used as shelters. 

The county noted that "deputies will be safeguarding shelters" and sex offenders will have shelter in a different location than all residents at the Osceola County Courthouse.

"This can be a very scary time, so we are checking in to make sure people feel safe."

— De'Quan Wilson, an educator volunteering at his school

Seminole County Public Schools (SCPS), located in central Florida, is offering shelter for the general population in five schools, two of which are pet friendly. 

There are two other schools open to those with special needs — and one of those schools is pet friendly.

"Seminole County Public Schools takes its responsibility of collaborating with our community partners to provide shelters to our citizens very seriously," Serita Beamon, superintendent of SCPS, told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement.

"Our five general population shelters and three special needs shelters are manned by school principals, teachers and staff and provide shelter guests with safe harbor from severe weather," she added. 

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"We are committed to the safety of all Seminole County residents and are eager to support our students, families, staff and community before, during and after the passing of Hurricane Ian," Beamon also said.

A Seminole County Public School in Florida prepares for more evacuees due to Hurricane Ian. (Seminole County Government)

The Seminole County Government's website advises evacuees to bring the following items to shelters:

Bedding: cot/blanket/pillow (cots are not provided at general population shelters)

Personal medications

Special dietary needs or foods

Comfort/entertainment items

Photo identification

Extra clothing

Volunteers pose at a Seminole County Public School prior to Hurricane Ian making landfall in Florida. (Seminole County Government)

Empty hallways are seen at a school located in Seminole County, Florida, ahead of Hurricane Ian's arrival. (Seminole County Government)

What will be provided at the shelter:

Breakfast/lunch/dinner

Personal space accommodations measuring 21 square feet (7ft x 3ft)

Law enforcement presence

Also, the shelters make clear that weapons, firearms, alcohol and drugs are not permitted in the county shelters.

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Osceola County reminds people that anyone staying at the shelter for special needs individuals should bring "medicine and other vital supplies, including oxygen or other electrical medical devices."

Wilson said his school has mattresses available for elderly people and for those who are disabled.

De'Quan Wilson photographed an empty classroom in Tampa — a room in which he usually teaches — before evacuees arrived amid Hurricane Ian. (De'Quan Wilson)

Wilson said he and his colleagues have been answering calls at the front desk of the elementary school as Floridians inquire about the availability of shelter.

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He and other Lockhart employees, Wilson stressed, will continue to take in evacuees as employees handle the meals, coffee stations and custodial duties while police keep the building secure.

A school hallway is decorated with students' hand prints prior to the arrival of Hurricane Ian in Florida. (Seminole County Government)

"When the students come back on Monday, hopefully, they do come back to some sort of normality," Wilson said.