Polk County residents aren’t taking any chances with the heavy rains expected. Many of them packed the sandbag filling stations to prepare.

One filling station that had a lot of traffic was in the Crystal Lake area. People there say they’ve had severe flooding recently and they aren’t taking any chances.

Sonja Lester and her husband wasted no time packing theirs.

“Oh no, we want to be ready for this rainfall this time,” said Lester.

Over the last month Lester said they’ve had heavy flooding in front of their home. And even though they’re no longer preparing for a tropical storm or a hurricane, they’re preparing just in case.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry this time. We lost a lot of stuff that was in the garage that got wet and mildewed,” she said.

The potential of flooding is the reason so many people were pulling out their shovels. Another truck filled with sand had to be delivered because of all of the people pouring in at the Crystal Lake location.

Even though there’s a lot of sand and supplies at some of the locations, county officials are asking people to only take what they need. They’re asking people to take no more than 30 bags per person. They want to make sure they have enough for everyone in need.

Dennis Yarbrough made sure he got enough bags for him and some of his family members.

“It’s been so wet lately,” he said. “So I think a lot of folks are just again precautionary. And we know the folks we’re helping, some family. They have a problem with some slight flooding at times with heavy rains. So just in case, we want to be ready.”

And with her garage, backyard and front door already lined with sandbags, Lester said she’s as ready as she’s going to be.

“We’ve still got a lot of rain coming. So when it passes all the way over with just a little bit of rain then I’ll be relieved,” she said.

Polk County has 14 different sandbag filling stations across the county.

  • Babson Park Fire Station - 714 South Alt. 27 in Babson Park
  • Caloosa Lake Fire Station - 14684 N US Highway 27 in Lake Wales
  • Cottonwood Fire Station - 126 Cottonwood Dr. in Davenport
  • Crystal Lake Support Station - 2450 E Main St. in Lakeland
  • Golfview Fire Station - 2902 Hwy 60 East in Lake Wales
  • Indian Lakes Est. Fire Station - 221 Hogan Lane in Indian Lake Estates
  • Jan Phyl Fire Station - 333 American Spirit Blvd in Winter Haven
  •  Mulberry Fire Station - 900 5th Street NE, Mulberry
  • Nalcrest Fire Station - 69101 Nalcrest Rd. in Nalcrest,
  • Polk City Fire Station - 200 Commonwealth Ave. SW in Polk City
  • Providence Fire Station- 8936 Hwy 98 N in north Lakeland
  • Sleepy Hill Fire Station - 3030 Sleepy Hill Road in Lakeland
  • Solivita Fire Station - 1201 Cypress Parkway in Poinciana
  • Willow Oak Fire Station - 4210 Willis Rd. in Mulberry

Locations will remain open until sundown.

To report flooding of homes or businesses call the Citizen’s Information Line at 863-401-2234 (locally) or toll-free 866-661-0228.