BRADENTON, Fla. — Hurricane Ian brought powerful gusts of wind in Manatee County as it continued to move through Florida.
Spectrum Bay News 9 Reporter Josh Rojas was in Bradenton on Wednesday where he reported strong winds from Ian knocking down trees all over the area, as well as business’ alarms going off.
The outer bands from Hurricane Ian are knocking down trees in the Bay Area. Viewers sent in these photos of a tree that fell on a new pickup truck in St. Pete and on a home in Bradenton. @BN9 pic.twitter.com/G0UYkemHtT
— Josh Rojas (@JoshRojasBN9) September 28, 2022
Trees could be seen bending and swaying as the strong gusts of wind came through due to sustained winds of 40mph with gusts up to 80mph.
There was nearly 5 inches of rain seen in the city, which is causing problems with the wastewater treatment facilities.
The City of Bradenton says they are asking all of their residents to conserve water right now, because their treatment plant is about to overflow.
Manatee County is also having issues with its wastewater treatment, not due to the rain, but due to power.
County spokesman Bill Logan says that 15 percent of their pump stations are now down because they do not have power, so the county is also asking its residents to conserve water.
Florida Power & Light says that a little over 42,000 residents in Manatee County are currently without power.