PLANT CITY, Fla. (AP) -- Strawberry growers, manatees and tropical fish farmers are all taking precautions against the cold in central Florida.
Temperatures are expected to dip below freezing for several hours early Wednesday morning. Forecasters say central Florida will remain chilly but slowly warm up starting Thursday.
Hundreds of manatees huddled together on Tuesday in the warm waters of the Tampa Electric Company's power plant in Apollo Beach. Fish farmers and strawberry growers in Hillsborough and Polk counties also took steps to protect their crops.
One tropical fish farmer in Lakeland said he expects his fish to be stressed, but not to die like they did during the prolonged cold snap in early 2010.
The American Red Cross opened cold weather shelters for folks needed a warm place to stay.