Liberty and Calhoun

counties escape injury,

damage in hurricane

by Teresa Eubanks, CLJNews.com

BRISTOL, FL – We expected the worst but were spared when Hurricane Helene roared through the Florida Panhandle last night.

Helene had grown into a Category 4 hurricane by the time it made landfall near Perry, with winds estimated to be 140 mph.

The massive storm unleashed floods and, as of 4 p.m. today,  left over 40 people dead across the southeast.

Here at home, it was a different story.

As of 3 p.m. today, Liberty County Emergency Management Director Ben Guthrie said his office had not received any reports of injury or property damage.

The only real issue affecting the two-county area is water.

“A few dirt roads at the south end of the county were washed out, including Raz Hill Road,” said Guthrie.  “The Liberty County Road Department is down there today repairing them.”

There is still water settled on Hwy. 65, he said,  “It is passable, but you should use caution.”

The rivers will also be rising, he warned.  “We are expecting the Apalachicola River to go to 22 feet and the Ochlockonee will rise to 20 feet,” he said.  “They’re not there yet but they’re on the way.”

He said there was more water in small areas around Liberty County.  “In two spots in Sumatra, they got 16 inches over a two-day period,” he said.

As of Friday afternoon, his office has not received any reports of substantial damage.   

He said 120 people took shelter at Liberty County High School, 12 people sought safety at Hosford School and three others went to a special needs shelter.   “We appreciate those who staffed the shelters.  Everybody came through great,” he said.

Although the two county area was in the path of the hurricane, how did we emerged unscathed?

Guthrie said simply: “It bobbled.”

As the hurricane was moving northward, it made a couple of bobbles, he explained.  “I’ve never seen anything like it before,’ he said.  “When it touched land at Taylor County around 10 p.m.,  it’s like it did sidestep – going east and then north.”

He said he was thankful for the outcome.  “We were as prepared as we could be and quite shocked at what ended up happening,” he said.

“I think Liberty County did an excellent job in preparing.  All the county agencies were stocked and people were preparing their homes,” he said.  “Deputies from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office were out patrolling as soon as the winds died down.  They hit roads and started looking for structural damage.”

Remarkably, he said there were only a couple of trees that fell across roads.

“We’re grateful for our citizens listing to the warning and hunkering down.  They got in their homes, prepared themselves and stayed put,” he said.

“We were as prepared as we could be and quite shocked – and thankful –  at what ended up happening,” he said.

Still, he has one concern after Liberty and Calhoun counties fared so well in last night’s storm.   “My fear is that people will stop paying attention to future warnings and get caught in a bad situation,” he said.

He urges everyone to take hurricane warnings seriously and be vigilant.  “It doesn’t take a big one to wreck havoc and kill somebody,” he said.