HURRICANE IDALIA
Hurricane Idalia packs a
punch for Perry & Cedar Key
but spares our two counties
by Teresa Eubanks, CLJNews.com
BRISTOL – With memories of Hurricane Michael’s 2018 onslaught still fresh in the minds of Calhoun and Liberty County citizens, the announcement that Hurricane Idalia was heading our way this week prompted quick preparations by county officials and community members.
Michael taught us that anything and everything can go wrong when a hurricane sets its sights on Florida.
Wednesday’s hurricane devastated other panhandle communities, leaving a particularly destructive trail through Cedar Key and Perry, along with downed power lines and debris in Tallahassee.
Luckily, Idalia’s visit to our part of the panhandle can be summed up in one word:
“Whew!”
LIBERTY COUNTY
“We were very fortunate that it left us unscathed,” said Lisa Shuler, Liberty County Assistant Emergency Management Director. “Everyone’s just elated it spared us.”
But there was a lot of waiting and worrying.
“We were a little gun-shy after Michael,” said Liberty County Emergency Management Director Rhonda Lewis. “We anticipated something a lot worse.” She said they could not get any definitive information on the hurricane’s path in the hours leading up it its arrival. “We were on pins and needles until it made that turn toward Perry,” she said.
Lewis said they first thought the hurricane would head for Tallahassee, which would compound issues if it also hit here since emergency resources not available locally come through Tallahassee.
But, she said, they already had the basics in place. “We had gotten our water, tarps and sandbags staged and ready,” she said. “It happened so fast but everybody here got ready and took precautions.”
Emergency responders gathered at the emergency management office in Bristol Tuesday for an all-nighter.
“We knew by looking at the track and what the weather service was predicting for us that we would be on the good side of it,” she said. “We know the drill. We were ready and knew what to do, we just didn’t know when.”
She said they started having state conference calls to prepare last Thursday. “It kept looking like it was coming here but it never did,” she said.
Around 30 people – including a few who evacuated from Franklin County – took shelter Wednesday at Liberty County High School.
“If we have to have a hurricane, this is the kind we’ll take,” Lewis said. But she cautioned, “We’re not through with hurricane seat until Nov. 30 so stay prepared. September, October and November is our busy time for hurricanes.”
CALHOUN COUNTY
“We were pretty fortunate to not have any effects from the hurricane, just some sprinkles and a little gust of wind here and there,” said Calhoun County Emergency Management Coordinator Jamie Norris.
“We barely had any rain and there was no damage reported,” she said. Schools were closed but they did not need to open shelters.
But the days leading up to Wednesday were tense. The Calhoun County Commission signed a state of emergency declaration Sunday morning, which kicked off the hurricane watch.
“We never fully activated but stayed at monitoring levels,” she said.
REPAIR & RECOVERY
Hurricane Idalia made landfall around 7:45 a.m. Wednesday near Keaton Beach on the Taylor County coast. The Category 3 hurricane rapidly, but briefly, intensified into a Category 4 hurricane, hitting the Gulf Coast with winds of 125 miles per hour. It degraded into a tropical storm as it moved into Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday morning that all state bridges in areas impacted by Hurricane Idalia have been cleared by FDOT, including Cedar Key Bridge. This is an important step in the recovery process and will allow first responders, law enforcement, utility linemen and supplies to come onto the island. FDOT has nearly 700 team members deployed to the impacted areas, which includes nearly 100 Bridge Inspectors and 224 Cut and Toss crew members. Those crew members have cleared 6,600 miles of roadway. Nearly 250 pieces of major equipment, including 140 dump trucks, 59 pumps, and 207 other heavy equipment (front-end loaders, skid-steers, etc.) have been deployed with FDOT crews. Nearly 1,100 generators have been deployed to help restore traffic signals.
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