And hurricane season starts today.
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Two unprecedented rain events — one in late June and early July last year and one in April this year — closed or flooded at least 45 county roads. When July’s storm ended, the county was left with almost $1 million in road damages. April’s damages total about $3 million.
The damage wasn’t caused by a powerful hurricane such as with Opal in 1995.
But the extraordinary deluges unloaded between
Last summer’s rain event was “similar to a hurricane,” said
“The forecast could have gone either way. It could have been a lot worse than what we faced,” he said.
However, emergency response teams from various agencies learned lessons, officials said.
“The infrastructure just cannot stand that much rain, especially those unpaved roads in the northern part of the county,”
The EOC staff has “flooded” as many places as possible with material about what to do in case of a hurricane and how best to keep safe and prepared, he said.
And throughout hurricane season the EOC will stay in touch with representatives from disaster relief and emergency services agencies, including Tyndall Air Force Base, American Red Cross, the Health Department and municipalities.
Using a Level 1 to 3 storm proximity system, Level 1 being the highest alert, the EOC monitors storm developments. When a Level 2 is called, the EOC may call a meeting with all representatives. When the threat is at Level 1, the around-the-clock
And depending on the amount of rain expected,
Waylon Register, site manager for the Army Corps of Engineers, said the unusual storms in the past year dumped more rain than a typical hurricane would. Unusually heavy rain twice caused land dikes to give way and resulted in the closure of a 19-mile stretch of land in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between
“I don’t think it’s fair to classify them just as rain storms,” Register said. “During those events we had more rain than during hurricanes.”
A check of National Weather Service records bears that out. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan generally dumped 4 to 9 inches of rain across the region, according to NWS.
Schools
One of the biggest issues during April’s storm was when to close schools.
Bill Husfelt, superintendent of Bay District Schools, closed schools 30 minutes after they started on the day the rain came. Parents left their jobs to pick up children and school buses backtracked routes. A Cedar Grove fourth-grade field trip to
“Making that call is one of the harder things to do because every time you close schools, you’re upsetting and impacting every business and every person in the community,” Husfelt said.
Making that call before a tropical storm is easier.
Since 2004, the school district canceled classes seven times for hurricane and tropical storms.
“Most of the time with tropical storms and hurricanes, EOC guides us in what we need to do,” Husfelt said. “The first rule of thumb is, if they’re going to open a shelter, we most likely close.”
April’s storm, which dropped a foot of rain within hours, wasn’t as cut-and-dried, he said.
“There was no way you can predict that’s going to happen,” Husfelt said. “Sometimes we’re stuck with things that are going to happen all of a sudden, unlike a tropical storm or a hurricane that you know is coming and you can prepare for.”
Forecast
Each year, the National Weather Service releases its forecast for hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30. Regardless of the forecast, the Weather Service emphasizes to be prepared just in case.
“The forecast is what it is, but it doesn’t matter whether we forecast one or 20 storms. You should prepare the same way every year because it only takes one storm to make a bad year for you,” said Brian Hoeth, emergency response meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Southern Region headquarters in
Forecasters predict a below-average season, with between eight and 13 named storms, of which three to six could become hurricanes and one to two being major hurricanes.
The main driver of the forecast will be the El Nino weather pattern that is expected to develop in summer.
“The El Nino inhibits hurricane development,” Hoeth said. “It’s good for people that don’t want to get hit with a tropical system.”
Everyone should keep in mind that the “forecast tells you nothing about landfall,” Hoeth said.
And landfall can be tricky. Just because the path of a storm takes it a hundred miles away is no reason to drop your guard. For example, Hurricane Ivan made landfall in
Also, categories of storms that speak to wind speed do not coincide with flooding and storm surge.
“Just because something is only a tropical storm or only a Category 1, that doesn’t mean the impacts aren’t going to be big,” Hoeth concluded. “Make sure you get the full message of the potential impact of the storm that the Weather Service is trying to advertise to you.”