Commissioner Thanks Volunteer Fire Departments, County Road Prision
February 22, 2008
At Thursday night’s meeting of the Escambia County Commission, District 5 Commissioner Kevin White offered his thanks to the emergency responders to Sunday’s tornado in Molino. He also thanked the county road prison for their work in uncovering the old Molino jail last week.
“I want to thank the volunteer firefighters in the response to the tornado victims on Sunday,” White told the commission. “They did a very outstanding job.”
Volunteer fire departments that had a part in Sunday’s response where Molino, McDavid, Century, Walnut Hill, Ferry Pass, Cantonment and Ensley.
Many other agencies also responded to the storm aftermath. For details, click here for an earlier NorthEscambia.com story.
White also thanked Escambia County Road Prison Superintendent Jeff Bohannon and his corrections officers for the job they did last Friday uncovering the old Molino jail on Brickyard Road. For detail on the historic jail, click here to a read a NorthEscambia.com story about it from last week..
New Photos Of Molino Tornado, Sunday Storm Clouds
February 22, 2008
NorthEscambia.com has received new Molino tornado storm cloud photos from Joyce Garrett. If you have photos of Sunday’s storm, you can still email them to news@northescambia.com. More of Garrett’s photos appear below. More reader submitted photos are here.
Highland Baptist Offers Praises Following Tornado
February 21, 2008
“I’m so glad that God protected us through it all Sunday,” Pastor Brian Calhoun began the Wednesday night service at Highland Baptist Church, the first service in the church since Sunday’s tornado ripped the steeple off the church.
Several church members knew Sunday that the weather was forecast to be bad. The church organist received a call early on from a member who was sick at home. The TV weatherman was saying that bad weather was headed toward North Escambia.
Calhoun had just finished his sermon and was about to give the invitation. The organist received another call; this one telling her that a tornado was headed toward Molino. She quietly informed the music director. A decision was made, and worshipers were directed from the sanctuary with its huge stained glass windows to the fellowship hall, a brick building with no windows.
A few decided to leave. One lady did, only to find herself trapped in her car as the tornado neared. She saw the flying debris, and decided to return to the church. She pulled up under an awning at the church. The pressure from the approaching storm was so great that she was unable to open the doors of her car.
Meanwhile, inside the fellowship hall, the power was out, and it was dark except for emergency lighting. The children began to complain that their ears were popping due to the pressure. Mrs. Sara, the pastor’s wife and leader of the church’s Wednesday night Kids Klub, told the kids to pretend they were chewing bubble gum to unstop their ears. When that did not work, she led them in songs to comfort them as they huddled under tables.
The adults waited. And prayed.
When they emerged, they found destruction around them. Trees down. Metal in the trees. Windows blown out of cars. The church steeple on the ground in pieces, and smashed cars that were in its path down next to it.
They did not know that in one direction, homes were destroyed on Crest Lane. In the other direction, homes were destroyed on Molino Road.
“People have asked me ‘Were people screaming and stuff?’,” Calhoun said Wednesday night. “There were people crying. Sure. Some recalled Hurricane Ivan and the terror it brought. But there was a calming presence of the Lord that was there with us.”
After the storm, church members tried to cover the hole left in the roof where the steeple was ripped off. There were three men that did not attend the church that stopped by and helped.
Now the church is reaching out to the community. On Tuesday, Calhoun was walking around the Crest Lane area talking to storm victims. On Wednesday, Highland fed 15 people that were still without power.
“This has given us the opportunity to reach out to families whose homes were damaged in the storm,” he said. The Red Cross has left the area, but Highland continues to look for those in need. Two families from the Brickyard Road area have contacted the church so far looking for assistance.
“Anybody that still needs help should give us a call,” Calhoun said. “We will try to help them and minister to them at the same time.” The church can be reached at 587-5174.
Wednesday night, church members offered their praises to God for His protection during Sunday’s tornado.
The owner of the white car smashed by the steeple (pictured left), offered a simple praise. “It was all the Lord’s hand how it worked out,” he said. “I am just thankful that we were not sitting in that car.”
“I praise God for the calmness as we went to the fellowship hall,” another said. “We did not actually know that the tornado was just outside the door.”
“We are thankful that You looked out for us and did not let anyone get hurt,” a church member prayed. “We pray for all those in our community that lost their homes. Lost their vehicles. Give us all patience as we rebuild, and we rejoice that You had a hand in it.”
“Help us understand the needs of those around us, so we can reach out to them,” another prayed.
“We thank You for Your Spirit to calm us,” Calhoun prayed. “We thank You; we praise You.”
Highland Baptist Church suffered up to about $100,000 in damage in Sunday’s tornado, according to Calhoun. A structural engineer has determined that it is safe for the church to continue to hold services in the sanctuary. The damages include the steeple, portions of the roof as well as other structural damage around the church complex.
Pictured top: The cross from the top of the Highland Baptist Church steeple. Pictured below:The broken steeple in the parking lot. NorthEscambia.com photos; click to enlarge.
Arnold, Brown-Curry Enter School Board Race; Paul Withdraws
February 21, 2008
Two prominent Escambia County School officials have entered the race for Superintendent of Schools.
Ronnie Arnold, a name familiar to the public as the school board’s spokesperson, has prefiled as a Republican. Arnold’s official job is the school district’s assistant superintendent of interagency and public affairs. This is Arnold’s first ever run for office; his current position with the school system is appointed.
Claudia Brown-Curry has entered the race as a Democrat, her second run for the school system’s top job. Brown-Curry currently represents District 3 on the Escambia County School Board.
Two-term incumbent Jim Paul announced last week that he will withdraw from the race following his DUI arrest just over a month ago. He made that withdrawal official Wednesday afternoon.
The school district’s assistant superintendent for human resources, Alan Scott, has prefiled as a Republican. Democrats Myra Simmons and Cary Stidham have announced their candidacy as Democrats. Stidham is a former school board member.
Brush Fire In Century
February 20, 2008
Fire units from Century, McDavid, Walnut Hill and the Florida Division of Forestry responded to a large brush fire in the area of the old sawmill and the sewage treatment plant in Century.
The fire near Jefferson and Pond Streets was reported just after 3:30. At 4:54, the fire was reported to be out.
A red flag warning was in effect 5:00 Wednesday afternoon. A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are occurring. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures creates explosive fire growth potential.
Updated: 5:00 p.m.
School Board Votes On Fall Break; Approves Compromise Calendar
February 20, 2008
The Escambia County School Board took the middle ground on a school calendar for the 2008-2009 school year at their Tuesday night meeting.
There were two proposals on the table. One option includes eliminating fall break, which would put middle and high school semester exams before the Christmas holiday.
The other option would keep fall break, forcing middle and high school students to take semester exams when they return to school after the long Christmas break. Fall break would be the three days prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, giving students a full week out of school the last week of November.
But the board went with a compromise third option; one that will turn the Thanksgiving break into a three day holiday and put semester exams before the Christmas break for middle and high schools students.
2008-2009 Escambia School Calendar
Board member Jeff Bergosh was the only vote against the proposal. He said liked the idea of the five day fall break.
In other business related to North Escambia schools, the board approved the appointment of Lisa Albritton as teacher at Bratt Elementary, effective 1/25/08 and approved the purhcase of new floor covering for Bratt Elementary.
Northview Celebrates National FFA Week With Faculty/Staff Breakfast
February 20, 2008
FFA members at Northview High School celebrated National FFA Week Tuesday morning by cooking breakfast for the faculty and staff.
“Blue Jackets, Bright Futures” is the theme of National FFA week this year. It embodies the best about FFA members, from the most recognizable symbol of the organization, the blue corduroy jacket. More than half a million members across the nation will participate in National FFA week this week.
Students cooked a breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, grits, biscuits and sausage for the NHS faculty and staff.
The FFA began in 1928 as the Future Farmers of America.
For more pictures from the National FFA Week breakfast at Northview High School, click here.
Scenes From Molino: The Tornado Cleanup Continues
February 20, 2008
Lives were slowly coming back together in Molino Tuesday following Sunday’s tornado. NorthEscambia.com spent a few hours Tuesday walking around the hardest hit areas talking to residents and just observing.
At the Masonic Lodge in “Old Molino” we found members removing furniture from the building. The early 1900’s building, which once housed Molino’s Ford dealership, lost its entire roof during the Sunday tornado. Downstairs, the hanging ceiling panels are sagging under the weight of the water they are holding up. Upstairs, there’s the constant drip-drip of water dripping from old wood tongue and groove beaded ceiling (pictured left, click to enlarge). It has began to bow and buckle from the water. Water sloshes from the carpet with each step. Lodge members will be pulling the carpet out soon.
Back outside on Molino road, it is quiet. A stark contrast to Sunday’s sounds of emergency vehicles and chainsaws. Monday’s sightseers and television news crews are gone. The rhythmic tapping of a hammer or the sounds of a chainsaw breaks the quiet sound of birds chirping under picture perfect blue skies.
At Michelle Mitchell’s home on Molino Road, the roof is still on this car she had bought about a week ago from Sandy Sansing. When the dealership heard what happened, they replaced the crushed car with a convertible in an even trade.
At one mobile home a storage “pod” was delivered for the family’s belongings. Their trailer was picked up and put back down by the tornado. Just up the street, the smell of gas permeates from a motor home that was flipped upside down.
At Highland Baptist Church on Highway 95A, a blue tarp covers the spot in the roof where the church’s steeple had stood for 19 years. The steeple is in three pieces in the parking lot; a damaged car struck by the steeple still sits in the parking lot. The cross from the top of the steeple is propped up on the building’s porch.
County crews were hard at work just down from the church, working to remove a massive cedar tree and replace street signs twisted by the tornado. Crews were on the roof of the old Molino School repairing a hole in the roof.
On Crest Lane, Crest Place and Crest Way there was a great deal of activity. Generators were humming at homes that still did not have power due to damage from the storm. Contractors and restoration companies were everywhere. Some roofs were covered with old vinyl billboards, others with tarps, to protect against the elements.
A Gulf Power worker was high on the pole of a high voltage transmission line that was downed by the storm. A local pastor was visiting with people in the neighborhood. Allied Waste was delivering trash cans to replace those carried away by the tornado.
Pretty much everyone that NorthEscambia.com visited with Tuesday echoed the same thought…thankfulness. They were thankful that they were still alive, and thankful that no one was injured in the EF-1 tornado. Many, even people standing in front of homes that were no longer habitable, were quick to thank God.
NorthEscambia.com did observe two bothersome scenes on our tour of Molino. A contractor with an Pace/Milton area phone number has placed signs advertising their services on the streets around the damaged areas. To editorialize just a bit: NorthEscambia.com finds that just plain tacky.
We also observed a group of men looking for work. They parked their van out of site of a house. One went to the door looking for a job doing “anything” for him and his friends. He was turned away and went back to the van. Another man got out of the van and went to the homeowner’s door looking for work for his crew as a contractor.
For a complete photo gallery from Tuesday’s continuing cleanup in Molino, click here.
Another Candidate Enters School Superintendent Race
February 20, 2008
Another candidate has entered the race for Escambia County School Superintendent. Republican Alan Scott of Cantonment pre-qualified for the general election on Tuesday.
The other candidates currently in the race are Democrats Myra Simmons and Cary Stidham, and Republican Jim Paul.
Paul has publicly stated that he intends to drop out of the race following a DUI arrest in Pinellas County.
Tornado Strikes Molino; Cleanup Will Continue
February 19, 2008
The cleanup continues in Molino today after Sunday’s destructive tornado carved a destructive path through the community. People spent the day Monday surveying the situation, picking up the pieces of their lives the storm left scattered around their community.
The E-F1 tornado destroyed at least four homes in Molino about noon Sunday. Escambia County officials say at least 60 other structures were damaged by the twister along at least a two and a half mile path. At least 20 of those structures suffered major damage. There were no injuries reported.
Meanwhile, the American Red Cross has been going door to door in the Molino area passing out storm recovery kits, providing recovery help and generally just providing a should to lean upon.
NorthEscambia.com has photos of the actual tornado. Click here for the story.
Many homes in the Crest Lane area were damaged, with at least one house destroyed. Other suffered significant roof damage. As the tornado continued on a path to the northeast, it took the steeple off Highland Baptist Church and caused roof damage to the sanctuary. The steeple landed in the church parking lot, damaging at least four cars.
Church members said the service was about to end when they got word of the approaching tornado. Everyone evacuated the sanctuary and sought shelter in the church fellowship hall, a brick building with no windows. They prayed and sang songs as the storm approached, member said.
On Molino Road, near Brickyard Road, several more homes were damaged. The roof was completely gone from several houses and the Masonic Lodge building. One mobile home was flipped upside down and others were heavily damaged.
Gulf Power company cut power to about 4,500 people in the Molino area as a safety precaution. Power lines were down all around the area with many poles snapped in half. Electricity has been restored to most areas. For more information on the power situation, click here for an additional story.
For a complete NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from the Molino tornado, click here.
