TORNADO WARNING Escambia, Ala

September 5, 2011

Tornado Warning

The National Weather Service in Mobile has issued a

* Tornado Warning for…

western Escambia County in south central Alabama…

* until 1115 am CDT

AT 1040 AM CDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO
INDICATE A TORNADO. THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR ROBINSONVILLE…OR
NEAR ATMORE…MOVING NORTH AT 50 MPH.

OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
MCCULLOUGH…LITTLE ROCK…SARDINE…STANLEY CROSSROADS…PINEVIEW…
HUXFORD…I65 AND AL 113 AND BARNETT CROSSROADS

Tornado Warning Escambia County Alabama

September 5, 2011

The National Weather Service in Mobile has issued a

* Tornado Warning for…

southwestern Escambia County in south central Alabama…

* until 1030 am CDT

AT 1040 AM CDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO
INDICATE A TORNADO. THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR ROBINSONVILLE…OR
NEAR ATMORE…MOVING NORTH AT 50 MPH.

OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
MCCULLOUGH…LITTLE ROCK…SARDINE…STANLEY CROSSROADS…PINEVIEW…
HUXFORD…I65 AND AL 113 AND BARNETT CROSSROADS

Downed Line Cuts Power In Molino

September 5, 2011

A live power line was reported down at Molino Road and Thomley Street in Molino about 9:40 a.m.

Escambia Fire Rescue and Gulf Power responded.

An unknown number of Molino area Gulf Power customers lost power as a result. Power was restored for must customers by about 10:15 a.m.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

September 5, 2011

The National Weather Service in Mobile has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for…
western Escambia County in south central Alabama…
southwestern Monroe County in south central Alabama…
northwestern Baldwin County in southwest Alabama…
southern Clarke County in southwest Alabama…
northeastern Mobile County in southwest Alabama…
southeastern Washington County in southwest Alabama…

* until 930 am CDT

* at 840 am CDT…Doppler radar and the public reported a line of
severe thunderstorms capable of producing destructive winds in
excess of 70 mph. These storms were located along a line extending
from 15 miles southeast of Chatom to 10 miles northeast of Creola to
5 miles north of Spanish Fort…and moving northeast at 40 mph.

* Locations impacted include…
mowa Choctaw reservation…                 Movico…
Poarch creek reservation…                 Rockville…
Calvert…            Stockton…           Spanish Fort…
Perdido…            i65 and CR 47…

This includes Interstate 65 between mile markers 25 and 58.

Precautionary/preparedness actions…

A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 400 PM CDT Monday afternoon
for southwestern Alabama and northwest Florida and southeast
Mississippi.

Three Dead After Atmore Wreck

September 5, 2011

Three people died in an early morning accident Monday in Atmore.

The accident happened just after 2 a.m. on Brookwood Road in Atmore. Authorities said 25-year old Jeremy D. McNeil of Atmore, lost control when he struck railroad tracks just east of the Huddle House restaurant at a high rate of speed. The Pontaic G6 left the roadway and traveled over 100 feet before hitting two trees.

Two passengers, 17-year old Ricky Herrera of Bay Minette and 14-year old Coby James Smith of Atmore, were pronounced dead at the scene. Another passenger in the vehicle, 18-year old Leonardo Cuenca, Jr. of Atmore, was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola in critical condition.

Atmore Police said Cuenca was the only occupant wearing a seat belt.

Further details on the crash were not available; it remains under investigation by the Atmore Police Department and Alabama State Troopers.


Arrest Warrant Issued For Missing Boater; Still No Sign Of Lee Kent

September 5, 2011

An arrest warrant has been issued for former Jay resident Alonzo Lee Kent, who went missing following a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico about a week ago. So far, there’s been no sign of Kent, but his boat was found Friday offshore from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

The stalking warrant for Kent’s arrest was signed last Tuesday by an Escambia County judge, the same day the U.S. Coast Guard ended a three-day search for him and his 32-foot Boston Whaler in the Gulf.

Pensacola Police said a 40-year old woman, whose name has not been released, reported that Kent had repeatedly stalked and harassed her for months. The woman claimed he called her over four dozen times, yelled obscenities while banging on her door and sat outside her home for four hours drinking beer.

According to Escambia County Clerk of Courts records, a temporary restraining order was issued against Kent after being filed by a Pensacola woman on August 26.

Kent’s The Monkey Bar II was located  near Chuburna, a small town on the Yucatan Peninsula. There was no one aboard the Boston Whaler, according to the Progreso Hoy newspaper website.

The boat was floating with the keys in the console but no one aboard, according to fisherman Yam Chan who found the boat. The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed late Friday night that the Monkey Bar II was being  held by Mexican authorities pending an investigation.

The newspaper reported that pirates from the Cuban-American mafia sometimes use boats to smuggle undocumented Cubans onto the Yucatan Peninsula.

About 8:30 a.m. on August  28, family reported 41-year old Kent, now a resident of Gulf Breeze, missing after he did not return from a fishing trip south of Pensacola Pass. The Coast Guard  called off their search for Kent on Tuesday after searching an area larger than Maryland.

Pictured: The Monkey Bar II, the fishing boat belonging to a former Jay resident missing since a fish trip last week, was found in Chuburna, Mexico. Photo courtesy Progreso Hoy for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Lee Downgraded: A Little More Wind

September 5, 2011

Tropical Storm Lee caused scattered damage in Escambia County over the weekend, including the Innerarity Point area were at least four homes were damaged or destroyed.

Overnight Monday, a little more wind and rain are possible before the sun returns on Sunday.

In the North Escambia area, few problems had been reported from Lee –  just a few downed trees and power lines.  Most power outages were short in duration, lasting a couple of hours at most. Peak wind gusts across the area through midnight Sunday were reported at just under 30 mph, as most locations received less than two inches of rain.

On Innerarity Point, an apparent tornado destroyed one home and about a half dozen others were damaged in the early morning hours Sunday.  Numerous trees were downed, and a sailboat was flipped upside down.  Just minutes earlier, the same apparent tornado damaged about 20 homes in Lillian, Ala. The North Escambia area was under a tornado warning late Sunday afternoon, but no damage was reported.

(For TS Lee photos from Pensacola Beach, click here.)

Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:

  • Tonight: Showers likely, mainly before 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 66. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 20 mph becoming northwest 5 to 10 mph. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
  • Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. North wind around 10 mph.
  • Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 62. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
  • Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
  • Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. North wind around 5 mph.
  • Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
  • Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
  • Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
  • Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62.
  • Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 87.
  • Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 65.
  • Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 85.

Gulf Power Offers New Mobile And Online Outage Reporting Tool

September 5, 2011

Gulf Power customers have a new tool called “Power Out” to report power outages.

Click on the light bulb on the left-hand side of gulfpower.com to report the power out at your home or scan a QR Code pictured on this page with your smartphone for a mobile outage tool that lets you report an outage or check the status of an outage. And, if you want to report a street light out in your neighborhood, you can locate the light that is out on an interactive map and click on it to report the outage.

“Computers and smartphones are changing the way everyone does business, so we saw this as an opportunity to use technology to offer a service to our customers,” Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power spokesman, said. “The ‘Power Out?’ button gives you a one-click way to report or check on an outage, whether for your home, a street light or while you’re out on the go.”

Photos: Our Readers At Work

September 5, 2011

On Labor Day we asked our readers to share photos of themselves, their jobs and their coworkers.

For a photo gallery, click here.

Pictured top: Angela Barron (left), ward clerk;  Patricia Reynolds delivers the mail; Keri Bishop, RN; and  Dr. Jonah McIntyre at work at the Atmore Nursing Care Center. Pictured left: Escambia County School District bus drivers Barbara Hollingsworth and Vicki Godwin at Ernest Ward Middle School. Pictured below: John Jackson of Century at work for CSX Transportation last week in Falls Cut, Pennsylvania.  Pictured page bottom: The “office” of Scott Nelson of Bratt, who works heavy civil FDOT road and bridge construction in Tampa. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Tonight’s Century Council Postponed; Budget Hearing Scheduled

September 5, 2011

Tonight’s regular meeting of the Century Town Council has been rescheduled for next Thursday, September 8.

A public hearing on the town’s proposed budget will take place at 5:01 p.m. to be followed by the rescheduled council meeting at 5:15 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public at the Century Town Hall.

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