Ronnie Dale “RD” Powell
May 1, 2014
Mr. Ronnie Dale “RD” Powell, 38, passed away on Saturday, April 26, 2014, in Atmore.
Mr. Powell was a native and former resident of Atmore and had resided in Marianna for the past three years. Mr. Powell was an employee of Nelson Shipyard in Panama City. Mr. Powell liked old Chevy trucks and was an avid Alabama football and Nascar fan. His grandparents, Red & Ruby Powell; cousins, Mitzi Powell and Harold Scott; and aunts and uncles, Ricky Powell, Charlie Powell, Janice Powell, LeRoy Powell and Judy Scott precede him in death.
He is survived by his mother, Katie & Elvis Presley of Atmore; wife, Nicole “Nicci” Powell of Marianna; two sons, Tristian and T.J., both of Marianna; two daughters, Destiny Powell and Abbygale Powell, both of Marianna; one brother, Kenny Powell of Atmore; and two nieces, Oliva Powell and Cloey Powell, both of Atmore.
Funeral services will be Saturday, May 3, 2014, at 11 a.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Diane Everette officiating.
Burial will follow at the Godwin Cemetery.
Visitation will be Saturday, May 3, 2014, from 10 a.m. until service time at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Ron Marshall, Steve Fulmer, Tommy Emmerson, Jeff Gunn, Kenny Powell and Blaine Jeter.
Honorary pallbearers will be Peter Smith, Perry Joe Buckhault, Billy Scott, Michael Pruett, Jerry Casey and Melvin Kendrick.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Gov. Scott Meets With Escambia Officials, Tours Flooding
April 30, 2014
Florida Gov. Rick Scott met with governmental leaders at the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center in Pensacola Wednesday morning. After the meeting, the governor was to tour flooded areas around Escambia County. Scott has promised that he provide the state resources needed to help the area. Pictured below: Scott, Interim Escambia County Administrator Larry Newsom and Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward during a briefing at the Escambia EOC. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Massive Flood Hits Escambia County; One Drowns, Millions In Damage (With Photo Gallery)
April 30, 2014
Historic flooding and storms hit Escambia County from a portion of Cantonment south Tuesday night, claiming the life of at least one person, leaving dozens of people trapped by rising water, plunging tens of thousands into the dark, and doing millions of dollars worth of damage.
An Pensacola woman drowned when she drove into high water on Highway 29 in Cantonment, becoming the first confirmed fatality from the storms. [Read more...]
Likely hundreds of people were trapped in vehicle submerged across the area or in their homes as flood waters began to rise. In the Bristol Park subdivision off County Road 97 and Highway 297A, dozens of residents were forced into their attics as water became chest-high or deeper. Firefighters from across the county worked for hours to rescue those residents, forced to use chainsaws to cut through roofs. An estimated 80 to 100 people were rescued from the subdivision.
Over 17,000 Gulf Power customers in Escambia County were without power early Wednesday morning, with the utility saying it could be Wednesday evening or later before some were restored. [Read more...]
Damages to homes, businesses and public infrastructure such as roads and bridges reach well into the millions. An estimated dollar figure won’t be known for several day. Rep. Clay Ingram said early Wednesday morning that he had spoken to Gov. Rick Scott, with the governor promising do all he can do to help the Panhandle recover from the storm.
For more reader submitted photos, click here.
NorthEscambia.com will update this story and the rest of our site with the latest information throughout the day.
Pictured top: Rain fell so rapidly Tuesday night that the I-10 Escambia Bay Bridge flooded. Pictured below: Flooding at McDonald’s on Highway 29 in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com reader submitted photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia County Under State Of Emergency (With Latest County Update)
April 30, 2014
Escambia County Emergency Response is still responding to calls for help as a result of this week’s flooding event. However, the call volume into the Escambia County 911 Center has fallen drastically since noon on Wednesday. Since the start of this disaster event Tuesday evening, Escambia County has responded to 281 cases while Escambia County Fire Rescue has responded to 266 cases. All total, the Escambia County 911 dispatch has received 4,129 calls between the start of the emergency at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Flood waters are receeding, but drivers are asked to avoid driving if at all possible. Escambia County will begin a full inspection of roads, bridges and other infrastructure early Thurday morning.
Reopening Thursday
- Escambia County Board of County Commission Offices
- The Clerk of Circuit Court Offices
- Tax Collector Janet Holley is reopening three of her locations on Thursday. Deadline for paying property taxes has been extended one day until tomorrow (Thu). Payment can be made on line or drop box. Property Appraiser Chris Jones will also reopen his offices on Thursday.
- The University of West Florida
- Pensacola Christian Academy
Closures
- The Escambia County Public School System
- Road Closures
- Westbound I-10 ramp to southbound I-110
- Scenic Highway 150 ft north of Baywalk Circle
- Scenic Highway south of Scenic Highway Circle
- U.S. 29 north of Kingsfield Road
- East Johnson Avenue (bridge is out)
- Dog Track Road at Lillian Highway
- Airport at Carpenter Creek
- 9th Avenue at Carpenter Creek
- Beaur Road at Serative Road
- Roads Open with Issues
- Northbound I-110 at mile marker 6 is restricted
- I-10 at mile marker 5 is restricted
- Southbound Highway 29 to westbound I-10 is restricted
- Guidy Lane
- Detroit Boulevard East
- Eight Mile Creek Road
- Jernigan Road
- Galvin Avenue
- Joaquin Road
- Fairfield and 58th
Gulf Power Restores 35,000 Customers
April 30, 2014
Almost 17,000 Gulf Power customers in Escambia County were without power at 3:00 a.m. Wednesday.
Gulf Power Company has restored power to more than 35,000 customers as of 9 a.m. this morning. Crews resumed restoration efforts at 6 a.m. after the storms began to subside.
Less than 24,000 customers are still without power, primarily in Escambia County, which was hit hard by nearly 2 feet of rain since Tuesday afternoon.
Crews from Mississippi Power, a Gulf Power sister company, are en route to Northwest Florida to help the company with restoration efforts.
For customers’ safety, Gulf Power offices in Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties will not open until 1 p.m. today.
Crews could do little work overnight because of the flooded road conditions and continued storms that rolled through the area. Widespread damage to the system is still being assessed before an estimated restoration time for all customers can be determined.
Gulf Power’s customers are experiencing fewer power outages than any other time in recent history. In fact, investments in the power grid have made a significant difference, improving reliability for the utility’s 436,000 customers by more than 35 percent since 2010.
“Our line and support personnel have had a lot of experience over the past couple of years restoring power,” said Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power Communications manager. “When you pair that with the improvements we’re making to our power grid — the bottom line is customers get their power back on more quickly.”
Gulf Power’s Online Outage map<http://outagemap.gulfpower.com/external/default.html> enables live tracking of power restoration efforts. You can access this map through the company’s new Outage App on your smartphone. Search for “Gulf Power” in iTunes or on the Google Play store to download the free app. You can also keep updated through Gulf Power’s Facebook page.
Escambia, Santa Rosa Schools Closed Thursday (With Closure And Cancellation List)
April 30, 2014
Schools in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida are closed on Thursday.
Other Wednesday closures include
- University of West Florida
- Pensacola State College classes/exams
- Pensacola Christian Academy classes/exams
- Marcus Pointe Christian
- Fortis Institute
- Escambia Catholic Schools
- Escambia Health Department
- ECAT – no service Wednesday
- Escambia Health & Hope Clinic (Pcola and Century)
- NAS Pensacola (until 10am, contact supervisor)
- Eglin Air Force Base
- Navy Hospital
- Escambia, Santa Rosa county courts
- Pen Air Credit Unions
- ECUA residential and commercial sanitation collections scheduled for Wednesday will be postponed until Thursday. Thursday’s and Friday’s collections will be made on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The following community agencies are closed:
- Alzheimer’s Family Services Office
- Autism Pensacola
- Big Brothers Big Sisters
- Boys and Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast (7 clubs located in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton Counties)
- Chain Reaction
- Children’s Home Society
- CIL Disability Resource Center is closed.
- The Community Action Program Head Start and All other Community Action Programs
- Community Drug and Alcohol Council, Inc (CDAC) Offices
- Gulf Coast Kids House
- Gulf Coast Council, Boy Scouts of America Office
- Health & Hope Clinics locations
- Lutheran Services of Florida
- Manna Food Pantries
- PACE Center For Girls
- United Cerebral Palsy of Northwest Florida Offices
- United Ministries
- UCP’s Capstone Academy Pensacola and Milton
- UCP’s Children’s Services Center and Milton Child Care Center
- USO locations
- BRACE will be represented at the EOC throughout the State of Emergency.
- 2-1-1 information and referral agents will work from their homes for the duration of the State of Emergency.
- Chain Reaction’s luncheon is cancelled for today.
- Manna is closed until further notice. Their building & grounds are flooded with 4 to 5 feet of water. They are unable to reach our building to assess the damage due to standing water in their parking lot. They anticipate extensive loss of equipment, vehicles & food.
Have a closure or cancellation to add to this list? Email news@northescambia.com. Include your name and contact photo number (will not be published).
Escambia County Road Closures
April 30, 2014
Drivers should avoid being on the roadways, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
The following state and local highways are closed, according to FDOT and Escambia County:
- I-10 is open to slow moving traffic.
- U.S. 98 at Jaquin Road is restricted due to water on the road.
- Southbound I-110 at MM 3.5 (Texar Drive) is restricted due to water on the road.
- U.S. 29 at Tate Road is closed due to water on the road.
- U.S. 90 at Nine Mile Creek is closed due to water on the road.
- U.S. 90 at Eight Mile Creek is closed due to water on the road.
- State Road (S.R.) 727 (Fairfield Drive) is closed due to water on the road.
- Southbound U.S. 29 is restricted due to water on the road.
- Highway 297A at 11 Mile Creek – bridge out
- Meadowbrook Drive – bridge out
- 9th Avenue North at Carpenter Creek – bridge out
- Airport Boulevard at Carpenter Creek — bridge out
- Condor Drive
- Bauer Road
- Mobile Highway at Bayou Marcus
- Dog Track Road at Lillian Highway
- Johnson Avenue near Olive Rd — bridge out
In addition to flooding, several road and bridges sustained major damage in the flooding.
Pictured above: Large portions of Scenic Highway are gone. Pictured below: Johnson Avenue near Scenic Highway. NorthEscambia.com reader submitted photos, click to enlarge.
Only A Slight Chance Of Rain For Tonight, Sun To Return
April 30, 2014
Flood warnings are in effect. Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 7pm, then a slight chance of showers between 7pm and 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Thursday Partly sunny, with a high near 73. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Thursday Night A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Friday Partly sunny, with a high near 75. North wind around 5 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
- Friday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 47. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
- Saturday Sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
- Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 52. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Sunday Sunny, with a high near 84. West wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday Night Clear, with a low around 57.
- Monday Sunny, with a high near 87.
- Monday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 58.
- Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 86.
- Tuesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 59.
Follow NorthEscambia.com Flooding And Road Updates On Facebook, Twitter
April 30, 2014
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Rain Reschedules Softball Playoff Games
April 30, 2014
Severe weather forced the postponement of three area softball playoff games.
The Region 1-7A game between the Tate Aggies and Navarre Raiders has been moved to 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The West Florida versus Tallahassee’s Florida High Regiona 1-4A game has been postponed until 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The Jay Lady Royals regional semifinal playoff game against South Walton has been moved to Thursday, 2 p.m. at Jay.