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Eight Irma Evacuees Injured In Escambia County Van Crash

Eight Hurricane Irma evacuees from Central Florida were injured in a single vehicle accident Sunday in Escambia County.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 44-year old Johnny Lamar Albritton, Jr. of Crystal River fell asleep at the wheel, causing the van he was driving to veer off the roadway on I-10 east of Davis Highway about 6:20 Sunday morning. The van struck a light pole, a concrete camera pole and then rolled over against a tree.

Albritton and seven passengers were transported to area hospitals with injuries. Six of those passengers were in the back of the van with no seat belts or seats. A dog in the van did not survive.

Albritton was charged with driving with a suspended license, careless driving and no child restraint for a child under 5-years old.

Photos for NorthEscamba.com, click to enlarge.

Century To Hold Public Budget Meetings

The Town of Century is continuing their budget setting process this month, beginning with a meeting on Monday.

The September council meeting schedule will be as follows:

• Monday September 11 — 6:50 pm First budget reading
• Monday September 11 — 7:00 pm Council Meeting
• Monday September 18 — 6:50 pm Second budget reading, public hearing
• Monday September 18 — 7:00 pm Council Meeting

All meetings are open to the public and are held at 7995 North Century Boulevard.

NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.

Local Irma Updates (Schools, Business. Government)

Here is local storm information from schools, businesses and government:

Safety Notices

• NO EVACUATIONS for Escambia or Santa Rosa County
• The Bay Center is open as a shelter FOR CENTRAL/SOUTH FLORIDA EVACUEES ONLY
• Both Santa Rosa and Escambia County EOC are at level 3 (least serious) monitoring only.

Gulf Power Crews Repairing Local Outages, Then Ready To Help Southeast

As Tropical Storm Irma winds push through Northwest Florida, Gulf Power is already working to restore power and is staged and ready to deploy crews to help rebuild and restore impacted areas.

Based on current forecasts, the energy provider predicts that approximately 20,000 customers in Northwest Florida may lose power as a result of severe winds — with the majority of the outages occurring in and around the Bay County area. As of 10 a.m., Gulf Power crews had already restored power to nearly 4,600 customers, mostly in the Bay County region.

As the storm continues to move and shift, that number may change. Customers in the hardest hit areas should prepare to be without power for, possibly, up to two days.

“Even with Irma’s downgrade to a tropical storm, Irma has caused widespread damage across the state and continues to cause power outages in Northwest Florida,” said Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power spokesperson. “Our crews are working to restore power for Gulf Power’s customers and we are staged and ready to deploy to help rebuild the power grid in some of the hardest impacted areas across the Southeast.”

Gulf Power line crews will work as quickly and safely as possible to restore power. However, there’s a point where it is no longer safe for crews to work. Winds must be below 35 mph for crews to safely begin restoring power.

Rogers added that Gulf Power will be bringing additional lineworkers from the western end of their service area to ensure there are enough resources to get the lights back on quickly and safely, and then the plan is to deploy crews to help in other affected areas in the Southeast that are predicted to have major to catastrophic damage.

“Restoring power to our Gulf Power customers will be our priority. After we take care of everyone right here at home, we’re prepared to send more than 100 personnel to help rebuild the power grid and hope to our neighbors in the Southeast,” said Rogers. “Our crews train throughout the year and are prepared to work until everyone’s lights are back on.”

Gulf Power offered the following safety tips:

• Treat any downed wire as if it is energized because you can’t tell by looking if a downed wire is live or not. Telephone or cable television wires that are touching a power line could become energized and should also be avoided. Call 911 to report the location of any downed lines.
• Don’t attempt to repair the electrical system or pull tree limbs off lines. Let Gulf Power crews perform this potentially dangerous work.
• Stay clear of areas where there is a lot of debris or downed trees because they could conceal an energized power line. Also stay clear of chain link fences which may be energized if touching a downed line.
• If you have an electric generator, please ensure that you have isolated your home or business from the utility electrical service lines by opening main breakers or other devices. Do not connect portable generators to your household electrical wiring. This can cause serious injury to you and to our crews working on the lines in your neighborhood. Connect only essential appliances – such as freezers and refrigerators — directly to the generator.
• If your power is off, turn off large appliances and air conditioners and wait 10 to 15 minutes after power has been restored before turning them back on.
• If there is damage to your meter box or the pole on top of your meter box, you must first have an electrician make repairs before we can restore your service.
• If there is flooding in your home or business, we may be unable to restore electric service until the building is inspected by city or county code officials.
• Stay away from areas where our crews are working. If driving, follow road signs, drive cautiously and follow directions in the area of a work crew.
• Please be patient. Our crews will work as fast as safety allows. Before neighborhood lines can be worked on, our crews must first repair larger lines that bring power to neighborhoods.

Irma: Federal Aid Approved For Florida

Florida was approved Sunday for federal disaster relief as the powerful, wide and deadly Hurricane Irma made its second landfall of the day.

And the system might still be more than a day from leaving the state.

Gov. Rick Scott announced that President Donald Trump approved his request for federal storm relief about 4 p.m.

The announcement came after Irma made its second Florida landfall on Marco Island, a barrier island south of Naples in Collier County, at 3:35 p.m. Irma came ashore as a Category 3 storm, with 115 mph winds.

Irma had earlier made landfall about 9 a.m. at Cudjoe Key — less than 30 miles northeast of Key West — with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. Water was reported to be covering U.S. 1 in Monroe County.

By 5 p.m., Irma had weakened to a Category 2 storm, with 110 mph maximum sustained winds. At the time, the storm was located about 5 miles north of Naples. The system had picked up its pace, moving north at 14 mph.

The National Hurricane Center reported the potential for storm surges of 5 to 15 feet along the Gulf Coast.

“The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast in areas of onshore winds, where the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves,” the center said in the 5 p.m. advisory.

Nearly 2 million homes and businesses had already experienced power outages.

Most had occurred across South Florida, according to Florida Power & Light, which was reporting crews working to restore power Sunday morning as far north as Manatee and Brevard counties.

FPL noted that more than 350,000 outages had already been restored, but that “full restoration efforts will not begin until tomorrow (Monday) given Irma’s movement has slowed considerably; as a result, customers should plan for significantly prolonged outages.”

Irma had slowed to a 9 mph pace as it went through the Keys on Sunday.

Duke Energy Florida was reporting more than 15,000 outages in the Tampa Bay region Sunday afternoon.

Trump’s approval of a major disaster declaration allows federal money to be used to reimburse the state and local communities for expenses tied to such things as emergency operations centers, evacuations, sheltering and debris removal.

Direct federal financial assistance will also be available for families impacted by the storm in Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough; Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.

“As Hurricane Irma moves through Florida, Gov. Scott will work with President Trump and FEMA to approve more funding to additional communities affected by the storm,” the governor’s office said.

Scott had placed all of Florida under a state of emergency Monday.

At least three deaths have been attributed to the storm.

One death occurred in a crash in the Keys.

Meanwhile, in Hardee County, sheriff’s Deputy Julie Bridges, a 13-year veteran driving home after working at an evacuation shelter, and Sgt. Joseph Ossman, who had been with the Florida Department of Corrections for 21 years, both died in an early morning head-on crash.

Among other developments Sunday:

— The state reduced the number of people reported to be in shelters.

After announcing more than 127,000 people were in the more than 460 shelters opened throughout the state Sunday morning, the numbers were later posted at 116,000 in 530 shelters.

Another 75 shelters for people with special needs had received 12,700, a number up 700 from earlier Sunday.

— All public schools, state colleges and state universities and state government offices have been ordered closed on Monday. A number of county school districts, where schools have been converted into shelters, will remain closed later into the week.

— There will be no Florida Lottery drawings during Hurricane Irma.

Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order Sunday to temporarily halt the state games. Players are advised to keep their tickets.

“Makeup daily drawings will take place as soon as possible after the potentially catastrophic impacts of Hurricane Irma have passed,” the lottery said in a prepared statement. “Players already holding tickets will still be eligible to win.”

— All Florida seaports except the Port of Pensacola had been closed by the U.S. Coast Guard.

by The News Service of Florida

Latest Local Escambia County Update On Hurricane Irma

Here is the latest Escambia County information on Hurricane Irma:

New Information is Highlighted

Current Situation

• There ARE NO evacuations ordered for Escambia County residents, no matter the location.
• Escambia County Emergency Operation Center is at a level 3, or monitoring level. We will continue to closely monitor the situation to provide our residents with the most up-to-date hurricane information.
• No bridge closures are anticipated due to wind, BUT we will monitor wind speeds to ensure safety. Escambia County works with law enforcement to close bridges for safety at sustained (not gusts) wind speeds typically of 39 MPH or greater. The current forecast does not show sustained winds of that speed.
• The State Emergency Operations Center has been activated to level 1, which is a full-scale, 24-hours-a-day activation. DEM estimates that 6.5 million Floridians have been ordered to evacuate.

Weather Update from the National Weather Service Mobile

According to the National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama, Irma is forecast to remain a major hurricane through the weekend. The LOCAL impacts include:

• Wind – 20 to 30 mph this afternoon and tonight, becoming 25 to 35 mph with gusts as high as 40 mph on Monday
• Flash Flooding – none
• Surge – none
• Tornadoes – none
• Local Rain Totals for Escambia County – less than 1 inch

Host Shelters

• As requested by the state, Escambia County and the American Red Cross are opened a shelter at the Pensacola Bay Center located at 201 E. Gregory St. at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8. The shelter is for south Florida evacuees. There are currently NO EVACUATIONS ordered for Escambia County.
  • General shelter population:168
  • Special needs shelter population:4
  • Animal shelter population: 44
• The Escambia County Equestrian Center is being open as a host shelter for evacuees’ horses. Stalls and RV sites are available at a first come, first served basis. The stall fees have been waived. For more information, visit https://myescambia.com/our-services/parks-and-recreation/equestrian-center/equestrian-center-as-a-storm-shelter.
  • Horse population: 80

• Additional shelters will be opened as needed and directed by the state of Florida.
• Visit floridadisaster.org/shelters/summary.aspx to find information on shelters in your area. This site is being updated as shelters open throughout the day.
• FEMA is also hosting shelter information on its mobile app which can be found at fema.gov/mobile-app.

• Florida needs 1,000 volunteer nurses to help at our special needs shelters. Nurses who can volunteer can email BPRCHDPreparedness@FLHealth.gov Nurses can also email HelpFL@FLhealth.gov.
• Volunteer Florida is coordinating with volunteer organizations across the state and has partnered with the American Red Cross to provide shelter operations training to volunteers and AmeriCorps grantees. Floridians who would like to volunteer can register at http://redcross.org/volunteer
• Gov. Rick Scott activated the Florida Disaster Fund to support individuals who are impacted by Hurricane Irma. The Florida Disaster Fund helps provide financial support to Florida’s communities in times of disaster. To make a contribution, please visit www.FloridaDisasterFund.org or text DISASTER to 20222 to make a one-time donation of $10.
• Please do not donate unsolicited goods such as new or used clothing, miscellaneous household items, medicine, or perishable food at this time. When used personal items are donated, the helping agencies must redirect their staff away from providing direct services to survivors in order to sort, package, transport, warehouse, and distribute items that may not meet the needs of disaster survivors. Cash donations offer voluntary agencies and faith-based organizations the most flexibility to address urgently developing needs.

NAS Pensacola

• NAS Pensacola  will close to non-essential personnel form 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10 until further notice. All military, civilian and contract personnel should contact their supervisors for instructions.
• All public attractions, e.g., National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola Lighthouse, etc., will be closed, however Barrancas National Cemetery will be open during normal visitation hours.

Residential Garbage Service

• There are currently no changes in the city of Pensacola or ECUA residential pickup schedules.

Schools

• Gov. Rick Scott is directing all public K-12 schools, state colleges, state universities and state offices to close Monday, Sept. 11.
• All University of West Florida locations are closed and classes are canceled Monday, Sept. 11. On-campus housing continues to operate as usual. The Health, Leisure and Sports Facility hours are 12 to 6 p.m. and the Aquatic Center hours are 1 to 6 p.m. through Monday, Sept. 11. All other services, activities and events, including all home athletic events, are cancelled.
• Pensacola Christian Academy plans to be open for regular classes and events on Monday, September 11. Pensacola Christian College also will be open for regular classes and events on Monday, September 11.

City, County & State Offices

• All city of Pensacola offices are open Monday, Sept. 11.
• All Escambia County offices are open Monday, Sept. 11.
• Governor Rick Scott has directed all state offices in all 67 Florida counties to close Monday, Sept. 11

Court System

• All courts in Escambia County, Okaloosa County, and  Santa Rosa County shall remain open Monday, September 11, 2017.
• For news and announcements concerning the courts of the First Judicial Circuit, you may visit www.FirstJudicialCircuit.org or follow on Twitter.

VA Joint Ambulatory Care Center in Pensacola

• The Pensacola, Eglin and Panama City Beach VA clinics will be closed Monday, Sept. 11.
• Affected VA staff at those three clinics will be in Authorized Absence status, for Monday, Sept. 11.
• Currently, Tuesday, Sept. 12 will be a normal work day and employees should report as scheduled.

Florida Department of Health – Escambia

• All FDOH-Escambia clinics, including WIC and Immunizations clinics, and all other services provided by FDOH-Escambia, will be suspended on Friday, September 8, 2017 and on Monday, September 11, 2017. Clients with appointments scheduled for these dates, may call 850-595-6500 on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, to reschedule their appointment.
• ProMed Dental services at FDOH-Escambia’s Northside and Molino Service Centers will be suspended on Friday September 8, 2017 and on Monday, September 11, 2017. Patients who have dental appointments with ProMed Dental may call 850-912-8923 or 850-471-6983 for rescheduling.
• Escambia Community Clinics pediatric and dental services at FDOH-Escambia’s Fairfield Drive Service Center will have normal operations. Patients who have dental or pediatric clinic appointments with ECC will still be able to receive their scheduled services.

Pensacola International Airport

• While many southern and eastern Florida airports are closed, Pensacola International Airport is currently open and will remain open as long as Hurricane Irma does not severely impact our area.
• Passengers with scheduled travel to impacted areas are strongly encouraged to monitor the status of their flight by frequently visiting their airline’s website.

NWS: Biggest Hurricane Irma Local Impact Will Be Gusty Winds

Currently, the biggest impact from Hurricane Irma on the North Escambia area is forecast to be wind, according to the National Weather Service in Mobile.

“Wind will be the main impact across our area during Irma. Irma’s wind field will expand when it moves up the Florida peninsula. Northeasterly to northerly winds of 25-30 mph with frequent higher gusts are expected Sunday afternoon through Monday,” according to the National Weather Service.  There is a Wind Advisory in effect. Winds out of the north mean that coastal areas should have no storm surge issues.

The NWS does not expect Irma to produce local tornadoes or flooding.

“We do not want you to let your guard down. We are continuing to monitor Hurricane Irma around the clock and will provide you with any significant track changes. If we see a shifting trend in the model data and become concerned about Irma’s track, we will let you know ASAP!”

For Irma forecast maps, click here.

For the local North Escambia weather forecast, click here.

Like NorthEscambia.com on Facebook, or follow us @northescambia on Twitter for updates and notifications.

Click graphics to enlarge. Official Source: National Hurricane Center.

Latest Updates And Maps For Hurricane Irma

The latest details on Hurricane Irma are in the graphics above and below, click to enlarge. Reload the page to ensure that you are seeing the latest graphics.

For information on Hurricane Irma’s predicted local impact, click here.

Like NorthEscambia.com on Facebook, or follow us @northescambia on Twitter for updates and notifications.

Click graphics to enlarge. Official Source: National Hurricane Center.

Want To Become Involved In The Cantonment Community?

The Cantonment Improvement Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Monday at the Carver Park Resource Center at 208 Webb Street. Everyone in the Cantonment community is invited to attend and join the effort to do great things for the area. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.

Visitations Canceled At All State Prisons, South Fla. Inmates Evacuated

Visitations remain canceled at all Florida prisons this weekend due to Hurricane Irma, including those at Century and Santa Rosa correctional institutions.

All weekend visitations are canceled, according to the Florida Department of Corrections, due to travel restrictions and to ensure staff resources can be maximized for hurricane response.  The cancellation includes all major institutions, work camps, community release centers and annex facilities.

FDC is taking proactive steps to ensure the public and individuals entrusted to our custody are secure as Florida prepares to respond to Hurricane Irma. FDC continues to monitor the changing track of the storm, and is actively preparing institutions and making evacuation determinations as the track evolves.

Florida institutions have been stocked with emergency food and water supplies in the event the facility is unable to receive normal deliveries following the storm.

Safety of FDC staff and inmates is paramount. The department is working around the clock to take necessary precautions for the storm. Evacuation determinations are made in the best interest of the inmates and public safety.

Three dozen facilities had been evacuated as of Saturday night, all in south and central Florida.

In the event of additional evacuations, announcements will only be made upon completion. Inmate locations will be posted on the website approximately 24-hours after relocation, per standard protocol.

Pictured: Inmates are evacuated from a Florida Department of Corrections facility on Saturday. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

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