Sammy (Sam) Dean Alltop
September 12, 2017
Mr. Sammy (Sam) Alltop, age 66, passed away on September 3, 2017. He was surrounded by his loving family. Mr. Alltop was born in Huntington, West Virginia to Daniel and Juanita Alltop on September 2, 1951. He attended Tecumseh High School and later graduated from University of West Florida with a Master’s in Education. Graduating high school in 1969, he soon joined the U.S. Navy and spent over 38 years working in Civil Service at NAS Pensacola and Whiting Field. He retired in 2008.
Sam is preceded in death by his parents, Daniel and Juanita; his brother, Fred Alltop, and his mother and father-in-law, Margie and Jay Tharp.
He is survived by his children, Tammy Barton, Stacy Ray, and Daniel (Tiffany) Alltop; and seven grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother, Tom Alltop; his sisters, Diana Boshears, and Pat (Russell) Crook; brothers-in-law, Dale (Mary)
Tharp and Richard (Patricia) Tharp along with many wonderful nieces and nephews near and far.
A memorial service was held Sunday, September 10, 2017, at Faith Chapel North.
Interment will be held at a later date.
Sam will be missed by all who knew him. He is known as a hardworking man who cares and loves his family above everything else. Our dad was the strongest, most caring, generous, forgiving, loving man ever. He has and will always be our ROCK!
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to 90 Works Veteran’s program or Gonzalez Baptist Church Youth program.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is entrusted with the arrangements.
Irma Could Cost ‘Billions Upon Billions’
September 12, 2017
Local curfews were in place throughout the state, much of the Florida Keys remained closed and millions of people continued to lack electricity as cleanup work expected to reach into the billions of dollars began Monday in the wake of deadly Hurricane Irma.
While businesses slowly reopen, the state is dealing with widespread flooding, from storm surges of 4 to 8 feet along both coasts to flash flooding in Northeast Florida.
Gov. Rick Scott, who flew over hard-hit areas Monday, said damage along the Southwest coast, where Irma made a second landfall Sunday, included roofs off homes, boats tossed, flooding and sand across roads. But overall, he said the conditions appeared “not as bad as we thought the storm surge would do.”
However, he depicted the destruction in the Keys, which experienced the first landfall, as “horrible.”
“There is devastation, and I just hope everybody survived,” Scott said during an afternoon press conference at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Miami in Opa-locka.
Scott viewed the damage while flying on a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 plane Monday morning.
“I know for our entire state, but especially the Keys, it’s going to be a long road. There is a lot of damage,” Scott said. “I know everyone wants to get back to normal. I know everyone wants to get started, but you’ve got to be patient. We’ve got to get the first responders to the Keys. We’ve got to get water going again. We’ve got to get electricity going again. We’ve got to get sewers going again. It’s going to take a lot of time.”
At least four deaths have been tied to the storm, including a Hardee County sheriff’s deputy and a Florida Department of Corrections officer, who were involved in a car crash.
Scott declined to speculate on the potential for additional loss of life from the storm. He traveled across the state during the past week warning Floridians to evacuate from vulnerable areas, as Irma cut a deadly path through the Caribbean as a massive Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds reaching 185 mph.
“I don’t want anybody to die, so I hoped everybody listened to what we were talking about. We’ll find out over time if people did or not,” Scott said. “You know the days run together, but I remember the morning when the hurricane was hitting, the roads were empty. So I think people did leave their homes and got off the roads.”
Scott also declined to speculate on the potential costs of the storm, saying the numbers will first be compiled by individual counties.
In requesting federal disaster relief Sunday, Scott said the state had already spent $75 million on Irma. President Donald Trump later approved the request.
Congressman Carlos Curbelo, a Republican whose district includes all of Monroe County and parts of southwest Miami-Dade, said it will cost “billions upon billions upon billions of dollars” to restore the Keys and South Florida.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Miami-Dade County, vowed to push federal lawmakers to provide funding for the relief efforts.
“We found it for Hurricane Harvey, we’re going to band together and find it for the residents who are survivors of Hurricane Irma,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
An initial estimate from Moody’s Analytics on Monday projected property destruction from Irma between $64 billion and $92 billion.
The storm, combined with Hurricane Harvey’s impact on Texas, could cause a further $20 billion to $30 billion hit to the nation’s economic output, lowering the third quarter gross domestic product estimate to 2.5 percent from 3 percent, according to Moody’s Analytics.
For Florida, the impacts will depend on demands placed on insurance companies and the levels of needed government funding, as well as how quickly Florida’s tourism industry can rebound. Also, Moody’s added that the fourth-quarter numbers could be boosted because of reconstruction from both storms.
State Senate Banking and Insurance Chairwoman Anitere Flores, a Miami Republican whose district also covers the Keys, said the state has to make sure state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has the funds to cover individual property-insurance claims, particularly from the Keys.
“We feel that because this storm was not as bad as it could have been, that Citizens will not have to go into actual assessment mode, and to assess people who are not Citizens property holders,” Flores said. “Citizens’ reserves are approximately $9 billion. So the question that we have to figure out in the next couple of days is of that, how many Citizens property holders were at a total loss.”
House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, has raised the possibility of a post-storm special session “should any recovery efforts require legislative authorization.”
As of Monday afternoon, 6.7 million homes and businesses were without power across Florida, according to the State Emergency Response Team.
Florida Power & Light, the largest utility in the state, reported 3.5 million of its 5 million customer accounts were out.
St. Petersburg-based Duke Energy, with about 1.8 customer accounts, was working to restore power to nearly 1.3 million customers.
Tampa Electric reported more than 300,000 accounts had been knocked offline.
More than 820,000 were without power in Miami-Dade County, 600,000 in Broward and 530,000 in Palm Beach County.
Nearly 430,000 homes and businesses were out in Pinellas County. More than 300,000 were out in both Orange and Lee counties. Collier, Duval, Brevard, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Volusia each had more than 200,000 homes and businesses in the dark.
FPL President and Chief Executive Officer Eric Silagy estimated Monday that up to 9 million people served by his company, 90 percent of its customers, have been impacted.
While up to 1 million accounts have been restored, some customers in harder hit areas may have to wait weeks for full restoration, Silagy said.
“We’ve actually had over 5 million outages across our territory,” Silagy said during a morning press conference. “That, frankly, is unprecedented. We’ve never had that many outages. I don’t think any utility in the country ever has. It is by far the largest in the history of our company.”
Meanwhile, all 7,935 members of the Florida Army and Air National Guard have been deployed, conducting search and rescue, law-enforcement support and humanitarian assistance.
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and two amphibious ships, the USS Iwo Jima and USS New York, have been deployed to assist the state in search and rescue operations.
More than 200,000 people remained Monday afternoon in 585 shelters opened throughout the state.
The Florida Highway Patrol has started escorting utility convoys into areas without power, and Scott said the state law enforcement officers will do the same when the Port Tampa and Port Canaveral reopen and fuel trucks begin to travel.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Gov. Scotts Visits Evacuees, Local Officials In Escambia County
September 11, 2017
Gov. Rick Scott met with Hurricane Irma evacuees and local emergency officials in Escambia County Sunday afternoon.
Scott flew into Pensacola and headed first to the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center to meet with local officials.
He also visited the Pensacola Bay Center which is temporary home to about 200 Irma evacuees.
“We will make it through this together,” Scott said while in Pensacola.
Pictured: Gov. Rick Scott and Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward visiting with evacuees and volunteers at the Pensacola Bay Center late Sunday afternoon. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
All Escambia Schools Open On Tuesday
September 11, 2017
Escambia County (FL) School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas has announced that schools will resume all normal operations on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017.
Burglars Strike Davisville Convenience Store Early Monday
September 11, 2017
Authorities are searching for two suspects that burglarized a Highway 97 convenience store early Monday morning.
The duo, believed to be a male and a female, smashed their way through the front door of the Davisville Marathon (formerly the Davisville BP) about 3 a.m. Surveillance video shows they were in the store less than a minute.
The suspects took cigarettes and beer, according to the store owner. Law enforcement alerted to the incident when the burglar alarm went off.
The store, which is located in a rural area on Highway 97 south of the state line, has been burglarized several times in the past.
Anyone with information on the burglary is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Updated Maps And Info For Irma
September 11, 2017
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.
Like NorthEscambia.com on Facebook, or follow us @northescambia on Twitter for updates and notifications.
Click graphics to enlarge. Official Source: National Hurricane Center.
Tonight’s Windy Forecast
September 11, 2017
Tonight: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 7pm, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. West wind 5 to 15 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 57. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light southwest after midnight.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Light southwest wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 69.
Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Monday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89.
Update: Pine Forest Road Closure Tuesday, Closures Wednesday On Nokomis And Meadows Roads
September 11, 2017
There will be road closures Tuesday on Pine Forest Road, and Wednesday on both Nokomis Road and Meadows Road near Davisville for railroad crossing work.
The road closures were were delayed to Wednesday due to Monday’s weather.
Pine Forest Road
Pine Forest Road at the railroad tracks near Walnut Hill will be closed to all traffic Tuesday, Sept. 12 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. while construction on the Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway railroad crossing is being performed.
Every effort will be made to expedite construction efforts to reopen the road before 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
Nokomis Road
Nokomis Road at the railroad tracks, just west of Highway 97, near Davisville will be closed to all traffic Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. while construction on the Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway railroad crossing is being performed.
Every effort will be made to expedite construction efforts to reopen the road before 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13.
Meadows Road
Meadows Road at the railroad tracks near Davisville will be closed to all traffic Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. while construction on the Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway railroad crossing is being performed.
Every effort will be made to expedite construction efforts to reopen the road before 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13.
Both road closures are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. If it is rescheduled, another notice will be published on NorthEscambia.com.
Pictured top: The Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway railroad crossing on Nokomis Road. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
No Mail Delivery Today, Post Offices Closed
September 11, 2017
There will not be any mail delivery in Escambia or Santa Rosa counties today due to Hurricane Irma.
The U.S. Postal Service Gulf Atlantic District has suspended retail and delivery options until Tuesday at all post offices, stations, branches and finance units within the zip code ranges listed below:
ZIP Codes 320, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, and 344
All services are set to resume in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties on Tuesday.
Pictured: The post office in McDavid, zip code 32568. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Eight Irma Evacuees Injured In Escambia County Van Crash
September 11, 2017
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.
