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Want To Help Hurricane Michael Victims? Here’s How

Here are several ways you can help Hurricane Michael victims:

Florida Disaster Fund

Florida Disaster Fund has been activated to help. Administered by the Volunteer Florida Foundation, the fund receives donations that go to disaster-relief efforts.  To make a contribution, visit www.FloridaDisasterFund.org or text DISASTER to 20222  to make a one-time donation of $10 or DISASTER25 to 20222 to make a $25 donation.. It is the state’s official fund for disaster response and recovery.

Volunteer To Help

To volunteer in the recovery efforts for Hurricane Michael visit VolunteerFlorida.org.

American Red Cross

The Red Cross has set up a fund specifically for Hurricane Michael victims. Click here to donate online and find information on how to donate by phone or mail.

The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army has a web page dedicated to collecting donations for victims of Hurricane Michael. Donations can also be made my phone or through mail, click here for more information.

Donate Blood

OneBlood is urging any who is eligible to donate blood. Find a list of OneBlood locations and blood drives here. In Pensacola, visit the Pensacola Donor Center at 1999 East Nine Mile Road 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Florida Shifts To Search And Rescue After Hurricane Michael

At least 388,000 utility customers lost power as Hurricane Michael crashed ashore — with potentially catastrophic winds of 155 mph — between Panama City and St. Vincent Island, before speeding north into Alabama and Georgia on Wednesday.

The Category 4 storm created storm surges up to 14 feet in areas, inflicted damages across Tyndall Air Force Base east of Panama City and spawned at least two “devastating” tornadoes in Gadsden County. The monster hurricane was the most powerful ever recorded to hit the Panhandle and was on par with Hurricanes Irma, which swept across Florida in September 2017, and Andrew, which devastated Homestead in 1992.

Addressing the media at the state Emergency Operations Center Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Rick Scott said a “massive wave of response” was already underway from the state, utilities and the U.S. Coast Guard, for the storm that “came really fast.”

“We’re sending them out now,” Scott said.

Scott earlier had  expressed frustration about people resisting evacuation orders, but there were no immediate reports of fatalities amid reports of significant damages throughout the region.

The governor didn’t wait for damage assessments before seeking federal assistance from President Donald Trump for 14 counties: Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor and Wakulla.

In a letter to Trump written Wednesday afternoon, Scott said “there is no need for damage assessment,” due to the level of devastation.

“On the state side, the impacts to Bay and Franklin counties alone should be more than enough to meet the $27 million threshold for public assistance,” Scott wrote. “And, the needs of the survivors in those counties should paint a sufficient picture for an individual assistance declaration.”

Scott, who expressed frustration earlier in the day about people ignoring evacuation orders, noted that the state has already spent close to $40 million on its response.

Through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, Florida has also requested rescue teams and equipment from states including Kansas, Wisconsin, Colorado, Mississippi, Virginia, Louisiana, Ohio, Oregon, New York, Tennessee and Maryland.

In the letter to the president, Scott wrote that the impacts of Michael are “so extraordinary that a higher federal cost share is warranted.” He called for 100 percent federal cost share on debris removal in affected counties for the next 60 days, and also asked for transitional housing assistance.

U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, along with 20 House members from Florida, sent a similar letter to Trump regarding aid for the 14 counties.

As the storm came ashore Wednesday,  tornado risks grew, with warnings issued as far south as Sarasota County.

Cars were reported underwater as far south as Citrus County. Interstate 10 was closed west of Tallahassee.

Moving north-northeast at 16 mph, the center of Michael, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, reached southeastern Alabama and southwest Georgia by 5 p.m.

Gulf Power spokesman Jeff Rogers warned that customers could be without power “for weeks” as crews are expected both to be restoring power and rebuilding parts of the system.

“Northwest Florida has never encountered a storm of this magnitude,” Rogers said in a release.

Pensacola-based Gulf Power estimated that up to 225,000 of its customers could be impacted by the storm that pounded the Panhandle throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

Duke Energy Florida expected 100,000 to 200,000 customers to lose power.

The state Division of Emergency Management reported 388,100 power outages just after 6 p.m., without any breakdown.

Power was out in nearly 90 percent of Bay County, which includes Panama City, as night fell Wednesday.

At the same time, Duke Energy reported about 30,000 outages, mostly along the coast from Davis Beach east to Port Leon, south of Tallahassee.

Among the smaller utility providers, Talquin Electric — which provides electricity in Gadsden, Liberty, Leon, and Wakulla counties — reported 35,314 of its 52,013 customers were affected by the storm.

Tallahassee Electric reported just over 3,000 outages and nearly 50,000 customers impacted.

Utility crews from Gulf Power, Duke Energy Florida, Florida Power & Light and public utilities have lined up more than 19,000 workers from their own crews and through mutual-aid agreements with companies across the South and Midwest.

Scott spoke Wednesday morning with Trump, who signed a pre-landfall emergency declaration Tuesday ensuring that federal resources would be available before and after the storm in the 35 counties where the governor declared a state of emergency.

Before the storm made landfall, Scott said he activated 3,500 members of the Florida National Guard. More than 1,000 state forestry and wildlife officers were prepared for search-and-rescue operations, Scott said. He advised tourists and residents that had yet to heed evacuation calls early Wednesday to “hunker down,” warning, “It’s going to get worse pretty fast here.”

Florida Emergency Management Director Wes Maul said the state is prepared to conduct search-and-rescue operations and to deliver food and medical supplies to affected areas.

by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Cooler Weather Arrives, Lows In The 50’s

Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 85. Northwest wind around 10 mph.

Tonight: Clear, with a low around 54. North wind 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 80. North wind around 5 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 56. North wind around 5 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Northeast wind around 5 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. Calm wind.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 83. East wind around 5 mph.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 64. East wind around 5 mph.

Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.

Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 63.

Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 82.

Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79.

Judge Says No To More Time For Voter Registration After Michael

[Updated 9:30 a.m.]  A federal judge has rejected a request from the Florida Democratic Party to force the state to extend a voter-registration deadline because of Hurricane Michael.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle turned down the party’s request for a temporary restraining order to extend the registration deadline to Oct. 16, a week later than the original Tuesday deadline. The party contended an extension was needed because the hurricane, which devastated parts of the Panhandle on Wednesday, could prevent people from registering to vote in the Nov. 6 election.

Secretary of State Ken Detzner this week issued a directive authorizing county elections supervisors whose offices were closed Tuesday to accept paper registration applications on the day that their offices reopen. Detzner did not extend a Tuesday night deadline for voters to register online.

Hinkle wrote that the Democratic Party believed the directive did not go “far enough” — but he denied the request for a temporary restraining order, with a few caveats.

“The party has asked for a statewide extension of one week for all forms of registration. But there is no justification for this,” Hinkle wrote. “Some parts of the state were affected little by the hurricane. Extending the deadline in those parts of the state would not level the playing field or provide a remedy for the hurricane’s effects. Large numbers of voters register shortly before the deadline, but that happens routinely, with or without a hurricane. A state could set a later deadline or no deadline at all, but that is not the course Florida has chosen. The party does not challenge in this lawsuit the state’s decision to set a deadline 29 days before an election.”

The caveats included in the order dealt with how Detzner’s directive would be carried out. For example, Hinkle sought to make sure Detzner’s directive is considered mandatory for the counties where elections offices were closed Tuesday. Similarly, he sought to make sure it applies on the first “full” business day county elections offices open all of their locations.

“Nothing in the directive suggests the secretary intended anything contrary to these understandings,” Hinkle wrote. “If the secretary asserts these understandings are not correct, or if a supervisor fails to heed the secretary’s directive as properly understood, the party of course may renew its motion for a temporary restraining order.”

In the case filed Tuesday, the Democratic Party argued that Detzner’s directive was “insufficient and confusing” and said it “does not adequately protect the voting rights of Florida citizens who cannot register to vote by the October 9 registration deadline.”

Without the extension, “there is a strong likelihood that the right to vote of thousands of Floridians, including plaintiffs’ members and constituents, will be severely burdened (if not eliminated entirely) in the 2018 general election,” the party’s lawyers wrote.

Three groups — Common Cause, New Majority Florida Education Fund and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund — filed a similar case against the state Wednesday. That case remained pending Thursday morning, according to an online docket.

by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida

Gulf Power Crews Begin Rebuilding After Hurricane Michael

About 120,000, or approximately 26 percent of Gulf Power’s customers, were without power Wednesday due to Hurricane Michael. Gulf Power began the restoration process from multiple staging sites with more than 4,000 support personnel from 16 states.

Progress is being made in many areas and the company has restored power in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and expects to restore storm-related outages to Okaloosa and Walton counties by the end of the day Thursday. At that time, storm-tested crews will join teams from across the country in restoring power in Bay County and communities in Northwest Florida that were hit the hardest.

“The Gulf Power system held strong from Pensacola to Fort Walton Beach — a testament to the investments we’ve made to harden our infrastructure.,” said Gulf Power spokesperson Jeff Rogers. “But the hardest hit areas around Panama City may need to be rebuilt from the ground up.”

Rogers said the energy provider would work until every customer who can receive power gets their power restored.

“Our crews and support personnel are going to work around the clock until every last customer is restored,” said Rogers. “While the force of the storm is unprecedented, we are grateful for the strong support we have received from Southern Company – and mutual assistance partners across the country – which have allowed us to safely and quickly respond and begin the restoration process. We have more than 4,000 boots on the ground working to restore power.”

The strength of Hurricane Michael could mean a rebuild of infrastructure, which may take weeks in the hardest hit areas. Gulf Power is committed to restoring power to customers in every community we serve across Northwest Florida.

“It’s overwhelming to see our customers supporting our crews and employees as they work to restore power,” said Rogers. “We’re in this together, and our crews are among the heroes after the storm, restoring power and hope.”

Pictured: Hundreds of power company vehicles from across the country were staged at the fairgrounds on Mobile Highway Tuesday night. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Supreme Court Rejects Putting Bayview Cross Case On Fast Track

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request from the city of Pensacola to speed up consideration of a case about the removal of a decades-old cross from a city park.

The city appealed to the Supreme Court last month after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the cross in Bayview Park should be removed because it violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. Four plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging the cross, saying its presence on public property was unconstitutional.

In addition to appealing last month to the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys for the city also requested that justices “expedite” consideration of whether to hear the case. The request focused, in part, on another pending case involving the removal of a cross in Maryland. The American Legion filed an appeal this year in the Maryland case, which is about a memorial to fallen World War I soldiers.

“Expedited consideration of the petition … is warranted in this (Pensacola) case so that the (Supreme) Court can consider the petition alongside the petitions in American Legion,” the city’s attorneys wrote. “American Legion, like this case, involves a court of appeals’ ruling that displaying a decades-old cross violates the Establishment Clause. Both cases present the same question about the proper Establishment Clause test to apply to religious displays.”

The Supreme Court, as is common, did not explain its reasons Tuesday for denying the request to speed up consideration of the Pensacola case. It has not decided whether to hear the Maryland case, according to an online docket.

Area Schools Are Open On Thursday

All schools in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida and Escambia County in Alabama will be open on Thursday. Extracurricular activities will also resume.

Additionally, Byrneville Elementary charter school, Pensacola State College, University of West Florida, Pensacola Christian College and Pensacola Christian School will be open Thursday.

Absences for students that may have evacuated will be handled on a case by case basis.

Tracking Michael

The latest information on Michael is in the graphic above.

Photos: Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier Wednesday Morning

Here is a look at the Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier on Wednesday morning as Hurricane Michael churned in the Gulf.

For more photos, click here.

Photos by Chris Whelan for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Here’s What To Expect From Hurricane Michael In North Escambia

Here’s what to expect in North Escambia today from Hurricane Michael, according to the National Weather Service:

• Tropical Storm Warning
• Peak Wind Forecast: 30-40 mph with gusts to 55 mph
• Window for Tropical Storm force winds: until Wednesday afternoon
• Potential for wind 39 to 57 mph
• Peak Rainfall Amounts: Additional around 1 inch
• Potential for localized flooding rain
• Rivers and tributaries may quickly rise with swifter currents. Small streams, creeks, canals, and ditches may become swollen and overflow in spots
• Situation is unfavorable for tornadoes
• Tornadoes are not expected. Showers and thunderstorms with gusty winds may still occur.
• For additional information, and for information for southern Escambia County, see the stories on the front page of NorthEscambia.com.

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