Hurricane Sally Damage Estimated At $183 Million To Public Property In Escambia County
September 23, 2020
Hurricane Sally caused nearly $183 million in damage to public property in Escambia County.
The latest estimate so far is $182.6 million to Escambia County, Escambia County School District, Emerald coast Utilities Authority and City of Pensacola property, according to Escambia County Administrator Janice Gilley.
So far, FEMA has not declared a major disaster are in Escambia County, which would provide federal resources for governmental agencies and make financial assistance for individuals available.
Gilley said Tuesday that Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, believes the major disaster declaration will be forthcoming soon.
“He did assure me that he feels extremely confident and us getting a major declaration this week,” she said.
Escambia Schools Addressing Problem Of Students With Little Or No Internet Service
September 22, 2020
As traditional students head back to class Wednesday in Escambia County, the school district is addressing the problem presented for students in areas that have limited or no internet service following Hurricane Sally.
“With over 50% of students being served through remote and/or virtual learning, it’s important that we continue to work with families to find appropriate methods to continue students’ learning and progress,” stated Superintendent Malcolm Thomas.
On Wednesday, remote and virtual learning teachers will begin contacting parents and guardians to determine if students have an available and adequate internet access. Parents should anticipate a phone call from their students’ teachers to determine methods for delivering remote instruction.
For students without internet access, schools will work with families to determine an appropriate solution tol ensure instruction and learning can continue. Solutions may include providing a temporary mobile hotspot for the student until the internet is restored, or providing printed packets of learning materials for students where feasible.
Because teachers will spend the day contacting parents, the normal remote learning schedule will not occur on Wednesday.
Boil Water Notice Now Lifted For Kings Road Subdivision; Full System Wide Notice Was Lifted Monday
September 22, 2020
The boil water notice for the Kings Road Subdivision was lifted at 11 a.m. Tuesday by ECUA.
The system wide boil water notice was lifted on Monday.
ECUA collected 385 samples at 190 sites in 48 hours in order to make sure the water is safe to drink across their system.
For information on ECUA trash collection, click here.
The Kings Road Subdivision includes:
- Turnberry Rd.
- Donegal Dr.
- Kings Rd.
- Kinsale r.
- Linton Way
- St. Andrews Dr.
- Brampton Way
- Ashford Rd.
- Derry Dr.
- Glenmore Dr.
- Callan Way
- Templemore Dr.
- Galway St.
- Boxton Way
- Portree Way
Gulf Power Restores Power To Essentially All Customers; EREC Completes Restoration
September 22, 2020
Gulf Power has restore power to essentially all customers affected by Hurricane Sally, while Escambia River Electric Cooperative has completed their restoration efforts.
Sally made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on September 16 near the Florida-Alabama state line – exactly 16 years after destructive Hurricane Ivan made landfall in the same location.
More than 285,000 customers, or nearly 63% of Gulf Power’s customers, experienced outages as Sally brought heavy rain and severe flooding, especially in the western Panhandle. For EREC, 95% of their members in northern and Santa Rosa counties lost power.
GULF POWER COMPANY
Gulf Power has safely restored service to essentially all of its customers who were affected by Hurricane Sally, completing restoration ahead of original estimates, the company said.
Gulf Power assembled a restoration workforce of 7,000 working primarily out of 12 staging sites to restore power for its customers safely and as quickly as possible – which was accomplished within 5 days after Sally left Gulf Power’s service area and it was safe to begin restoration work.
“I want to thank our community partners for their support in so many ways as we worked together to get our region back up and running,” said Marlene Santos, president of Gulf Power. “We know that getting the power back on is critical to beginning to restore normalcy for communities. I also want to thank our dedicated employees and the mutual assistance crews who worked around the clock to help us get our customers’ lights back on ahead of schedule – and most importantly, we completed this work safely.”
As Gulf Power winds down major restoration efforts, the company is closing some of its staging sites and releasing some of its restoration workforce. Among those providing mutual assistance was Gulf Power’s sister company, Florida Power & Light Company, which sent more than 1,800 employees and contractors in support. Gulf Power recently sent nearly 70 employees to South Florida when Hurricane Isaias was threatening the state.
“Mutual assistance is a hallmark of our industry. Just as Gulf Power has been happy to assist other utilities with restoration efforts, we appreciate the willingness of FPL and others to step up and help us serve our customers in their time of need,” Santos said.
Customers who still do not have power should first check their breakers. If this is not the issue, they should report the outage on the Gulf Power App, online at GulfPower.com or using the automated system at 1-800-GU-POWER (800-487-6937).
ESCAMBIA RIVER ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
Escambia River Electric Cooperative announced that as of about 5:45 p.m., every member that is is able to receive electricity has had their power restored.
EREC reported 95% of their members, 11,463 total customers, without power after Hurricane Sally across northern Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
“We thank our membership for their patience and tremendous show of support as our line crews worked to restore power as safely and quickly as possible. We thank our fellow cooperatives who sent their line crews to assist us in our time of need to rebuild our battered system. We are proud to be a part of the cooperative family,” EREC Vice President Sabrina Owens said.
Century Set To Increase Property Taxes To Meet Increased Budget
September 22, 2020
The Town of Century is raising taxes for the upcoming fiscal year in order to meet an increased budget.
The town is proposing a $4.14 million budget for the fiscal year 2020-2021, up from $3.63 million during the current fiscal year. The tentative millage rate of .9204 is about 5% greater than the rolled-back rate of .8759.
The rolled-back rate is the tax rate that would generate the same amount of property tax revenue as approved for the prior year. A millage rate higher than the rolled-back rate is defined by Florida law as a tax increase.
The tentative budget and tax rate were approved by a 4-0 vote Monday night. Council member Sandra McMurray-Jackson but was unable to mute her phone in the Zoom meeting in order to vote.
The budget and tax rate will be up for a final vote at 6:01 p.m. next Monday, September 28.
Escambia Schools Will Reopen On Wednesday; School Damage In The Millions
September 22, 2020
Escambia County schools will reopen on Wednesday as repairs by Hurricane Sally continue on Tuesday.
Escambia County School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said damage estimates are around $10 million – mostly downed trees, damage awnings and flooding.
“Most of our damage like so many in the community is the superficial type damage,” Thomas said. “Although we are making progress, there is still work we have to complete before we’re able to reopen our buildings to our students.”
Holm Elementary suffered the most damage with an entire wing of the school flooded. Students who had class in that building with be moved to neighboring Workman Middle School.
The district will provide physical workbooks or cellular hotspots to remote learners that still do not have internet. On campuses with viable athletic facilities and fields, high school athletic practices can resume as early as noon Tuesday.
Pictured: Damaged awnings and downed trees at Kingfield Elementary School as seen shortly after Hurricane Sally. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
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Residents Of Cantonment, Carver Park Or Molino Needing Tarps, Food Or Water Should Call Escambia County
September 22, 2020
Residents in Molino, Carver Park and Cantonment who need food, water or tarps can contact the Escambia County Citizen Information Line at (850) 471-6600 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m to put in a request.
Residents will be asked to provide their name, phone number and address to be contacted to schedule logistics while supplies last.
ECAT Service Resumes With Modified Regular Schedule
September 22, 2020
ECAT resumes a modified regular service schedule beginning Tuesday.
The following routes are temporarily suspended until further notice:
- Route 41, East Pensacola Heights
- Route 59A, NAS Pensacola, airport
- Route 59X, NAS Pensacola, downtown, Cordova Mall
- Route 61, Pensacola Beach
- Route 64, Beach Jumper
Buses may experience possible traffic delays due to detours and debris. Buses will run every two hours, with the final routes departing ECAT and downtown at 6 p.m. The same modified schedule will run on Saturdays.
Escambia County Community Transportation Paratransit services also resumes on Tuesday.
The UWF Trolley Service will resume service on Thursday, September 24 when the college reopens.
Cox Restores Service To Over 80% Of Customers; Spectrum Continues To Work On Restoration
September 22, 2020
Cox Communications has restored service to at least 83% of their customers, while Spectrum said they are continuing to repair outages.
Cox Communications
Cox Communications said that they are making significant progress in restoring its network and services.
Following Hurricane Sally making landfall, 93% of Cox customers along the Gulf Coast were offline. As of Monday, that number has been reduced to 17%.
“Our team continues to work tirelessly to get the Gulf Coast reconnected,” said Anthony Pope, senior vice president and region manager of Cox Southeast. “Once power came back on in the community, we’ve been able to reconnect a large majority of our customers to the services they enjoy. We still have work ahead, particularly in the hardest hit areas, and we will not rest until the network has been restored.”
Cox brought in technicians from around the region to assist with this process.
“I’m very proud of the work our team has done to reconnect so many of our Gulf Coast neighbors.” said David Deliman, market vice president of Cox Gulf Coast. “As businesses reopen and school is looking to restart, we are committed to completing repairs to the network this week.”
Spectrum Communications
An unknown number of Spectrum customers remain without internet and cable following Hurricane Sally last week.
NorthEscambia.com reached out to Spectrum. We were told Monday afternoon by Spectrum Senior Director of Regional Communications South Patti Michel that the cable company should be able to provide a restoration update in terms of a percentage to us on Tuesday.
“The vast majority of outages following Hurricane Sally are caused by downed trees and resulting loss of power. Spectrum services are often restored with, or immediately following, restoration of power at the customer’s location. However, in some cases, Spectrum services may still be affected even after power returns to a home or business,” Spectrum Senior Director of Regional Communications South Patti Michel said in an email.
“Outages caused by damage to Spectrum’s network or lines will be restored as quickly and as safely as possible by our technicians as soon as they can safely access these sites. We appreciate customer’s patience as we work to restore services,” her email continued.
Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge
Price Gouging Hotline Is Active After Hurricane Sally
September 22, 2020
Florida’s Attorney General has activated her price gouging hotline.
In the aftermath of the destruction and flooding left by Hurricane Sally, Attorney General Ashley Moody is warning those in impacted areas to guard against price gouging, contracting scams and fraud. Attorney General Moody’s Price Gouging Hotline remains open and accessible for consumers to report extreme price increases and storm-related scams.
After a natural disaster, consumers should be wary of tree service scams, building and home repair scams, disaster relief scams and water testing and treatment scams, Moody said.
“Hurricane Sally brought destruction to property and the lives of thousands of Floridians. Sadly, these events often bring with them a wave of fraud and other types of crime, Moody said. Anyone who steals from Floridians in this time of crisis will be caught and prosecuted. My office and local law enforcement will work tirelessly to protect Floridians, but citizens can help by taking steps to protect themselves.”