Storm Update – check back

This will be updated throughout the day.

1:20 PM The Santa Rosa Island Authority (SRIA) and Escambia County are working closely together to assist all Pensacola Beach residents, leaseholders and business owners who suffered damage from the storm event that took place Thursday night, June 15.

Please note that some Pensacola Beach commercial businesses may be closed, or may delay opening, from wind or flood damage along the island.
The Pensacola Beach Island Trolley service, operated by Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT), has been canceled today, June 16. ECAT will continue to monitor weather conditions and provide updates from the Emergency Operations Center.
All Pensacola Beach residents are encouraged to secure their leasehold properties for life-safety issues as soon as possible. Storm damage repairs can begin on essential building components without a building permit as long as application for permitting is submitted by Monday, June 26. However, photo documentation should be taken prior to repairs beginning.
Pensacola Beach leaseholders with power outages in the areas of DeLuna Point and La Bahia are advised of the following:

• Escambia County building services will be assessing exterior electrical services for each individual unit.
  
• Electrical services without damage will be approved to be re-energized.
  
• Please be advised that it’s up to individual tenants to disconnect any circuit that has damage by switching the circuit breaker to the off position.
  
• If any resident needs help with evaluating damage or disconnecting circuits, please call 850-587-5770 to be connected to an Escambia County Electrical Inspector.
  
• Pensacola Beach residents can self-report storm damages through the Escambia County Citizen Damage Report website.
  

Beginning Tuesday, June 20, at 8 a.m., SRIA and Escambia County will have joint staff on site at the SRIA office to issue permits for all repair work necessary due to storm damage. Building permit fees for SRIA and Escambia County will be temporarily waived as residents continue to recover from this event.
For questions regarding permitting or electrical issues, please contact the SRIA Development Services Department at 850-932-2257 or the Escambia County Building Department at 850-595-3550.

10:23 AM Gallery Night Cancelled

10:08 AM City of Pensacola Update

The City of Pensacola is working on damage assessment and recovery efforts after severe weather impacted the area overnight and into this morning, Friday, June 16. Residents are encouraged to continue monitoring the forecast, as additional severe weather is possible today through the weekend.

Storms have continued across the area this morning, with additional severe storms possible starting at 4 p.m. through tonight. These severe storms are capable of producing damaging winds of 60+ mph, golf ball size hail or larger, and tornadoes.

City of Pensacola Information

• Road closures: Langley Avenue at Davis Highway, and 16th Avenue at Texar Drive are currently closed. There may be additional road closures as crews assess damage and rainfall continues.
• Recorded rainfall: 11.56 inches at City Hall, 10.02 inches at Pensacola High School, 9.23 inches at Pensacola International Airport over 9 hours
• Pensacola Fire Department responded to multiple calls overnight, including two residential structure fires, three power lines down, five mutual aid structure fires and one mutual aid rescue.
• No storm-related injuries have been reported in the city.
• City of Pensacola Inspections crews began assessing damage this morning, with no reports of structural damage in the city so far. Crews will continue their assessments for the remainder of the day.
• Public Works and Parks and Recreation crews are working to clear any debris from city roadways, along with clearing storm inlets.

Safety Information

• Residents are asked to please stay off the roadways if possible.
• Please do not attempt to clear debris from city roadways, as street sweepers and crews will be out clearing debris as conditions are safe to do so.
• Do not touch downed power lines. Call Florida Power and Light at 1-800-4-OUTAGE (1-800-468-8243) immediately to report a dangerous condition such as a downed power line.
• Pay extra attention to local weather reports. Be sure to keep your weather radio on and your cell phone charged to ensure you can receive weather alerts.
• With the possibility of high winds, it is recommended that any lightweight outside furniture or equipment be secured.
• Organizations with planned outside activities during this period need to be weather aware and take the appropriate actions.
• In the event of a Tornado Warning, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of your home or building. Stay away from windows.
• Turn around, don’t drown: In the event of a roadway covered by water, do not attempt to drive over the flooded road. Water depth may be misleading, and you could end up stranded or trapped.

For more information, monitor the local media and legitimate online and social media sources like Escambia County Emergency Management, US National Weather Service Mobile, and Florida SERT.

Stay informed with these additional local resources:

• Escambia County real-time road closures map:View Escambia County road closures map online here.
• Local emergency alert updates:Alert Escambia at MyEscambia.com/BeReady.
• National Weather Service Mobile/Pensacola:weather.gov/mob or facebook.com/nwsmobile
• Pensacola 311 (non-emergencies only): Citizens have three easy ways to contact 311: Simply dialing 311, visiting cityofpensacola.com/311, or by downloading our Pensacola 311 mobile app, available for iPhone/iPad, Android, and Blackberry.
• City notifications: cityofpensacola.com/List.aspx

9:49 AM Building Services Assessing Electrical Damage on Pensacola Beach June 16

9:41 AM Lighting Strikes ECUA Pumping Station

The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) received a lightning strike at one of its largest wastewater pumping stations last night during the storm.  The Pipeline Station, located at the corner of Pipeline Road and Rainbow Avenue, is a very large station capable of pumping 50 million gallons per day (MGD).

The lightning strike damaged a 600 Hp motor on one of the three pumps at this station.  This occurred during the height of the storm so flows in the wastewater system were extremely high.  As a result, the two 300,000-gallon excess flow tanks at the station then filled up and began to discharge from the overflow ports at the top of the tanks at approximately 4:30 am.  In response, flows elsewhere in our system were redirected to additional excess flow storage tanks, which provided sufficient relief at the Pipeline Station to abate overflows at those tanks.  The Pipeline Stations remained operational and overflows ceased by 8:15 am.

This station was built at the same time as the new Central Water Reclamation Facility (CWRF) and this is the first time there has been a lightning strike at this facility.

Meanwhile, ECUA crews have implemented their emergency response plan and have secured our spare 600 Hp motor to replace the damaged equipment.  This is a major task due to its size and weight, but will be completed today and will return the station to 100% of its capacity.

Escambia County Area Transit will suspend all service Friday, June 16. This includes fixed route, UWF Trolleys, and the Pensacola Beach Island Trolley. Riders may call 850-595-3228 or visit goECAT.com for additional information.

Escambia County Community Transportation service will only provide emergency medical transportation until further notice. Please call ECCT at 850-595-0501 for additional information.

Due to the Thursday evening and early Friday morning severe storms, the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center activated to Level Two at 7 a.m. Friday, June 16.

A Level 2 EOC activation is a partial activation that includes essential Emergency Support Functions related to this type of incident for response and recovery.

Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore and County Commissioner Robert Bender gave updates on WCOA this morning.

The Department of Public Safety confirmed one fatality occurred at the 500 block of Coker Lane. The fatality occurred approximately at 8:38 p.m. on Thursday, June 15.

At 8:39 p.m. on Thursday, Escambia County Fire Rescue and Emergency Medical Services were dispatched to the 500 block of Coker Lane regarding an entrapment. Upon arrival, ECFR and EMS confirmed a tree was on top of a residential structure with one person trapped beneath the tree inside the home. Despite rescue efforts, the patient was pronounced deceased.

Escambia County Fire Rescue confirmed the cause of the incident was due to a tree colliding into the home due to a tornado in the area.

Florida Power and Light and the Pensacola Fire Department provided assistance during the effort.

CANCELED: MEDIA ADVISORY: Perdido Boat Ramp Groundbreaking June 16

Due to Thursday evening and Friday morning’s severe weather and the upcoming weather on Friday, the Perdido Boat Ramp groundbreaking scheduled for Friday, June 16 at 11:30 a.m. has been postponed. A rescheduled date will be announced at a future time.

Escambia County Sand Locations Open Friday, June 16

Escambia County is offering sand for residents living in flood-prone areas. The sand is available on a first come, first served basis. Residents must bring their own sandbags and shovels to one of the following locations (map):

Baars Field Athletic Park – 13001 Sorrento Road, Pensacola
Brent Athletic Park – 4711 N. W St., Pensacola
Don Sutton Park – 2320 Crabtree Church Road, Molino
Equestrian Center – 7750 Mobile Highway, Pensacola
Escambia County Road Department – 601 Highway 297-A, Pensacola
Ferry Pass Middle School – 8355 Yancey Lane, Pensacola, (sand will be on the northwest corner of school property on Parazine Street)
John R. Jones Jr. Athletic Park – 555 E. Nine Mile Road, Pensacola
Travis M. Nelson Park – 4541 County Road 4, Pensacola
When laid properly, sand bags can be an effective tool for flooding from a rain event, but not for storm surge. For more information on how to make and use sandbags, visit the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (www.flash.org).

Sand bags can be purchased at most local hardware or home improvement stores, typically for a low cost.