Escambia County residents are encouraged to monitor potential severe weather with the moderate risk of damaging winds, tornadoes, high surf and dangerous rip currents on Wednesday, March 30 through Thursday, March 31.
The National Weather Service in Mobile projects wind speeds capable of damaging trees, crops, power lines and structures. Wind gusts up to 80 MPH are possible. Currently, Escambia County is at a moderate risk for severe weather, which is expected to arrive Wednesday evening and last until early Thursday morning.
“Escambia County is currently at a moderate risk for severe weather,” said Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore. “Emergency Management will continue to monitor the storm and provide updates. In the meantime, we encourage residents to remain weather aware and have multiple ways to receive weather alerts.â€
Residents can sign up for Alert Escambia emergency updates through the Emergency Management website.
With the possibility of localized flooding, one of the most important preparation steps Escambia County residents can take is to know their evacuation zone – either A, B, C, D, E or none. Find your zone at MyEscambia.com/KnowYourZone.
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.
I worked with Eric Gilmore in Santa Rosa County while I lived in Escambia County. Kind of the reverse take on Mr. Lewis’s incessant harping about people living where they choose while employed by another jurisdiction, lol. Eric Gilmore has a solid grasp of emergency operations, preparedness activities and how the system works. He is a solid public servant.
Andrew McKay is a harpy radio talking head.
I agree with what Andrew McKay said this morning. He said the word “moderate” should be replaced with something more meaningful like “significant.” Agree. McKay spoke with Escambia County Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore this morning on News Radio 1620. Gilmore is not someone who inspires confidence. He reminds me of the county agent Hank Kimball character on the old television show Green Acres. Maybe McKay should have Gilmore’s job. McKay too very politely suggested to Gilmore that he should contact Skanska. Gilmore more or less said something like, “Yeah, that seems like a good idea.” How long have we known that this weather event was headed our way? McKay also asked Gilmore about the county’s Emergency Operations Center. Gilmore said the county has no plans to have it operational but did say that he was going to have a few warm bodies in it to do something. McKay also spoke to Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson who oddly began by talking about the flowers he could see blooming in his backyard making clear that he was not already at work. Robinson’s mindset about the pending moderate to severe weather event seems to be, “Yeah, whatever.” One thing the city could do is order all of its firefighters and police officers who mostly live in Santa Rosa County to be inside the city limit tonight in case they’re needed. The city could set up cots for them in various community centers. I recall the February 2016 tornado that left debris from Eastgate Shopping Center on my lawn. The city initially claimed that it did not respond to help the Eau Claire neighborhood north of I-10 and east of 9th Avenue because they did not think it was in the city. What? District 1 Councilman P.C. Wu did not show up until the next day and then joked that he had just found out that Eau Claire was in his district as it had been since November 2012. Lots of horrific pictures from that storm are still posted online.