While Escambia County still remains outside of the track of the storm, residents are encouraged to remain weather aware. We will have Escambia County Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore on WCOA at 7 a.m.
UPDATE: University of West Florida – Hurricane Helene closure from 5 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, through 5 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 27. All UWF locations, including the Pensacola campus, UWF Emerald Coast and UWF Historic Trust, are closed.
ATTENTION ALL PSC STUDENTS & EMPLOYEES – The National Hurricane Center has widened the area of probability for tropical storm force winds in our area. Out of an abundance of caution, Pensacola State College will be closed on Thursday, September 26, 2024. All classes and activities are canceled, and all offices are closed. The College will reopen for regular hours on Friday, September 27th.
Experts warn that Hurricane Helene is going to be an extremely serious and a major hurricane for the eastern Florida Panhandle and Big Bend area of Florida. It looks as if this hurricane will produce a worse impact than Idalia across most places between Apalachicola and Tampa.
Due to the expected landfall strength of near Category 4 intensity and the very large size of the hurricane, Helene will bring a catastrophic, life taking storm surge to the west coast of Florida and the Big Bend area of Florida.
NOAA Hurricane Center – 4 am CDT
At 400 AM CDT (0900 UTC), the center of Hurricane Helene was located
near latitude 24.2 North, longitude 86.2 West. Helene is moving
toward the north-northeast near 12 mph (19 km/h). This general
motion is expected to continued with a significant increase in
forward speed during the next 24 hours. On the forecast track,
Helene will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico today and cross
the Florida Big Bend coast this evening or early Friday morning.
After landfall, Helene is expected to turn northwestward and slow
down over the Tennessee Valley on Friday and Saturday.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 90 mph (150 km/h)
with higher gusts. Strengthening is forecast, and Helene is
expected to be a major hurricane when it reaches the Florida Big
Bend coast this evening. Weakening is expected after landfall, but
Helene’s fast forward speed will allow strong, damaging winds,
especially in gusts, to penetrate well inland across the
southeastern United States, including over the higher terrain of
the southern Appalachians.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from the
center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 345 miles
(555 km). The Key West Naval Air Station recently reported
sustained winds of 41 mph (66 km/h) and a wind gust of 64 mph
(103 km/h).
City of Pensacola offices and facilities will be closed Thursday, Sept. 26, due to possible inclement weather associated with Hurricane Helene. Only essential employees are to report to work. City street sweeping crews as well as sanitation crews will also run their normal schedule for as long as the weather allows them. Should conditions deteriorate and become unsafe for them, forcing them off the roadways, they will resume their pick-ups on Friday, Sept. 27.
Escambia County and Santa Rosa County Public Schools and district offices will be closed Thursday, Sept. 26, due to possible inclement weather associated with Hurricane Helene.
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order (EO) 24-209, Emergency Management – Amending Executive Order 24-208– Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine on Tuesday, Sept. 24, increasing the number of counties in the state of Florida under a state of emergency to 61, including Escambia, ahead of the storm.
Escambia County is offering sand for residents living in flood-prone areas. The sand is available on a first come, first served basis and locations are open 24 hours a day. 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
Residents can sign up for Alert Escambia emergency updates through the Emergency Management website.