“KEEP YOUR SANDBAGS‼️,” blared Palm Coast government’s Facebook page today, with extra exclamation marks for emphasis. “Hurricane season is not over! Stay prepared by storing your sandbags properly for the rest of Hurricane Season.” Weary residents have been listening, building small walls of sandbags in their garages or elsewhere. The city offers tips on what to do with those bags when hurricane season ends, but that’s after Thanksgiving.
Emergency response workers at the state Emergency Operations Center were advised shortly before the governor addressed the media Thursday that, based on meteorological forecasts, they should expect to be back within six weeks.
Besides Dorian, four other systems were being watched in the Atlantic, including a trough of low pressure about 500 miles east of the Leeward Islands that had a 10 percent chance of forming within five days and a broad area of low pressure halfway between the coast of Africa and the Cabo Verde Islands that was given a 50 percent chance of becoming better organized within five days.
Meanwhile, local and state emergency management efforts shifted Thursday from storm preparation to providing assistance as Hurricane Dorian, after devastating the Bahamas and skirting Florida’s East Coast, threatened to cause heavy damage in the Carolinas.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state awaits aid requests from South Carolina and North Carolina and is offering help, where it can, to the Bahamas, as some islands were leveled in what was a Category 5 storm.
“We have a lot of supplies, I think mainly we’re looking at some of the water,” DeSantis said. “We have hundreds of thousands of bottles of water for this hurricane season that are going to expire when this hurricane season ends.”
In advance of Dorian, Florida had deployed 860,000 bottles of water and 1.8 million meals to counties that were facing the storm, and another 819,000 gallons of water were ready for distribution. Also, 730,000 pounds of ice were ready for distribution.
“We’re not out of hurricane season, obviously we’re at the peak, but there is obviously a chance we don’t have a storm and that water would go to waste,” DeSantis added, noting that Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz is “confident” the supplies can be quickly replenished.
Early projections are that Dorian churned up “tens of millions of dollars” in beachfront damages in Florida and is tied to two deaths in the state. Damage has been limited in Flagler.
Flagler County’s Public Works Department by this morning had assessed all 228 miles of roadway in unincorporated Flagler and inspected its 35 bridges for structural integrity. The state inspected both bridges to the barrier island.
“We were very lucky,” County Engineer Faith Alkhatib was quoted as saying in a county release. “We had only three downed trees – Old Haw Creek, Old Kings Road North, and County Road 205 – and those have already been cleared.”
There’ll be no need for unusual debris pick-up in the county: Waste Pro, the county’s contractor, will pick up yard waste on Saturday this week, and will do likewise in Palm Coast.
Garbage collection returned to normal service Thursday in the county and in Palm Coast. Bunnell never broke its normal routines.
Bob Pickering, county emergency management’s weather guru, released his rain and wind report for Dorian. It was not much different than a very severe day of thunderstorms. The highest rain reading was nearly 6 inches in central Palm Coast, and the lowest was in Flagler Beach, at 2.5 inches. Flagler Beach also saw the highest wind readings, 48 mph, just before 7 a.m. Wednesday. See the full list at the foot of the story.
Palm Coast officials today were turning to caution advisories in anticipation of unscrupulous contractors preying on residents with immediate repair needs. You can read the city’s outline of cautions and suggestions here, and watch a video by Jason DeLorenzo, the city’s development director, on what to do and not do.
DeSantis, who said he doesn’t plan to go to areas of the state affected by the storm to avoid interfering with restoration efforts, advised people who have travel plans to the tourist-dependent Bahamas to check with their destinations because Dorian didn’t fully devastate all of the 700-plus islands and cays.
“They have many islands in the Bahamas. Some were decimated, others were not,” DeSantis said. “Canceling those plans doesn’t help them with their recovery.”
The impression of total devastation is something Florida tourism officials often must fight when the state faces a disaster in one area.
DeSantis expects the federal government may request assistance from the Florida National Guard to assist the Bahamas, a request that would be honored. He has also asked John Rood, a former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas under President George W. Bush, to be the state’s “point person” in the relief efforts.
DeSantis anticipated receiving a quick assessment of the needs from Rood, a Jacksonville businessman who was expected to travel to the Bahamas on Thursday.
“A lot of people want to help, which is good, it’s a great impulse, but we don’t want this stuff ending up in some warehouse where it never ends up being used by anybody,” DeSantis said. “We want to make sure whatever our efforts are targeted in a way that is actually going to bring relief over there.”
State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Wednesday said she had reached out to Michael Pintard, the Bahamas’ minister for agriculture, and she was working with some Florida farmers to provide aid to the islands.
DeSantis’ comments Thursday came as U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said he has reached out to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green to assess available humanitarian assistance for the Bahamas and whether additional funds will be needed for disaster relief.
“Realizing the Bahamian Government will require the assistance of the United States, I strongly urge you to ensure all possible resources are made available to secure the safety and protection of Bahamian citizens and to assist in post-recovery relief efforts,” Rubio wrote.
On Wednesday, Rubio and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., urged President Donald Trump to waive or suspend certain visa requirements for Bahamians citizens with relatives in the U.S.
Asked about the waiver request, DeSantis said he talked to Rubio on Thursday about Florida and the Bahamas, but the visa-related request is a federal decision.
DeSantis said the situation is different from Hurricane Maria, which caused massive damage in Puerto Rico.
“This is different than Hurricane Maria, because Hurricane Maria affected American territory, so you had U.S. citizens coming,” he said. “People have a right to do that if they’re U.S. citizens. When you’re foreign nationals, that has to be done consistent with whatever the federal policy is. So, we’ll see how that shakes out.”
Here’s Bob Pickering’s full rain and wind report:
Rain Reports Storm Totals:
Amount / Location / Source / Notes
4.24” / Bunnell / Flagler EOC /
5.35” / Palm Coast (Near Palm Harbor Golf Course) / Skywarn
5.68” / West Palm Coast – Lehigh Woods / Skywarn
3.75” / West Central Palm Coast – Cypress Knoll / Skywarn
5.09” / NW Palm Coast – Indian Trails Section /
5.91” / Central Palm Coast east Pine Lakes Section / Skywarn
5.03” / NE Palm Coast Canals / Skywarn
4.50” / Flagler Beach – John Anderson Drive / County Road and Bridge
3.73” / East Palm Coast near Marina / Skywarn
3.59” / Northeast Palm Coast near Marina / Skywarn
2.79” / SE Flagler Beach / Skywarn
2.51” / Flagler Beach / Skywarn
3.00” / SE Flagler County – Eagle Rock / Skywarn
Wind / Storm / Damage Reports:
Event / Time / Location / Source / Notes
MG 44 mph / 2210hrs / Flagler Beach / Skywarn
Multiple power outages / 0222hrs / County wide more so east
MG 48 / 0341hrs / Hammock Dunes Bridge / Peak Gust at this location
MG 48 / 0656hrshrs / Flagler Beach / Skywarn / Peak Gust
MG 45 mph / ? / West Palm Coast – Lehigh Woods / Skywarn
MG 41 mph / Between 0100hrs 0700hrs / NE Palm Coast Canals / Skywarn
Multiple gusts over 40 mph / East side of county / Multiple stations has gusts 40-45 mph
–FlaglerLive and the News Service of Florida
Name (required) says
Everybody should be considering their options with regard to how they can contribute to the Bahamas, Abaco, marsh harbor, areas of grand Bahama; people lost everything, and they survived and are currently surviving an intense humanitarian crisis on the land they call home. Imagine not just your home, but your ENTIRE community, it’s infrastructure and ALL utilities, gone. Just, tragedy. Hope for a poised response from govt. and volunteers. These people need all the outreach they could possibly request and more. Be vigilant. In helping however you can. After this storm, I know we’re ALL sitting on unused resources. Let’s Put them to good use. Please.
Janet Sullivan says
FlaglerLive– Once again, thank you for your clear, comprehensive and timely reporting during Dorian. Between you and Bob Pickering, Flagler County residents were well-informed at all times. For those of you who also appreciated Pierre’s coverage of Dorian but are not yet supporters of FlaglerLive, please become a supporter. It’s only right. https://flaglerlive.com/support-flaglerlive/
Jonas says
Why should the US government be bailing out the Bahamas? It isn’t the responsibility of the US taxpayers to support other nations. Let charity groups and private corporations donate and contribute, but don’t hold a gun to the bead of the US taxpayers.
tulip says
With Trump continually taking billions of dollars from other projects, including monies that were set aside for hurricane disasters and the like to build his wall to please his base, I think a lot of people are going to suffer for a long time. The President has way to much power to take whatever he wants and gets the other leaders to go along with it. I am ashamed and angry about it.
However, I a grateful we are all okay here and I approve of Desantis sending our excess supplies to where they are needed I didn;t realize the expiration date on commercially bottled water was so short. Although, if necessary, I read somewhere that 2 drops if bleach will purify one quart of water.
hawkeye says
I am all for helping people in need,and have done so through my job, thats the only way I feel 100% sure that what I give will go to whoever needs help. That being said ,dont forget we still have a long way to go with hurricane season and we need to remain vigilant, there are storms brewing right now and there is no guarantee one of them wont become a hurricane and affect us.
gmath55 says
@ tulip – Nets Freak Over Trump Moving FEMA Money, But Obama Also Did
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2019/09/02/nets-freak-over-trump-moving-fema-money-obama-also-did