Tornadoes cause damage in SoWal area 1/9/24

Following the severe weather Monday
night and early Tuesday morning, many of the roadways throughout
Walton County were blocked or otherwise unsafe for travel due to storm
debris.

According to Public Works Director Buddy Wright, much of the first day
after the tornadoes, strong winds and rain was spent assessing the damage
and identifying the areas that were hardest hit.

“We work with Emergency Management Director Jeff Goldberg and his
staff, who do a great job of letting us know where the hotspots are, so we
are not caught off-guard,” said Wright.

“CHELCO was also out working to restore power to people’s homes and I
believe they have now restored power to most areas in Walton County. We
certainly did not want to get in their way, but our crews got busy clearing
streets and highways of downed trees, broken limbs and vegetation,” said
Wright. “All roads in the county are now passable, but we still have a lot to
do and it may be a few weeks before we are completely finished.”

Wright said the second phase of the clean-up operation is to remove the
debris from right-of-way areas, which is what they are working on now.

While additional rain is expected on Friday, Buddy Wright said it would not
slow their progress. “It looks like today’s (Friday) weather is not going to be
anything like the storm earlier this week, so our guys are just going to
power through it.”

“We want to also thank Emergency Management and the Walton County
Sheriff’s Office for their assistance. They do a great job of keeping
everybody safe,” said Wright. “I am also very proud of our own crew of
professionals. They have done a great job of clearing the roads and they are
very busy today cleaning up the right-of-way.

As for storm debris, limbs and vegetation on residential property, that
should be gathered and placed beside the roadway for removal, but NOT
mixed with household trash, which will be picked up separately.

For more information regarding the removal of storm debris, contact
Walton County Public Works at 850-892-8108.

Walton County Emergency Management received the results of the tornado surveys from the National Weather Service (NWS).
Walton County was affected by three (3) tornadoes.

South Walton
EF1 – 110 mph
Path length – 11 miles
Width – 220 yards across
Duration – 3 minutes

Eucheeanna
EF1 – 95 mph
Path length – 0.8 miles
Width – 160 yards across
Duration – 1 minute

DeFuniak Springs (Airport)
EF1 – 90 mph
Path length – 0.4 miles
Width – 200 yards across
Duration - <1 minute

As far as damaged structures are concerned, below are the counts so far.
Affected- 9
Minor - 24
Major - 36

At this time, there are no open human services needs.
Any needs are being referred to the Matrix Community Outreach Center as our Human Services Branch.
On Thursday or Friday, FDEM will be deploying a Joint Preliminary Damage Assessment to further assess damages in hopes of obtaining a Federal Disaster Declaration. More to come as I receive more information.

For more information, contact Walton County Emergency Management at (850) 892-8530.

Walton County Emergency Management received the results of the tornado surveys from the National Weather Service (NWS).
Walton County was affected by three (3) tornadoes.

South Walton
EF1 – 110 mph
Path length – 11 miles
Width – 220 yards across
Duration – 3 minutes

Eucheeanna
EF1 – 95 mph
Path length – 0.8 miles
Width – 160 yards across
Duration – 1 minute

DeFuniak Springs (Airport)
EF1 – 90 mph
Path length – 0.4 miles
Width – 200 yards across
Duration - <1 minute

As far as damaged structures are concerned, below are the counts so far.
Affected- 9
Minor - 24
Major - 36

At this time, there are no open human services needs.
Any needs are being referred to the Matrix Community Outreach Center as our Human Services Branch.
On Thursday or Friday, FDEM will be deploying a Joint Preliminary Damage Assessment to further assess damages in hopes of obtaining a Federal Disaster Declaration. More to come as I receive more information.

For more information, contact Walton County Emergency Management at (850) 892-8530.

I hate to tell them, but the South Walton tornado lasted considerably longer than 3 minutes. left Dune-Allen, caused significant damage on Bay Grove and Old Jolly Bay Road, then headed for Ponce De leon...

I hate to tell them, but the South Walton tornado lasted considerably longer than 3 minutes. left Dune-Allen, caused significant damage on Bay Grove and Old Jolly Bay Road, then headed for Ponce De leon...

They used radar, local measurements and science. I'll take their word for it.

They used radar, local measurements and science. I'll take their word for it.

Except for the fact that 11 miles in 3 minutes is 220 mph which twice as fast as the recorded wind so, yeah, something ain't right. Just sayin...

Except for the fact that 11 miles in 3 minutes is 220 mph which twice as fast as the recorded wind so, yeah, something ain't right. Just sayin...

The original post is wrong. It was an EF1 and it lasted 4 minutes. Not sure of the direct distance.

A little over a week after three tornadoes touched down in Walton County, Walton County Emergency Management Director Jeff Goldberg addressed the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) with an update on the severe weather that had passed through the county on Jan. 9 and on the emergency management department’s efforts in response to the impacts of the weather event.


Goldberg spoke to the commissioners at their Jan. 18 rescheduled regular meeting at the Walton County Courthouse.


On Jan. 15, after surveys conducted by the National Weather Service, Walton County Emergency Management had reported that the county had been affected by three tornadoes in the early morning of Jan. 9, one in south Walton County, one in Eucheeanna, and one at the DeFuniak Springs Airport.


Goldberg told the commissioners that the south Walton tornado had been rated as an EF (Enhanced Fujita) 1 scale tornado at 110 miles per hour with an 11-mile path.