The Walton County Board of County Commissioners, in conjunction with the Walton County Sheriff's Office, Board of Education and other Constitutional Offices continues to operate under local state of emergency in response to the impending weather event to be caused by Tropical Storm Hermine.
As of September 1st, at 9:00am, Walton County is remains under a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch.
Currently, Tropical Storm Hermine continues to move North/Northeast and away from Walton County. Currently, potential impacts to Walton County have been diminished.
Walton County Emergency Management has lifted the mandatory evacuation notice for those in Walton County Evacuation Zone A. A VOLUNTARY evacuation notice will still exist.
Walton County Emergency Operations Center will continue to run at a Level 2 - Partial Activation which began at 6:00am.
As part of the local state of emergency, the following actions have been taken:
1. Walton County Emergency Management will continue to issue a voluntary evacuation for all locations that fall within Evacuation Zone A (Low lying coastal areas and manufactured homes/trailer). The mandatory evacuation has been lifted.
2. Walton County Emergency Management will continue the operation of the Evacuation Shelter for the general population and those with special medical needs. The shelter was opened at 7:00am on Thursday, September 1st and is located at Freeport High School at 12615 U.S. 331 Business in Freeport. The shelter will not accept pets, other than service animals, and other arrangements should be made.
3. Walton County Schools will continue to be closed Thursday, September 1st and Friday, September 2nd. At this time, all extracurricular activities have been cancelled for Thursday, September 1st. Decision on all scheduled extracurricular activities on Friday, September 2nd will be made in the near future.
4. All Walton County Government Offices will remain open on their normal schedules.
5. The Walton County Design Review Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 1st has been cancelled.
6. The beaches of Walton County are currently under Double Red Flag conditions and the waters are closed to the public.
7. Walton County Public Works has one location open for sandbags at the Blue Mountain Pit-1002 83S. (Old Blue Mountain Road). It is open from 6:00am until 4:30pm. There is a limit of 25 sandbags per household. Please bring your own shovel.
WEATHER UPDATE INFORMATION FOLLOWS
* Tropical force winds are anticipated to enter our area in the late afternoon and early evening. Sustained winds are expected to be between 35 and 45 mph with gusts in excess of 45 mph possible
* Anticipated rain totals for Walton County are expected to be between 1 and 3 inches, with potential larger amounts in localized areas
* Storm surge for Walton County beaches are anticipated to be between 1 and 3 feet
Citizen Help Lines - (850) 892-8392 and (850) 892-8394
For important update, please monitor the Walton County Emergency Management Page on Facebook at
Walton County Emergency Management | Facebook. Users do not have to be members of Facebook or have an active account to view the page.