Hurricane Isaac

[Teresa]

EOC Brief #5
August 30, 2012

The Walton County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has moved from a Level 2 Partial Activation to Level 3 Monitoring status. The EOC will continue to track weather conditions and all other impact from Tropical Storm Isaac. Walton County beaches (water, sand and accesses) remain closed at this time. A re-assessment will take place tomorrow morning, Thursday, August 31, 2012.

Before the beaches can be re-opened, several assessments have to take place:

• An environmental survey will assess any impact to coastal dune lakes.
• Residents and visitors should be aware that we are in the height of turtle nesting season and the storm has impacted the turtle population; therefore an assessment must be conducted under the Florida Fish & Wildlife guidelines.
• The Tourist Development Council (TDC) also has to assess the beaches and safety of accesses.

All of these steps are crucial to ensure public safety before allowing beaches to be open to the public.
There continues to be a coastal flood advisory, a high surf advisory, and a high rip current risk for South Walton County. Several tornado warnings were issued earlier in the day for the county, and the severe weather is expected to continue into the early evening hours. Double Red Flags will continue to fly for the remainder of the day. Beach flag conditions can be monitored at www.swfd.org and on South Walton Fire District’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/southwaltonfire.

 

[Lake View Too]

I heard on the radio that a tornado touched down today northeast of Portland, 13 miles south of DeFuniak. Does anybody know if there was any damage?

 

[lenzoe]

EOC Brief #5
August 30, 2012
[...]
Before the beaches can be re-opened, several assessments have to take place:

• An environmental survey will assess any impact to coastal dune lakes.
• Residents and visitors should be aware that we are in the height of turtle nesting season and the storm has impacted the turtle population; therefore an assessment must be conducted under the Florida Fish & Wildlife guidelines.
• The Tourist Development Council (TDC) also has to assess the beaches and safety of accesses.

What is this all about?

 

[Teresa]

What is this all about?

The beaches remain closed until further notice.

 

[Kurt]

From WZEP AM 1460
Visit our website for more at [url]http://www.wzep1460.com[/URL]
Located: 449, N. 12th Street, DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433
Mail: PO Box 627, DeFuniak Springs, FL 32435
Station: 850-892-3158 wzep@wzep1460.com Fax: 850-892-9675
Sales: 850-892-5130 sales@wzep1460.com
News: Kevin Chilcutt, News Director Cell 850-333-1852

Isaac was heading directly to Walton County, but drifted to the west. Joe Preston, with Walton Emergency Management, said the county dodged the bullet as evidenced by what New Orleans is going through. He said a damage assessment is ongoing. Preston said they set politics aside and made decisions based on the safety of the citizens.


The TDC is working to open the beaches by this weekend. They are cleaning debris, putting signs back up and making sure the accesses are available and open. TDC Director Dawn Moliterno told commissioners, with the tide still high, they have not been able to get the trucks on the beach. She also said the South Walton Turtle Watch needs to do an assessment.


If you need permitting information to rebuild steps or accesses, you should call the Walton Building Department immediately. Basically you can rebuild damage, but can not replace. The Building Department will work quickly with the homeowners. Commissioner Brannon noted putting equipment on the beach, engineering and turtle nesting are all factors to be considered.


Walton Public Information says that in order to assist property owners in assessing their damage and the process on how they can move forward with repair and restoration of any damages to their property, Walton County is providing information that has been forwarded to them by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.


The information provided within this documentation does not eliminate the need for residents and property
owners to coordinate the obtaining of required permits from the Walton County Building Department. All
property owners who need to require a local county permit, or who may not be sure if they need to acquire a permit, should contact the Walton County Building Department at 850-892-8160 in Defuniak Springs, or 850-267-2084 for the location in the South Walton Annex. A direct link to the information is on the County’s website: http://www.co.walton.fl.us/DocumentCenter/View/6495

 

[lenzoe]

The beaches remain closed until further notice.

Are there any known issues with public beach accesses? The ones I have seen on photos or the beach cams haven't been touched by the storm surge. Do you know of any that may have been undermined? This makes it sound like there's significant damage.

I'm particularly interested in the Pelayo Street access and the One Seagrove Place access, but if you know of any that have been damaged I'd be interested in hearing.

 

[Kurt]

I believe the water has receded enough to get trucks out this morning. I will check on those.

I believe most accesses are OK and there is not much damage.

 

[lenzoe]

Thanks kurt.

 

[Arkiehawg]

Don't Worry Everything will be alright.....

[video=youtube_share;4cmffLlkwxc]http://youtu.be/4cmffLlkwxc[/video]

 

[Kurt]

Seagrove looks fine. Lots of seaweed. Kelp style.