Tornadoes cause damage in SoWal area 1/9/24

[James Bentwood]

A sprawling storm hit the South with tornado warnings and high winds that blew roofs off homes, flipped over campers and tossed about furniture in Florida on Tuesday. Another storm brought cities across the Midwest to a standstill with more than half a foot of snow, stranding people on highways as it headed to the Northeast.

At least three deaths in the South were attributed to the storm, where 55 mph winds and hail moved through the Florida Panhandle and into parts of Alabama and Georgia by sunrise Tuesday, along with at least several reports of radar-confirmed tornadoes, the National Weather Service said. A wind gust of 106 mph was recorded before dawn near the coast in Walton County, Florida.

Thousands in Walton County were without power and about a thousand still out today.

The National Weather Service and Walton County officials investigate possible tornado.

The National Weather Service and Walton County officials are looking into a possible tornado that affected the Dune Allen area on Tuesday morning.

www.yahoo.com

Collin Bestor, Northwest Florida Daily News

SANTA ROSA BEACH — The National Weather Service in Tallahassee and Walton County officials are investigating damage caused in the Dune Allen area by a possible tornado Tuesday morning.

Tree damage caused by high winds was blocking Chat Holley Road between County Road 393 and U.S. 331 S. Homes in that area suffered significant structural damage.

30A is closed because of damage sustained from an possible tornado that touched down between Allen Loop Drive and County Road 393 in Santa Rosa Beach.

The possible tornado traveled northeast across southern Walton County to the eastern side of Freeport. It then moved across Red Bay into Holmes County.


As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, no injuries had been reported to emergency officials.

Utility crews are cleaning up storm damage caused by a possible tornado that struck an area to the east of Dune Allen on Tuesday morning.

 

[James Bentwood]

 

[James Bentwood]

 

[James Bentwood]

 

[Jane]

 

[bob1]

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.

 

[leeboy]

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.

 

[ShallowsNole]

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...

 

[Matt J]

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.

 

[Will B]

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...