Morning Update on Leon County’s Recovery Activities Following Hurricane Michael for October 13

Morning Update on Leon County’s Recovery Activities

Following Hurricane Michael for October 13

 

Following is an update on Hurricane Michael response and recover activities as of Saturday morning, October 13, 2018.

Shelter Status:

As of this morning, 24 citizens are still sheltered at Sail High School and 70 citizens remain in the special needs shelter at Florida High. We continue working to demobilize the Sail High School risk shelter as quickly as possible and will transition shelterees to a host shelter by noon on Sunday. Our partners continue to provide meals and water to shelterees at Sail in the meantime. Florida State University Schools has allowed the special needs shelter to continue operating as a special needs shelter based on the current need, so Florida Department of Health will not be transitioning to another facility at this time.

Public Safety:

We have had no loss of life directly related to the storm.  Leon County EMS has returned to normal staffing as call volumes have returned to normal. EMS staff remains stationed at the special needs shelter 24/7 to assist with any medical needs that may arise.  

Road Clearing:

As previously reported, there are extensive downed trees blocking virtually all of our major roadways in the County. Public Works remains fully activated with 130 personnel working in Alpha and Bravo shifts to reopen blocked roads as late as it is safe to do so. Leon County Public Works has 15 crews in the field, supplemented by 7 additional contracted crews. Working around the clock, Leon County Public Works has made significant progress by clearing 581 blocked roads since the winds died down late Wednesday evening. By midday today, all major and arterial County roads will be passable by car. Notably, Centerville was cleared just minutes ago, and operations continue along Bannerman Road and Meridian Road. In addition, dedicated Public Works crews are working to clear school entrances and exits and bus routes in the unincorporated area. Cut and toss operations along the County’s main corridors are anticipated to be completed by mid-day today, and road clearing will continue on collector roads and neighborhoods throughout the weekend.

Debris Removal:

We have activated our primary debris collection contractor who arrived yesterday with resources to begin collecting residential debris. Storm-related debris collection in the unincorporated areas of Leon County will begin today and will continue until all storm-related debris is picked up. Weekend debris removal efforts will focus on the County’s main corridors, schools, and school bus stops in the unincorporated areas. Starting Monday, October 15, a map of debris collection activities and an update on operations will be available daily at: www.LeonCountyFL.gov/EI/Debris.

As citizens begin their cleanup, please remember the following tips:

• All debris for collection should be placed curbside between the sidewalk or property line and the curb.
• When possible, leave vegetative debris loose and unbagged at the curb.
• Debris should be separated at the curb from vegetative, construction and demolition, appliances and white goods and electronics, and household hazardous waste.
• Be careful and safe when moving large, bulky storm-related debris to the curb.
• Debris removal trucks will not pick up household garbage; Waste Pro will continue to collect trash and recycling as usual on an adjusted schedule.
• Do not stack or lean debris against sprinkler heads, meters, poles, trees, backflows, and other structures.

 

For further information on how best to organize debris and how to safely place materials at the curb, please review the included debris disposal guide .

For more information, visit www.LeonCountyFL.gov/SolidWaste or call Leon County Solid Waste Management at (850) 606-1800 during normal business hours. During disaster recovery, call the Citizens Information Line at (850) 606-3700.

Solid Waste:

As Leon County residents continue to clean up their properties following Hurricane Michael, Leon County has extended the free-of-charge period for both the Solid Waste Management Facility and the Rural Waste Service Centers. The facilities will be open their normal hours will remain free of charge until Sunday, October 21. Hours of operation will be as follows:

• The Solid Waste Management Facility (7550 Apalachee Parkway) will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 AM to 5 PM
• The Rural Waste Service Centers will be open Fridays from 9 AM to 6 PM, and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 AM to 5 PM at the following locations:

o    Woodville, 549 Henry Jones Road

o    Fort Braden, 2485 East Joe Thomas Road

o    Miccosukee, 13051 Miccosukee Road

 Also, Leon County and the City of Tallahassee are resuming residential and commercial garbage collection services today. Following is the updated schedule for solid waste collection: 

• Wednesday customers were collected on Friday, October 12
• Thursday customers will be collected on Saturday, October 13
• Friday customers will be collected on Sunday, October 14
• Starting Monday, October 15, all customers will receive service during their regularly scheduled service

Power Restoration as of 11:00 a.m.:

Immediately following the storm, City of Tallahassee Utilities and Talquin Electric both reported outages to more than of 90% of their customers in Leon County. Following are the latest reports of outages at this time:

• City of Tallahassee: 42,180 outages (34% out)
• Talquin Electric: 14,529 outages (59% out)
• Duke Energy: 0 outages

Both utilities incurred significant damage to all components of their electric grid (transmission lines, substations, and distribution circuits) from the storm and are working to repair all systems as quickly as possible with extensive support from mutual aid agencies. All of the City’s 20 substations and 32 of its 34 major transmission lines are back in service. The City has announced a goal to restore 90% of its customers by the end of this weekend.

98% of all traffic signals are in normal operation at this time including all critical intersections.

Points of Distribution and Feeding Operations:

As we advised previously, we have established 10 points of distribution throughout the community that will be operating today and tomorrow from 9 AM to 5 PM, managed and staffed by Leon County and the City of Tallahassee, complemented by the Florida National Guard. Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) and bottled water will be available at the following locations: 

• Ft. Braden Community Center – 16387 Blountstown Highway
• J. Lewis Hall Sr., Woodville Park – 1492 J. Lewis Hall Sr. Lane
• Apalachee Regional Park – 7550 Apalachee Parkway
• Fire Station #4 – 2899 West Pensacola Street
• Fire Station #1 – 327 North Adams Street
• Fire Station #2 – 2805 Sharer Road
• Fred George Park – 4830 Fred George Road (currently water only)
• Miccosukee (Concord School) – 15011 Cromartie Road (currently water only)
• Fire Station #3 – 3005 South Monroe Street (currently water only)
• Fire Station #15 – 1445 Bannerman Road (currently water only)

Additionally, the Salvation Army will serve lunch at noon and dinner at 5 PM today at the following locations:

• Lawrence-Gregory Community Center - 1115 Dade St.
• Friendship Primitive Baptist - 700 Putnam Dr.
• Woodville Branch Library - 8000 Old Woodville Rd.
• Ft. Braden Community Park – 15100 Blountstown Hwy

Comfort Stations:

The County has opened the Main Library as a comfort station and served over 1,000 citizens during its first day of operation yesterday. We have distributed an enormous amount of food and water already, and people are in generally good spirits and highly appreciative of the County’s efforts.  The comfort station will continue to operate from 9 AM to 7 PM today and tomorrow and will provide air conditioning, water, a place to charge mobile devices, and computer access. We have also established a Community Recovery Center at the comfort station for local community partners to assist citizens through the recovery process, and a representative from 2-1-1 Big Bend will also be on site to assist citizens in person. We are welcoming all visitors to the comfort station regardless of whether they have a library card or are a Leon County resident.   

The City has also opened a comfort station at Trousdell Aquatics Center which will be open from 9 AM to 9 PM each day, and additional comfort stations will be open today at the following locations:

• Jack McLean Community Center – 700 Paul Russell Road
• Lawrence Gregory Community Center – 1115 Dade Street
• Tallahassee Senior Center – 1400 N. Monroe Street

 Damage Assessments:

Our County/City damage assessment teams covered more than 50% of the county yesterday and are in the field again today conducting assessments to support a request for federal assistance under FEMA’s Individual Assistance program. Our local damage assessment teams are collecting information on damage to their homes which will support our request for this federal assistance, and we continue to encourage citizens through our public information efforts to report damage through our online damage assessment tool on the Emergency Information Portal (EIP). We are already receiving damage assessment information from our teams in the field and from citizens’ reports, which is being automatically uploaded into our GIS system in order to help expedite follow-up inspections that will be conducted by the state in the coming weeks. To self-report, visit: http://tlcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/GeoForm/index.html?appid=6f338e584b9349fb889e77c8fe10b0b3

Following Hurricane Michael, we expect that the President will issue a “major disaster” declaration for the state of Florida, which provides a wide range of federal assistance programs, including assistance for individuals and households. To initiate this assistance, the Governor must submit a request to the president within 30 days of the incident, which will specify the types of assistance requested for each affected county. Should Individual Assistance be authorized for Leon County, a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center will be opened in the County, with phone numbers and websites for citizens to contact a FEMA representative and file for federal assistance. If Individual Assistance is authorized for Leon County, we will be coordinating a comprehensive public information campaign with FEMA, as we did following Hurricane Hermine.

Business Status:

OEV staff remains in the EOC, actively working with local and statewide businesses to coordinate and share information.  We have developed a reporting tool, posted to the Office of Economic Vitality website and linked through from our EIP, for citizens to view and report the status of retail suppliers and gas stations throughout the County. Businesses continue to quickly reopen; at this time, several big box and small retail stores, grocers, home improvement centers, pharmacies, restaurants, and gas stations have reopened. To view this report, visit: http://oevforbusiness.org/BusinessStatus/.

Cellular Service:

Based on a conference call that OEV staff had with the state earlier today, we are aware that there are still extensive cellular outages in the community, particularly in northeast Leon County. The State EOC continues coordinating with cellular providers to restore service to areas affected by outages as quickly as possible, and our staff in the EOC continues to actively coordinate with the State EOC as well as our telecommunications and mobile providers to find any available solutions to help restore temporary service and determine providers’ anticipated timelines for full service restoration.

County Facilities:

Facilities staff conducted checks of all County facilities yesterday and reported no damage. Most County facilities remain without power at this time. Accordingly, County offices will re-open on Monday, October 15. As you know, the Main Library has become a hub of activity operating as a comfort station, with many citizens arriving to receive water, information to assist in the recovery process, as well as to utilize library resources. At this time, most branch library locations remain without power; accordingly, the branch libraries will remain closed today and staff resources from the branch libraries will be redirected to assist with the Main Library comfort station and other recovery operations as needed. Branch libraries will reopen on Tuesday, October 16 (as they are normally closed on Sundays and Mondays).

Permit Fee Waiver:

To help the community rebuild after Hurricane Michael, Leon County will waive building permit fees for storm-related repairs. Citizens and contractors may begin storm related repairs immediately and apply for the necessary permits afterwards and removal of storm-damaged trees. Starting Tuesday, October 16, those interested in the waiver should contact Leon County Development Support and Environmental Management at (850) 606-1300 / www.LeonPermits.org. To be eligible for the waiver, the person performing the work must be the homeowner or a licensed contractor.

EOC Status:

Our EOC remains fully activated during today’s daytime shift. Starting tonight, we will begin partial activation at the EOC for overnight shifts with representatives from all essential agencies until operations are complete. We are also concluding regular conference calls this morning as our operations transition from immediate response to long-term community recovery, although the EOC continues to serve as the central hub of coordination for all organizations and agencies involved in continuing operations. As you know from this and earlier updates, our personnel both in the EOC and in the field are fully committed and dedicated to ensuring a complete and thorough response.