Tropical Storm — Coastal Dixie, Florida

2016-09-01 to 2016-09-02 · Coastal Dixie, Florida

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Hermine impacted the Florida big bend in early September with significant storm surge along the coast and strong winds inland which downed numerous trees and power lines, resulting in extended power outages in Tallahassee. The following inundation values (height above mean higher high water) were estimated along the coast. Panama City Beach: 1.71 ft, Panama City Marina: 1.60 ft, Apalachicola: 3.04 ft, Curtis Mill (US-319): 5.29 ft, Spring Creek Entrance: 5.91 ft, Town of Saint Marks: 5.08 ft, Saint Marks Lighthouse: 6.28 ft, Nutall Rise (Aucilla River): 6.07 ft, Econfina River: 7.17 ft, Spring Warrior Creek: 8.57 ft, Jabo Road (Taylor county): 7.94 ft, Keaton Beach: 7.57 ft, Steinhatchee Entrance: 7.30 ft, Shired Creek (Dixie county): 7.24 ft, Gopher River (Dixie county): 6.19 ft. In addition, storm surge was noted up the Suwannee River past the US-19 gauge at Wilcox, which is more than 20 river miles from the mouth of the river. The Wakulla River at Wakulla Springs also had its 2nd highest crest on record behind Hurricane Dennis (2005) at 7.49 ft NGVD29. There were three tornadoes confirmed, all brief EF0's in Taylor county with no damage reported from them. Rainfall generally ranged from 3-8 with minimal impacts from inland flooding. Inland wind impacts were significant. County by county impacts are as follows.

In Taylor county, 6 people were rescued from high water related to surge in Steinhatchee. There were also 5 other rescues in the county. Approximately 75 homes or businesses sutained major damage, 60 had minor damage, and 140 were affected. Public assistance damage values were listed $907,000 for the county. Additional individual assistance damage values were estimated at around $4,490,000 with $200,000 assigned to a destroyed structure, $50,000 assigned to a structure with major damage, $10,000 assigned to a structure with minor damage, and $1,000 assigned to a structure that was affected.

In Liberty county, there were sporadic power outages reported with public assistance damage values listed at $110,748.

In Franklin county, a mandatory evacuation of residents on Saint George Island occurred with the causeway being closed. Surge flooding was reported in Apalachicola, Carrabelle Beach, and Alligator Point. Approximately 27 homes or businesses were destroyed, 43 suffered major damage, 102 suffered minor damage, and 100 others were affected. Public assistance damage values were listed at $703,872. Additional individual assistance damage values were estimated at about $8,670,000 based on the numbers of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed.

In Dixie county, mandatory evacuations were ordered. There were 61 homes or businesses that were destroyed, 540 that sustained major damage, 322 that sustained minor damage, and 660 others that were affected. Public assistance damage values were listed at $3,269,599. Additional individual assistance damage values were estimated at around $43,080,000 based on the numbers of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed.

In Wakulla county, mandatory evacuations were ordered for special needs and Zone A residents. There were 133 trees down on roadways across the county and 115 power lines down. One home or business was destroyed with 4 sustaining major damage. There were an additional 43 with minor damage and 11 others affected. Approximately 14759 customers lost power in the county. Public assistance damage values were listed at $1,198,687. Additional individual assistance damage values were estimated at around $841,000 based on the numbers of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed.

In Madison and Jefferson counties, there were numerous trees and power lines blown down. Public assistance damage values were listed at $722,908 for Madison county and $681,697 for Jefferson county.

In Leon county, there were numerous trees and power lines blown down across the county and city of Tallahassee. There were 45 homes or businesses destroyed, 187 suffered major damage, 259 suffered minor damage, and 238 were affected. An estimated 80 percent of the city of Tallahassee lost power with roughly 145,000 homes or businesses without power at the peak of the outage. On day 6 of the power outage, there were still 3685 residents without power. The peak wind gust measured in the county was 64 mph at the FSU campus, but some gusts were not recorded due to the widespread power outages, and the actual peak gust was likely higher than that. Public assistance damage values were listed at $8,771,036. Additional individual assistance damage values were estimated at about $21,200,000 based on the numbers of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 657386. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.