Tropical Storm — Coastal Wakulla, Florida

2017-09-10 to 2017-09-11 · Coastal Wakulla, Florida

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Irma brought numerous impacts to the Florida Big Bend, southwest Georgia and southeast Alabama including widespread downed trees and power lines, roads blocked by trees, power outages, and trees on homes. Two people died during the event - one due to a car crash (Liberty County, FL) and another that had a heart attack (Worth County, GA). Two indirect deaths also occurred due to carbon monoxide from a generator (Taylor County, FL). While many counties across the Florida Big Bend and southwest Georgia were impacted, the greatest impacts were across the eastern portion of the area near the I-75 corridor. There were over 6.5 million customers without power in Florida, over 930,000 customers without power in Georgia, and over 45,000 customers without power in Alabama. Total damage cost for each county was estimated when figures were not available.

Dixie county experienced trees and power lines down across the county. Roughly 40 to 50 homes sustained major damage with 55 suffering minor damage.

Leon county experienced tropical storm force wind gusts for approximately 8 hours. The highest wind gust recorded was 55 mph at the Tallahassee International Airport. The highest recorded sustained wind was 43 mph at the FSU WeatherSTEM site. Numerous trees and power lines were downed across the county. At the peak, approximately 70,000 customers were without power. There were 200 obstructions cleared from roadways. There were 88 homes that sustained some level of damage with one house destroyed, 4 sustaining major damage, and 29 sustaining minor damage. There were 11 shelters that hosted 3,000 people including local residents and evacuees from other parts of the state. FSU, FAMU, and TCC were closed for 6 days. County public schools were closed for 4 days.

In Taylor county, damage was primarily to trees and power lines with a few trees on houses causing damage. Three homes sustained major damage and two homes sustained minor damage. There were 10,941 power outages with some not restored for 6 days. There were blow out tides but no surge flooding. Two indirect fatalities occurred due to carbon monoxide from a generator.

In Washington county, there were a few trees and power lines downed. One tree blocked traffic on I-10 at mile marker 124.

In Liberty county, there were downed trees and power lines, but minimal to no damage to structures. There were 250 residents housed in shelters. Five car crashes during the event resulted in one fatality.

In Wakulla county, U.S. Highway 98 was blocked from SR267 to SR363 because of downed trees. A total of 98 trees were felled with 50 of those entangled in lines. All 98 downed trees were blocking roadways or presented a danger to traffic on roadways. Three trees fell on structures and two on vehicles. There were 8700 power outages and 317 evacuated to shelters. There were 10 homes damaged in total with 6 having major damage and 1 destroyed.

In Lafayette county, there were numerous trees and power lines down across the county with extensive damage to transmission and feeder lines resulting in power loss to 100 percent of county residents and businesses. Two residential structures were destroyed with three others sustaining major damage and nine sustaining minor damage.

In Madison county, trees and power lines were down across the county, two of which blocked traffic on I-10 at mile marker 253 and 246. Two roofs were damaged due to trees. A total of 12 homes were damaged, 3 of which sustained major damage.

In Jackson county, numerous trees and power lines were blown down and blocking roads. Two homes sustained major damage from falling trees.

In Bay county, 55 people were sheltered. Sporadic power outages occurred due to downed trees. Minor damage was sustained to one county fire station.

In Calhoun county, downed trees and power lines occurred with sporadic power outages, but there were no road closures or major structural damage reported.

In Franklin county, there were several trees downed with some damaging homes along with several power outages.

In Jefferson county, there were several trees downed with one falling on a home and three on cars. Barns, fences, and farms were damaged.

In Holmes county, there were a few trees and power lines downed. There were 35 evacuees from outside the county that were housed in shelters.

In Gulf county, a few trees and power lines were down across the county with around 2,000 people without power.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 719621. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.