STAY OFF THE ROADS!; CURFEWS TONIGHT; HORRENDOUS DAMAGE… The damage from Hurricane Isaias is severe across portions of south Alabama and northwest Florida. Tree damage is, quite frankly, horrendous, from Conecuh, Escambia (AL), and Covington counties all the way down to the northwest Florida coast. There are too many communities for me to name that have extensive damage. I have been inundated with messages this morning by people asking what they can do to help. The photo in the post is from Belleville Avenue near T.R. Miller High School earlier this morning when I realized we were boxed in by trees and power lines.
PLEASE STAY OFF THE ROADS, FOR NOW… I live in my hometown of Brewton, Alabama in Escambia County, where my company is also based. We took a hard, direct hit from Hurricane Isaias last night. The damage in Brewton is just as bad if not worse than what happened in Hurricane Ivan in 2004. I just spoke with the Mayor of Brewton, Frank Nalty, and Police Chief Matt Jordan. Both are emphasizing that help is appreciated but you can’t get into or out of Brewton right now from the outside world by road due to the severe tree damage. Apparently Alabama Highway 41 from Brewton to I-65 is the first road being cleared today.
CURFEW TONIGHT… Brewton Police Chief Matt Jordan asked me to pass along that there is a citywide curfew starting tonight at 7PM. This is due to the extensive tree and power line damage. He also says that no one, other than first responders, should be on the roadways in vehicles or walking around as there are hundreds of dangerous power lines down.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP… If you’re asking what you can do to help, for now, please stay home until the power line situation is better assessed. Officials and power crews need to make sure the area is safe BEFORE people start coming to northwest Florida and south Alabama to help.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE… I am *extremely* fortunate that our studio/my home has a backup generator and thankfully, never lost terrestrial internet service. My cell phone, however, has no service. I am okay, my family and my friends are okay, but the damage is severe. I have at least 4 family members in the greater Brewton area with trees on or in their houses this morning. Property can be replaced, people cannot. Thankful my folks are okay! Somehow, despite being surrounded by trees, my studio/home is unscathed. I have multiple large trees down in my yard and numerous big tree limbs down, but none on my studio/home, thankfully.
OTHER COMMUNITIES GOT HIT HARD TOO… I am aware that MANY, many other communities across northwest Florida and south Alabama got hit extremely hard last night, but a lot of these communities aren’t able to get much communication in or out. I suspect the photos and videos we see in the days ahead will reveal even more damage than what is already known.
WEATHER UPDATE… The weather hazards are over locally for a while. No weather-related hazards are expected across south Alabama or northwest Florida for at least the next week. Clouds are hanging tough today. High temperatures will generally be in the mid 70s. Tomorrow, sunshine returns with highs in the 80s. Full sunshine is expected Monday through Friday with highs in the upper 80s and near 90°.
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING… Thank you to everyone who watched our RedZone Weather coverage over the last week ahead of Hurricane Isaias. I appreciate you choosing us for your weather information needs. It is the honor and privilege of my life to serve south Alabama and northwest Florida on good weather days, and more importantly, on bad weather days like we had yesterday into last night. We WILL get through the recovery process and be better because of it on the other side of it.
I will do my best to post updates in the days ahead, but we will be running limited operations so I can assist with recovery efforts.
Please stay off the roads in the affected communities. Be safe!
