As Tropical Storm Debby stalled in the Gulf of Mexico off the Coast of Florida it was business as usual in our area. No one was much concerned about the storm as we have become complacent in Storms and Hurricanes in our area of North Florida. I live in a rural farming area 20 miles from Live Oak and 15 miles from the town of Mayo. The following are my observations.
Saturday June 23rd – constant rain all day – all roads passable
Sunday June 24th – constant rain all day – all roads passable
Monday June 25th – constant very heavy rain – roads passable, drainage ditches filling with water, water puddles forming on road. Rain coming down so hard in the evening very hard to see with wipers full on and defroster on. Observation that it was hard to tell at night just how much water was on the road. I can now see how someone could drive into flood waters unaware due to limited depth perception due to the heavy rain and limited visibility. Late night we had hard rain and thunder and lightening of which I have not observed here before. One lightening strike that was 3miles away the blast of the strike shook my house. I have survived high hurricane winds in this area before but not a lightening strike as that one; I can imagine how it was at the point of impact.
Tuesday June 26th – A hard rain continues to around noon, went to local grocery store. Upon trip to return home a distance of 4 miles local roads becoming flooded and rain became extremely hard downpour. I arrived at home to find out my wife a LPN at a Health Care Facility had been requested to report for work due to the extreme weather conditions as personnel were already reporting they could not get to work due to flooded out roads. City of Live Oak was Flooded at this time.
The moral of this story is this; you need to always know alternate ways home from work and to work and also for evacuation routes. I knew the roads my wife did not (was never interested until this wake up call) her normal way to work was blocked in many directions. I advised and provide instructions of which roads to take and due to the nature of the falling rain that she would have to leave immediately. A normal commute of 15 minutes took almost an hour and she described the trip as very challenging. If she had delayed in leaving when I told her to go she would not have been able leave due to our road became flooded and impassable. 1st time I have seen this since I located here in 1999. This was a wake up call for me. “Do not count on roads that have never flooded not to flood”.
Wednesday 27th – Rain ceased and Sun came out some water receding but still a lot of road closures due to flood waters, washed out roads. If I needed to get to the Town of Live Oak I would not be able to do so. Today I counted on a list of over 100 road locations impassable or barricaded. My road by afternoon had receded enough for local alternate traffic to use.
What did I learn from all of this – do not count on local routes and or your planned alternate routes to be available or being told they never flooded before. As stated on this blog in other’s letters have a local map handy showing all roads including the dirt roads some of which were passable only by having a 4×4 during this extreme weather. Learn all alternate routes and drive them from home to work and back to home and also your evacuation routes. That way you will know them before hand and can adjust due to road conditions.
I have kept a list of all road closures published to mark on my map in order to find other alternate routes to get to my destination for the future and which roads to avoid. Also with this amount of rain you will find any leaks you may have in your dwelling and what areas of the roof to protect for the future. Water will find a way in from the unlikely places, example rain hard enough to bounce off the roof and come back down the furnace vent and the stove exhaust fan. This happened even though the vent pipes have rain caps.
I had planned to have a rain barrel system in place, and now whish that I had completed that project due to the amount of rainfall we received. I could have had emergency water supply to last for weeks.
Due to the amount of rain there is boil water advisory now in affect for all of Suwannee County including private wells. Learn on this blog how to purify water for drinking and cooking, I was already prepared in having clean drinking water on hand.
My observation of interest was today when a Medevac Helicopter landed in the neighbor’s field across the road. In order transport someone. There is no way for EMT services to have driven to our area and take you to the local hospital via ambulance. It must have been a real serious condition as the helicopter flew off in the direction of Gainesville where our major medical facilities are located.
I also observed a SUV on my road carrying a kayak on the roof. It would be nice to have a boat of some type even an inflatable one just in case of an emergency. Air boats in Live Oak were put to use to evacuate people from flooded areas to emergency shelters.
As I complete writing this letter water on some of the roadways are receding but I can still not get to the Town of Live Oak but other services are located in my area; i.e., gas, food, water. I do not need it but it is available.
Other observations – people ignored highway barricades and drove around them and ended up needing rescued from flood waters. Note if the sign says flooded it means “Flooded”.
Just because you have a 4×4 does not mean you can drive faster than anyone else in extreme weather and or fording through flood waters. One 4×4 owner posted that to avoid a certain road because he tried to cross it but had to back out. If you are intent in fording high water you need to be experienced in doing so and your vehicle needs to be prepped for fording abilities. Most SUVs, Trucks are not equipped or have the experience to do this.
I also learned that I needed to have sand bags on hand and I know it has been stated before on here but until you realize this is something you really need to have on hand you do not think about it. I did not need them but I can see where I may need them in the future.
Also without communications or access to the Internet I would have had a hard time in finding out which roads were closed in my area.
If you are not in immediate danger of flooding stay in your home and don’t go out driving to sight see the flood damage. Many found out the hard way when they had to be rescued.
Sinkholes can happen in Florida but rare for our area yet there was three sinkholes in Live Oak and surrounding area. When they occur it is with frightening speed.
I will close in thanking JWR for his site and to the ones that have had letters posted that contained valuable information to me. I was better prepared than most but learned a lesson from this storm. – Wayne of North Florida
Lessons From Tropical Storm Debby
