Helene Aftermath.
Today’s article is going to be a little off topic because of the last 4-5 days before, during, and after the hurricane.
I would like to say I hope everyone was safe and secure during the storm. I had a different vantage point through all this: I am part of the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Reserve and have been a volunteer for them for about 18 years. During that time I have been through a few bad storms and from my point of view it was a different experience than most of the population.
As a first responder I get to see the details that others miss because of the training and first hand knowledge of the situation.
So let’s look at Helene. Most of last week and a little earlier the National Weather Service kept telling us Floridians that something big might be headed our way and it could be a Category 1-2 hurricane. So we kept a close watch on it from our Emergency Operations Center where staff would relay to the department and all the deputies where and possibly when this storm might hit and if Wakulla County was in the direct path or not.
Fast forward to Wednesday and they had a pretty good idea when and if we were in the direct path of the storm. The county commissioners gave a mandatory evacuation order for the whole of Wakulla County then 10 minutes later the WCSO sent out the same order and everyone should be gone by Thursday at 8 a.m. This has never happened before so it became real for many of us including me.
So I sent my family to relatives home in north Georgia until the storm was over. I worked for about 12 hours on Wednesday going door-to-door along the coastal parts from St. Marks to Panacea to make sure everyone leaves because of the potential 20-foot storm surge. There were all the SROs, Reserves, Fire companies, and others going to find out who was going to stay and get their names and how many.
Thursday I was stationed in Panacea until late afternoon to make sure the folks that came there to look at the water coming in were residents and not any looters taking advantage of the storm. Once our recall came in my group hunkered down for the brunt of the storm at Riversink Elementary School until the storm had passed enough to go out and survey the flooding and damage.
There were trees and powerlines down all over the county. We where very fortunate to not get a head-on impact of the Category 4 although Taylor County was not as fortunate, we where very blessed. The hurricane is not over and more possible storms are forming as of this writing.
Please just because we where fortunate this time doesn’t mean we might not be hit by the next storm. When the evacuation order is given please pay attention to it.
Stay safe.
Russell Miller NAUI #59999
