Sand in the Coffee, Vol. 125: staying put, and the first morning after
The wind dropping is not the all-clear. Remember that sentence; it’s the whole column.
This is a real storm, so this is the calm, practical column. A Hurricane Warning and a Storm Surge Warning remain in effect for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, according to NorthEscambia. I won’t give you a track, a wind speed or a timeline. Those come from the National Hurricane Center at nhc.noaa.gov and your county’s emergency management office, not from a columnist.
if you’re in a zone that was ordered out
Escambia County ordered evacuations for Zones A and B, and the order named Perdido Key. If that’s you and you’re still there, the right move is to go, per the county. The rest of this is for people who are somewhere safe and sturdy: inland, out of the surge zones, or sheltered.
while it passes
- Stay inside, away from windows. A small interior room with no glass is the usual advice.
- Don’t go out in the eye. If it goes quiet, that is not the end. The other side of the storm is still coming.
- Charge everything first, then use the phone sparingly. Texts get through when calls don’t.
- Keep a flashlight and batteries at hand. Skip candles.
- Don’t run a generator indoors, in a garage, or near a window. Carbon monoxide kills people after storms every year.
the first morning after
- Don’t drive through water. You can’t tell how deep it is or whether the road is still under it. Turn around.
- Assume every downed line is live. Stay well back and report it to the utility.
- Watch for the surge you can’t see. Standing water can hide debris, holes and washed-out road edges.
- Check on a neighbor, especially anyone older or alone, before you do anything else.
- Take photos before you clean up. Insurance wants the damage as you found it.
if you left and want to come back
Wait for the official word that your area is open, and don’t treat the first dry morning as one. Roads, bridges and power can be closed after the weather is gone. Call your rental or front desk before you load the car. Don’t plan on a normal checkout or a normal arrival.
where to look
Keep /beach-today/ open for flags and conditions as they change. Surf stays dangerous long after the weather passes, so check the flags before you assume anything. Stay off the sand and out of the water until the flags and the local authorities say otherwise.
The Gulf will be there when this is over, rearranged and a little embarrassed. Be patient, keep your distance from anything that looks undamaged but isn’t, and come back when it’s actually safe.
— Chris
P.S. If you run a place on the Key or in Orange Beach and it’s on this site, it’s yours to claim — free, always: /submit/claim/
