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MARY KAYE WELLS/Palatka Daily News. Interlachen Public Works Department employees Shelton Griffis (left) and Mike Cemer (right) clean the town's storm drains Tuesday in preparation for Hurricane Idalia.
Putnam County officials recommended evacuation for numerous areas of the county Tuesday evening in light of Hurricane Idalia’s strengthening.
They recommended residents who live in mobile homes, older structures and low-lying, flood-prone areas to evacuate. During an update at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sheriff Gator DeLoach said residents of Hawthorne, Johnson, Melrose and the surrounding areas could see winds of up to 73 mph. He also cautioned people in Welaka, Fruitland, Georgetown and nearby areas to be prepared for hurricane damage.
“Folks, I don’t know how else to say this. But it’s very disheartening and, quite frankly, downright disturbing, the update we just got,” DeLoach said.
Deputy County Administrator J.R. Grimes, who oversees the county’s Emergency Management operations, said residents could see tropical storm-force winds beginning Tuesday night and continuing through Wednesday.
The following shelters opened at 5 p.m. Tuesday:
- Jenkins Elementary, 251 County Road 315 in Interlachen.
- Ochwilla Elementary, which is pet-friendly, 299 State Road 21 in Hawthorne.
- Kelley Smith Elementary, which is for people with special needs, 141 Kelley Smith School Road in Palatka.
- Browning-Pearce Elementary, 100 Bear Blvd. in San Mateo.
- Middleton-Burney Elementary, 1020 Huntington Road in Crescent City.
- Q.I. Roberts Junior-Senior High School, 901 State Road 100 in Florahome.
On Monday, school district officials chose not to open Q.I. Roberts as a shelter, but that decision changed Tuesday as the potential storm impact increased.
People who have questions about storm operations in Putnam County can call the Emergency Operations Center at 386-329-1904 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
By Tuesday afternoon, Putnam County, the Palatka City Commission, the
Interlachen Town Council, the Welaka Town Council and the Crescent City Commission declared states of emergency.
On Tuesday, Board of County Commissioners Chairman Terry Turner asked residents to keep up with the latest Idalia updates and heed warnings from local officials.
Welaka Mayor Jamie Watts expressed concerns about people’s yard debris turning into projectiles that could be picked up by storm winds.
“It can cause damage,” he said during an emergency meeting Tuesday. “We’re concerned about trees being down, and we’re concerned about power outages.”
As of 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Clay Electric Cooperative’s outage map reported none of its 22,272 residential and business customers in Putnam County were without power. At the same time, Florida Power & Light reported no outages among its 20,729 Putnam County customers.
“Please understand that this has the potential to be a very serious weather event,” Turner said.
People are encouraged to frequent the following websites as the storm progresses: