-
Officials prepare for Hurricane Dorian
Putnam County braced for tropical storm-force winds early this morning as Hurricane Dorian slowly makes its way along the state’s east coast.
The county remained under a tropical storm warning as the eye of the hurricane was about 100 miles east of Jupiter at noon Tuesday. Dorian was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane Tuesday.
Tropical storm-force winds were expected to begin early this morning and will continue throughout the day, according to Rob Frye, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jacksonville.
“The track of Dorian is about the same as we’ve been advertising, just offshore, but close enough to give us some impact,” Frye said Tuesday. “Putnam County is under a tropical storm warning, and we are expecting the possibility of tropical storm-force winds after midnight or so.
“They will persist throughout the day Wednesday, probably coming to an end about 8 Wednesday night or earlier.”
Frye said Putnam County could see winds reach up to 40 to 50 mph, “possibly causing downed trees and power outages.”
Frye said 2 to 4 inches of rain is expected, with larger amounts expected locally.
“There are flooding concerns, especially in poor drainage areas,” said Frye. “People should be on the outlook.”
Putnam County and Palatka government offices are closed today, with officials scheduled to evaluate closures for the remainder of the week.
The Putnam County School District is also closed today. Superintendent Rick Surrency said the district would make a decision on the remainder of the week by Tuesday afternoon. The decision was unavailable at press time. Updates will be posted at palatkadailynews.com.
“There are a lot of variables we need to review before making that decision,” Surrency said.
Six of the schools in the district were opened as shelters Tuesday.
Putnam County residents living near the St. Johns River, canals and in low-lying areas prone to flooding were placed under a mandatory evacuation order Monday.
Putnam County Emergency Services Battalion Chief Paul Flateau said Tuesday residents in those areas continued to face flooding conditions.
“This storm still has the potential to impact our area with mainly water,” Flateau said. “Wind is still going to be a concern.”
He said water levels in the St. Johns River will continue to rise.
“Over the next 24 hours, it’s going to get higher,” Flateau said Tuesday morning. “Some areas are already experiencing higher-than-normal water levels.”
Frye said the San Mateo area is “very susceptible and there may be some flooding along the St. Johns River. Winds around lakes, especially Lake George, could see wind gusts up to 50 mph or so.”
Flateau cautioned residents against removing trees that may be near a downed power line. Residents can report storm damage at the citizen information line at 329-1904.
According to Clay Electric spokesman Justin Caudell, the utility has crews prepared to respond to power outages in their service area of Putnam County.
“We do have our own employees on standby and also have contract crews outside the state on standby,” Caudell said.
He said Clay Electric customers can report outages at clayelectric.com. Florida Power & Light customers can report outages at fpl.com.
Caudell also urged customers to make sure they know how to use generators properly.
“Members should only plug in appliances they want to use into their generator,” he said. “If they hook the generator into their main breaker, it can back feed into our distribution system and could severely injure or possibly kill line workers.”
Dorian unleashed massive flooding across the Bahamas Monday as the then-Category 4 storm slowed almost to a standstill. At least five deaths were blamed on the storm.