Final Hurricane Michael Update

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This will be the last Hurricane Michael update from Escambia County unless there are any major changes.


Essential Information

• Escambia County Emergency Operations Center is activated at a Level 3 (monitoring), or typical daily operations. 
• The Citizen Information Line is closed.
• Escambia County is assisting 12 evacuees from the east.
• We are inventorying our staff and assets to determine if any resources can be deployed to the east if necessary to assist those impacted by Hurricane Michael.
• The National Humane Society is coming to take adoptable animals from the Escambia County Animal Shelter in order to make room to house animals coming with evacuees from the east.
• Escambia County is providing mutual aid to Bay County to provide by sending two ambulance crews, two engine companies (one volunteer, one career) with one Zodiac, in addition to helping to staff a incident management team. 
  
  

• A high risk of rip currents and high surf advisory are in effect for the northern Gulf Coast through at least Friday. Red flags are flying on Pensacola Beach and are expected through today. Red flags represent high surf and/or dangerous currents, and there is no swimming or wading in the Gulf of Mexico in red flag conditions. Surf heights are expected to increase to 10-15 feet through Wednesday.
• The tolls on the Bob Sikes Bridge have been lifted by the governor until further notice. 

• The evacuation ordered for Zone A on Tuesday, Oct. 9  has been lifted as of 4 p.m. today, Wednesday, Oct. 10.

Schools

• Escambia County School District: Escambia County schools will resume regular schedules on Thursday, Oct. 11, with all district offices resuming normal work hours. The Special School Board Workshop slated for 3 p.m., on Thursday, Oct. 11 will also occur as previously advertised.
• University of West Florida: Classes and normal business operations on the University of West Florida Pensacola campus will resume at 7:59 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11. The UWF Emerald Coast location will remain closed on Thursday, Oct. 11. This includes all classes, events, and activities at this location. Florida Virtual Campus Tallahassee location will remain closed on Thursday, Oct. 11 and is scheduled to reopen on Friday, Oct. 12 at 8 a.m. Florida Virtual Campus Gainesville remains open.
• Pensacola State College will resume normal operations hours on Thursday, Oct. 11.
• Pensacola Christian Academy and Pensacola Christian College classes will resume on Thursday, Oct. 11.

Trash Service

• ECUA Residential and Commercial sanitation services in Escambia County will resume Thursday, Oct. 11. Wednesday’s collections will be made on Thursday, Thursday’s collections will be made on Friday, and Friday’s collections will be made on Saturday. Updates will be posted to the ECUA website and released to local media as necessary, should conditions change.

Closures/Openings

• State offices will be closed through Thursday in the 35 counties included in Gov. Scott’s emergency order, which includes Escambia County.
• All Escambia County offices will be resume regular business hours Thursday, Oct. 11.  
• Pensacola Energy’s Customer Service Center is closed until Thursday, Oct. 11. For natural gas emergencies, please call 474-5300. 
• All offices of the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller will resume regular business hours Thursday, Oct. 11. 
• All offices of the Escambia County Tax Collector will resume regular business hours Thursday, Oct. 11.
• First Judicial Circuit: The courts in Escambia County will resume regular business hours Thursday, Oct. 11.
• The Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office will resume regular business hours Thursday, Oct. 11. Pursuant to a directive by the Florida Secretary of State, the voter registration deadline for the Nov. 6 General Election in Escambia County will be extended until the day the office reopens.
• Port of Pensacola has been placed at Port Condition ZULU by the United States Coast Guard, Captain of the Port, Mobile Area. Under Condition ZULU, the port and all surrounding navigable waterways are closed to all vessel traffic and all port and vessel operations are suspended until further notice.
• All offices of the Florida Department of Health in Escambia Count are scheduled to reopen on Thursday, Oct. 11 at their regular time.
• ECAT will resume regular service operations and routes Thursday, Oct. 11. 

Military 

• Naval Air Station Pensacola, Corry Station and Saufley Field  will resume normal operations on Thursday, Oct. 11.

Power Outages

• Please do not call 9-1-1 to report power outages. Gulf Power knows when your power is out. You can track outages on their outage map from your smartphone on the Gulf Power Outage Map or report power outages online here.
• Power outages for Escambia River Cooperative Inc. can be reported to 1-877-OUT-EREC or 1-877-688-3732. View the EREC Outage Map for updated power outage information. Never touch a fallen power line and assume all wires on the ground are electrically charged.

Road Closures

• Highway 399 (J. Earle Bowden Way) is closed between Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach is closed.
• Online road closure resources:
  • Check for Escambia County road closures 24/7 at www.myescambia.com/roadissuesmap.
  • City of Pensacola road closures can be viewed here.
  • For the latest closures and updates, travelers can access Florida's 511 service from cell phones, landlines and online at www.FL511.com.

• FDOT has suspended interstate and highway maintenance and construction indefinitely to allow for an increase in traffic as motorists evacuate from the northwest Florida coastline area. Presently, no bridges are closed due to the storm and bridge inspection crews are on standby for any potential inspections. Once conditions improve, crews will go back to working around the clock to clear all roadways.

Recreational Areas

• The Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier, Bob Sikes Bridge Fishing Pier and Pensacola Bay Fishing Bridge are closed.
• Gulf Islands National Seashore officials have closed all areas of the national seashore in Florida due to Hurricane Michael.

Disaster Fund

• Gov. Rick Scott activated the Florida Disaster Fund to support individuals who are impacted by Hurricane Michael. The Florida Disaster Fund helps provide financial support to Florida’s communities in times of disaster. To make a contribution, please visit www.FloridaDisasterFund.org or text DISASTER to 20222 to make a one-time donation of $10.
•  In partnership with the public sector, private sector and other non-governmental organizations, the Florida Disaster Fund supports response and recovery activities. Donations to the Florida Disaster Fund are made to the Volunteer Florida Foundation, 501(c)(3) charitable organization and are tax deductible.
• Donations may be made by credit card on the secure website at www.floridadisasterfund.org or by check to the below address. Checks should be made payable to the Volunteer Florida Foundation and should include “Florida Disaster Fund” in the memo line.
  

  Volunteer Florida Foundation
  Attention: Florida Disaster Fund
  3800 Esplanade Way, Suite 180
  Tallahassee, FL 32311

• For additional questions about the Florida Disaster Fund, please contact info@volunteerflorida.org or call 850-414-7400.

• As the state’s lead agency for coordinating volunteers and donations before, during and after disasters, Volunteer Florida has established resources for individuals and groups who would like to support Floridians affected by Hurricane Michael. 
• Those interested in volunteering can visit VolunteerFlorida.org and register on the volunteer database.
• As disaster response organizations like the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army evaluate their needs and asses their resources, qualified volunteers will be contacted. 
• The Salvation Army is working with state and local emergency management throughout the Florida Panhandle.
• The Salvation Army has established a command center in Tampa and is prepared to mobilize incident management teams to the Florida Panhandle to serve impacted areas after the storm makes landfall. 
• Personnel and mobile feeding units are on standby ready to move in after the storm. The Salvation Army's mobile feeding units can serve 500-1,500 meals per day. 
• Red Cross is bringing in 500 disaster relief workers to shelter and feed at sites in affected counties.

State Emergency Operations 

• The State Emergency Operations Center remains activated at a level one, which is a full-scale, 24-hours-a-day activation.
• The State Assistance Information Line contact number is 1-800-342-3557.
• The State Emergency Operations Center Media Line: 850-921-0217.
• Follow @FLSert or @FLGovScott on Twitter for live updates on Hurricane Michael.
• Visit floridadisaster.org/info to find information on shelters, road closures, and evacuation routes.