Strong Storm Severs St. George Island Power

On Wednesday, Aug. 13, wave after wave of storms swept across the Panhandle dumping four inches of rain on drought stricken Franklin County and battering coastal towns.

Wind gusts between 45 and 60 miles per hour were recorded at Apalachicola Regional Airport. Some residents of St. George Island said they experienced wind gusts of over 70 mph.

Paul Zado, captain of the Coast Guard Cutter Seahawk, deployed in Carrabelle, said that the ship, anchored in the bay during the storm, clocked wind gusts of around 70 mph.

Many buildings experienced minor damage and trees lost limbs across the county.

Grady Bradley of St. George Island said that the wind knocked him to the ground and he was unable to rise. While lying exposed, he was struck by a tree limb that dislocated his shoulder.

"It was a very strong storm, the wind and rain were just like a hurricane," said Pat Ruic, who operates the Apalachicola airport with her husband, Bill. "It was blowing so hard you couldn't see anything and there was debris everywhere."

Billy Hoffmire of Eastpoint was transporting debris from the island to the county landfill on Wednesday. He was driving back from landfill when the storm hit, and so waited out the first wave of wind and rain in Eastpoint.

"I was by the NAPA store on 98," he said. "I saw part of the roof come off of one of the old oyster houses and hit a house across the street."

When the weather calmed down, he decided to try and make it back to the island for another load. The second wave of foul weather hit as he was crossing the bridge. As he neared the island he saw the waterspout over the bay and headed directly for him.

"There were seven-foot swells in the bay. I couldn't stop; there were people behind me. I didn't want to get hit so I just kept driving," said Hoffmire. "I drove through the waterspout. I had a 3,000-pound trailer hooked to the truck and that was what saved me.

"I had one hand on my lab (Labrador retriever) Cuz, and the other on the wheel," he said. "Cuz never even woke up. I guess he figured if he was dead he'd still be lying down. It was a white out. The light was coming through the funnel cloud. It was so white and I couldn't see anything. It was weird. It was like being picked up by a UFO. I saw something fly straight up behind me. It was the tag from the trailer."

At the height of the squall, over 12,000 county residents were without power but Progress Energy restored service to most customers within an hour. The story on St. George Island was a little different.

The waterspout over St. George Bay is believed to have destroyed four power poles supporting the only distribution line to the island. Only half of one pole was left standing and the wires were in the water. Power was out across the island. Many businesses shut their doors as dazed vacationers coped with the aftermath of the storm. A few, like Harry A's, rented generators and were open by dinner time.

Immediately after the storm, Cherie Jacobs, spokeswoman for Progress Energy said, "The lines will be difficult to fix. We plan on bringing in large generators in the short run but that will take several days and the lines may not be up for a week or more."

However, working round the clock, Progress employees were able to place five large portable generators on the island and had them up and running by 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 14. Initially, they were able to supply about 75 percent of the island with power but by Saturday things were much as usual. During the installation of the generators, Progress brought 70 extra employees into the county to facilitate repairs.

"In a situation like this where the power goes off and, in some cases, houses are vacated before it comes back on, all the lights, appliances and of course air conditioning systems may be left on," said Bobby Pickels, North Florida community relations manager for Progress. "The air conditioners all kick on at once too, so there's a big surge on the power lines. Once the houses start to cool down and the air system doesn't have to work so hard, the generators can provide enough energy to power a larger area."

Progress brought in five generators initially, but six were required to provide continued service. Pickels said that the power company first repairs lines that serve the greatest number of households or supply power to vital facilities such as hospitals.

"We have a protocol for the order in which we restore power after a failure. It's not a random thing," he said.

Most islanders took the inconvenience in good spirits.

Larry Stone drove by the work site on Wednesday to ask when the power would be back on.

"They do a good job. They always do," said Stone.

"Everyone has bee very cooperative. People have stopped by to find out what's going on but nobody has been mad or gotten in the way of the workers. We're lucky that the power station is so close to Eddie Teech's. They've been feeding us," said Pickels.

Progress employed several local oystermen to help with the repairs. Oyster boats were used to assess the damage and to retrieve debris from the water and the barge delivering new poles to the power line will be guided across the bay by local boats to avoid damaging the oyster bars.