Published: September 2,2016
Hurricane Hermine has claimed at least one life in Florida after making landfall in the Big Bend area early Friday morning, packing heavy rainfall and damaging winds.
Marion County emergency officials confirmed to weather.com that a male of undetermined age was killed by a downed tree that fell onto a tent in a homeless camp in Ocala around early Friday morning.
(MORE: Check the Forecast for Hurricane Hermine
Hermine, which has since weakened to tropical storm status, caused severe damage along the coast of Taylor County, Florida, according to the Perry Police Department.
Friday Gov. Rick Scott took a Blackhawk helicopter to visit the towns of Cedar Key and Steinhatchee on the Gulf Coast and saw firsthand the damage left from flood and storm surge, the Associated Press reports. Among the damages were crumpled docks and washed out homes and businesses.
In a press conference held Friday morning, Scott said that about 253,000 customers had lost power after the storm made landfall. Other areas of the state received heavy rains which led to flooding and the rescue of at least 18 people from rising waters in Pasco County, WFLA.com reported.
Severe storm surge damage to home in Keaton Bch, FL. #Hermine
Marion County
Residents of the homeless camp where a man was killed Friday told the Ocala Star-Banner they heard the crash of a tree falling around 3:30 a.m. The man has been identified as John Mayes, WFTV.com reported."I saw the tree and it fell right on his tent," fellow camp resident Michelle Walker told WFTV.com. "I kept yelling every 15 minutes, 'John, are you OK?'"
Walker told the Star-Banner that once there was sufficient daylight, she went outside, saw the tree on top of his tent and called 911.
The man had been living there for about a month and a half, Walker told the Star-Banner.
"He was very, very nice to me. That's all I know," Walker said.
Big Bend Area
The Big Bend area received a direct hit from Hurricane Hermine, with counties up and down the coast dealing with storm surge flooding, power outages and downed trees.Cedar Key, a small island in Levy County, received about 6 feet of storm surge, which flooded both homes and businesses, Florida Today reports.
(MORE: 3 Things To Know About Hurricane Hermine)
Pat Bonish, owner of an antique shop in downtown Cedar Key, told Florida Today that “pretty much everything inside” was a “total loss.”
“[Water] was probably knee level straight across the building, and the crazy part was it never came in any of the doors,” Bonish said. “It came in through the walls and up through the floor.”
Also hit hard was the Tres Palmas condo complex, which saw its first floor buried in at least a few feet of water, Florida Today said.
Several communities in Taylor County received "severe damage," according to the Perry Police Department. Taylor County Commissioner Jody DeVane told the Associated Press that there is lots of property damage in the county.
In Dekle Beach, storm surge damaged numerous homes and destroyed storage buildings and a 100-yard fishing pier, AP reports.
In Keaton Beach, about two dozen people waited on a road just after sunrise Friday, trying to get to their homes, the AP also reports. That included a new father, Dustin Beach, whose wife was still in Tallahassee after giving birth to a girl Thursday night.
"When my wife got up this morning, she said, 'Go home and check on the house. I need to know where we're going after we leave the hospital,'" Beach told the AP.
In Wakulla County, nearly 100 percent of homes were without power, the AP also said. Flood waters had receded by Friday afternoon, the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office reported, but there were still hundreds of trees and dozens of power lines down.
A couple suffered minor injuries during the storm when they drove into a tree that had fallen on the road, Wakulla County Administrator Dustin Hinkel told the AP early Friday. He said storm surge of 8 to 10 feet damaged docks and flooded coastal roads.
Pamela Brownell, emergency management director for Franklin County, told weather.com in an interview that Alligator Point was one of the hardest hit areas.
"There will be damages all over, I'm sure, but Alligator Point got beat up pretty bad," Brownell said.
Brownell said water rose over Highway 98 and prompted street closures throughout the area. On St. George Island, at least two homes had power lines break loose from the structures.
Leon County
Tallahassee was the largest population center hit by Hermine just after landfall, which knocked out power to about 80 percent of residents of Florida's state capital, the Tallahassee Democrat said.Mayor Andrew Gillum told the AP that power outages were "pretty ubiquitous" throughout the city on Friday. He urged residents to be patient as cleanup efforts get underway, the Democrat reported.
“This is not an everyday storm,” Gillum said at a Friday morning press briefing about when people can expect to have electricity. “I want to underscore this will not be the sort of rapid response that you would normally see . . . the impact may take a few days before it reaches our customers."
Comcast announced Friday that it would activate 2,000 free wireless hotspots throughout Tallahassee. The hotspots will remain available for public use until Monday, Sept. 12.
“This hurricane came as a thief in the night, but as we make assessments this morning it has stolen very little,” said Leon County Commission Chair Bill Proctor.
That's not to say there was no damage. Amy and Michael Parks were weathering the storm with their three children and another couple when a 40-foot tree crashed through their living room roof, the Democrat reported.
"I heard kids and adults start screaming," Amy Parks said.
Another large tree completely snapped in half. #Hermine
The Parks were just one of numerous families across the city whose homes were crushed by falling trees. Many others were without working sewer systems due to the mass power outages.
"Hurricane Hermine dealt us a direct blow last night; I would say a historical blow," Tallahassee City Commissioner Scott Maddox told the Democrat. "We were very fortunate that there were no deaths or critical injuries related to the storm in our area."
Citrus County
Emergency officials in Citrus County spent Friday assessing flood damage from Hermine.“Water in homes, water in businesses. I think at one point we had about three feet of water in the middle of U.S. 19 in downtown Crystal River,” Citrus County Sheriff's officer Buddy Grant told WFLA.com.
In addition to the flooding, the county saw numerous trees and power lines down. The floods have receded and residents are taking stock of what's left, WFLA.com reported. Charles Ayers, who lost everything, told the station he's trying to keep a positive attitude.
"I think my car is totalled. I thought it would be out of the water enough but it wasn’t,” he said. “And then I just got a call that my house was two feet under water. So I’m doing pretty good today. Maybe I should go buy a lotto ticket or something!”
Pasco County
Early Friday morning, Pasco County Fire Rescue and sheriff’s deputies used high-water vehicles to rescue 18 people from rising water at their homes in Green Key and Hudson Beach, the AP reported. They were taken to a nearby shelter.On Wednesday night, more than 200 patients, including a dozen who were critically ill, were evacuated from a Pasco County hospital after lightning destroyed one generator, knocked out power and sparked a small fire.
(MORE: Send Us Your Photos From Hermine)
Hospital officials told WFLA.com that a lightning strike is believed to have hit a main power feed on the roof of the Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson around 6:15 p.m Wednesday. No one was injured and all patients were safely evacuated to other area medical facilities.
Sarasota County
A woman had to be rescued Thursday after a massive swell knocked her off of the North Nokomis Jetty and pulled her underwater.WWSB-TV reported the woman was facing the Gulf and standing on the jetty when she was knocked over. The strong currents made it difficult for nearby surfers to reach her, but one was eventually able to drag her onto the rocks before a second swell came over the jetty. She was taken to a nearby parking lot where she was met by EMS responders and treated for lacerations on her legs.
County officials asked residents to conserve water to reduce the volume entering the sewer system, according to a separate WFLA.com report, which was already operating at full capacity trying to keep up with storm runoff.
Alachua County
Gainesville and the surrounding areas suffered relatively little damage, but around 8,000 customers were without power in the area Friday, as the city cleaned up dozens of downed trees, the Gainesville Sun said.At least one house was hit by a falling tree and traffic was messy as the power outages took down traffic lights across the city, the report added.
"Thankfully we have not identified any injuries whatsoever directly related to the storm." Gainesville Police Officer Ben Tobias told the paper at a briefing by various city departments. "We attribute this to preparation that Gainesville residents did before the storm, during the storm and in its aftermath."
Pinellas County
According to a release from the Florida Highway Patrol, the bridge was reopened around 3:50 p.m. Friday afternoon after being closed down at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Emergency crews rescued a woman and her two dogs from her daughter's home in South St. Petersburg, where rising water from Lake Maggiore flooded streets, WFLA.com reported.
A couple in Largo needed rescue Wednesday morning after their vehicle became immersed in floodwaters.
"The husband was already out, but the wife, it was an old couple and the wife was still stuck in there," Alexis Edwards, who witnessed the rescue, told WFLA.com. "They were trying to help her out and as they were helping her, the car was just sinking like really fast," she said.
#Hermine damage in Horseshoe Beach - courtesy: Frank Whitehead
Hillsborough County
Conditions from Hermine damaged a carport in the Spear Mobile Home Park in Plant City and downed a tree on Stanley and Thonotosassa roads Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.The City of Tampa closed Bayshore Boulevard in anticipation of flooding from Hermine on Thursday afternoon.
Orange County
Police in Orlando say four children were injured after they were struck by a car that spun out of control Thursday evening.According to WFTV.com, inclement weather and slick roads likely caused the motorist to lose control of the vehicle at S. Bumby Avenue and E. South Street. The children were standing on a sidewalk at the time of the incident.
"The injured pedestrians were all children - siblings accompanied by their mother - ranging in ages from 5 to 11," Lieutenant Jonathan Bigelow told WFTV.com. "All four children were transported to a local hospital for medical attention."
According to The Orlando Sentinel, the vehicle was a black Camaro that was heading northbound when it started to spin and hit a parked car and the children.
Three of the children were released from the hospital shortly after the incident, but a 6-year-old stayed overnight to have surgery on her femur, the Sentinel also reports.
Baker County
A woman was injured when a tree collapsed on her home on Hassie Johns Road, News4Jax.com reports. She was taken to Fraser Memorial Hospital. The extent of her injuries was not immediately known.In Macclenny, resident Tia Grissett's home was destroyed when an oak tree was downed on top of it around 4 a.m. Friday, News4Jax also reports.
Manatee County
Strong winds caused damage in Ellenton Thursday, tearing the roofs and porches off several homes, according to the NWS. A roof was torn off a mobile home in Bradenton as well.A tree was downed onto County Road 48 at the Wahoo Curve Thursday, causing a complete road closure, the NWS also reported.
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