Walton County don't get it (hurricanes)

SoWalSally · 05-14-2005, 07:54 AM

Todays' Walton Sun business section has several articles about communications during a hurricane. Highlights are that they had no idea what they were doing during Ivan, but that all is good now.

I've seen several articles like this since Ivan mentioning the County, the TV and radio stations, etc. and how they did the best they could to get news out - which was absolutely nothing.

No mention of the message board, GraytonBeach.com, etc - about all the news Kurt got out and others on the board. No mention of the photos that were posted the days following Ivan. No mention of all the locals on this board that went and checked on people's property and reported back here.

If the reporters don't even know the scoop, what's the chance the Governement does?

Hey Kurt! You heard from any of these braniacs?

Quote:

If preparation is the key to success, Walton County Public Information Director Ken Little believes the county is on the right track for the upcoming hurricane season.
After Hurricane Ivan, the Walton County Tourist Development Council took a survey that asked, “How did we do? Did we meet your needs?”
“The results were surprisingly good,” Little said.
But he knew there were areas that needed improvement.
Little and his assistant, Sara Comander held meetings with area media representatives and Bay and Okaloosa county’ emergency management personnel to discover what else needed to be done.
Communications before, during and after the storm were vital, but many county residents had evacuated far beyond the listening area and information about what was going back home was hard to come by.
To establish relationships with stations prior to this hurricane season, Comander mailed letters to 50 radio and television stations and received responses from between 12 and 15 stations, including Birmingham, Atlanta, Montgomery and Nashville. The county will include the names and call signs of participating radio and TV stations in promotional material. In the event of another evacuation, the county will e-mail updates to those outlets.
The Emergency Operations Center in DeFuniak Springs ran into its own communications difficulties last year when it could not send out e-mail. Little had worked with local media outlets to build lists of e-mail addresses anticipating the need to get information to multiple outlets.
The server was on the third floor of the courthouse, high and dry, but when the power went out, the backup generator did not come on. The fuel tanks had been removed during a construction project at the courthouse. Fortunately, the EOC had auxiliary power and the fax machine was put into service to send out information. But with power outages throughout the county, Little resorted to having updates delivered to area radio stations by sheriff’s deputies.
This year, things will be different.

Little plans to change the Walton County Web site during an emergency response so users will go directly to information about the storm.
And, there will be adequate fuel for the generator, he said.

Paula · 05-14-2005, 01:00 PM

I agree that this site was critical to putting my mind at ease after Ivan. Seeing the photos was useful. And when I came down, I was able to take photos of properties and email them back to friends who were worried. So, yes, this site should definitely be mentioned somewhere public for future reference. I subscribed to the Walton Sun online just before the hurricane, too, to get information, but this site had the fastest information.

Smiling JOe · 05-14-2005, 05:19 PM

Maybe we can place some signs on the 331 Bay bridge saying, "Log on to sowal.com for full coverage of Hurrican ..."

Unfortunately, we were without power/cable and the cell towers were jammed for a few days after Ivan which made it impossible to post any photos or communicate via this Board. Any ideas for a Satellite station elsewhere for SoWal.com/stormcenter ? Not that it would help because much of lower GA and AL were without power too.

kurt · 05-14-2005, 06:57 PM

Actually, I posted each day during and after. I used a dialup connection, but had very little power for my laptop. I could have gotten a generator, and a few kind folks offered to bring one, but instead I called a few people out of the area and had them post updates.

Remember these?
http://graytonbeach.com/photos091804.html

There were several other people posting updates here directly after the storm. Can I get a roll call?

Donna · 05-14-2005, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kurt

Actually, I posted each day during and after. I used a dialup connection, but had very little power for my laptop. I could have gotten a generator, and a few kind folks offered to bring one, but instead I called a few people out of the area and had them post updates.

Remember these?
http://graytonbeach.com/photos091804.html

There were several other people posting updates here directly after the storm. Can I get a roll call?

Hi, Kurt,

Wow---do I ever remember these! The first one is the most frightening, as was the Dopler radar photo of Ivan just posed out in the Gulf before making landfall. The storm was larger than the entire Gulf. We are hoping for a less eventful season in 2005, in spite of all the ominous reports (which come every year, in any event). You were the only source of information we had other than The Weather Channel and we can go a long time without the dancing-in-the-wind Jim Cantore. Thanks again for sending us news of Grayton Beach and The Conch Out, post-Ivan.

Smiling JOe · 05-14-2005, 08:33 PM

Not me, I did not have power until Saturday night following Ivan, and my cable came back on Sun or Mon.

FoX · 05-15-2005, 09:15 AM

I didn't post on the old board but I read it every day. I've spread the word that this is the best place for info. You can really find out anything about anything worth knowing (and some that ain't

).

I really appreciate the photos - they are as good as what you'll see in any magazine and I've bought several prints, and we all have "SoWal" stickers on the bumper.

Hopefully we won't need any hurricane updates for quite awhile. :wink:

njackie · 05-16-2005, 12:38 PM

Today MSNBC is predicting another rough hurricane season. We would not have made it though the last one without Kurt's constant reassurances that life still existed in Grayton, Seagrove and Seaside. He did not allow us to lose his communications very long during the worst of Ivan. Kurt was our only communication with the area for almost a four day period of time. He is the best marketer of his work and his studio by doing these kind things. Yet, it does not seem quite fair to him.