Hurricane Laura

Meanwhile we may have 2 hurricanes in the Gulf at the same time.

TD 14 on Friday morning is 160 miles east of Isla Roatan Honduras, with a forward motion of 12 mph and maximum sustained winds of 35 mph.

Only two?

We are arriving from Ohio on Saturday evening and this is our first experience with a hurricane down there in 15 years! If it is suspected that this will make landfall as a Cat 1, would all of the RED areas on the Flood Zone Evacuation map be under mandatory evacuation? And, if so, do you know when that mandate would be imposed? Thinking of making some hotel reservations a bit north as a contingency plan. We are staying beachfront at the High Pointe.

We are arriving from Ohio on Saturday evening and this is our first experience with a hurricane down there in 15 years! If it is suspected that this will make landfall as a Cat 1, would all of the RED areas on the Flood Zone Evacuation map be under mandatory evacuation? And, if so, do you know when that mandate would be imposed? Thinking of making some hotel reservations a bit north as a contingency plan. We are staying beachfront at the High Pointe.

It is too early to say. But having a reservation in a hotel for evacuation is always a good idea. Unfortunately we don't always know where a safe evacuation location is going to be.

As of the 10:00am National Hurricane Center advisory TD 13 was upgraded to Tropical Storm Laura. Walton County is still in the 5-day error cone. We encourage everyone to continue to monitor this system as we move into the weekend. It is important not to focus on the center of the track or focus on one model. Impacts could extend outside of this cone.

Now is the time to make sure you, your family, and your business are prepared. Check your disaster supply kit and continue to monitor Walton County Social Media, local media, and the National Hurricane Center.

The Atlantic Hurricane Season runs until November 30. Be sure to have a plan, build a kit, and be informed.

To sign up for emergency and weather notifications go to www.alertwalton.org.
Know Your Zone. Know Your Home. To locate you evacuation zone visit www.waltoncountyem.org.

WCEM will share another after the 4:00pm NHC Update is released.

*TROPICAL STORM LAURA UPDATE* ‐
8/22/20 5am

The National Hurricane Center Advisory has TS Laura centered over the Virgin Islands.

The forecast brings it across the Greater Antilles this weekend, emerging into Gulf on Monday, and becoming a hurricane before landfall on Wednesday.

Dangerous beach/marine conditions and heavy rainfall are possible.

Continue to track this storm and be sure you have a hurricane plan in place.

Always receive your info from reliable sources.
South Walton Fire District
Walton County Emergency Management

Don’t forget that other one. All storms matter.

Don’t forget that other one. All storms matter.

You mean little Marco?

As of the 10:00am NHC advisory, Walton County is no longer in the 5-day error cone of Tropical Storm #Laura. While not in the error cone, we could still receive impacts from Laura.

According to the NHC the "earliest reasonable time" we could potentially start to see some type of tropical impacts is Tuesday. Widespread rainfall of 2-4" is possible with some areas seeing up to 6" especially closer to the coast, isolated flash flooding is possible, and dangerous surf and rip currents are expected.

All of these impacts and their exact timing are highly dependent on the exact track Laura takes and potentially can change as we progress through the weekend into next week.

Again, though out of the 5-day error cone we could still experience impacts based on this current track. Everyone should continue to monitor this system.

Now is the time to make sure you, your family, and your business are prepared. Check your disaster supply kit and continue to monitor Walton County Social Media, local media, and the National Hurricane Center.

The Atlantic Hurricane Season runs until November 30. Be sure to have a plan, build a kit, and be informed.

To sign up for emergency and weather notifications go to www.alertwalton.org.

Know Your Zone. Know Your Home. To locate you evacuation zone visit www.waltoncountyem.org.

WCEM will provide another update after the 4:00pm NHC advisory is released today.

Walton County Emergency Management

"Most" of the maps make it look like these two will impact far from us. Some maps put their landfall at the identical point, straight into NOLA two days apart, but some maps make it a whole less clear what Laura may do.