John Willoughby: reporter2@greenepublishing.com
For the first time in its 29 year history, Hickory Grove United Methodist Church has decided to postpone its annual Founder's Day Celebration. This decision to move the celebration back one week comes on Friday, Oct. 18, in preparation for a tropical cyclone swiftly moving toward the Gulf Coast of Florida.
These annual festivities are forecasted to halted by rain as the sixteenth tropical system is expected to pass through parts of North Florida, effecting Madison County at a minimum.
Dan Buchanan of Hickory Grove United Methodist Church stated that never in its 29-year history has Founder's Day been postponed. However, festivities will proceed as scheduled on Saturday, Oct. 26, beginning at 8 a.m.
As of 7 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 18, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued an advisory detailing maximum sustained winds from the system at 40 mph. The advisory states that tropical cyclone 16 is expected to develop into a tropical storm within the next 48 hours. The system is presently located approximately 305 miles south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River and is moving northeast at 21 mph.
At its present forecast, NWS expects tropical cyclone 16 to make landfall between Destin, Fla., and Apalachicola, Fla. between 1 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Tropical-storm-force winds are expected to move into the North Florida area between the earliest reasonable time of Friday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. to Saturday, Oct. 19, at 2 a.m. A 72-hour rainfall forecast shows two to four inches in Madison County as the system moves over the region. Thirty to forty mph winds are also forecast for the area, according to NWS.
Forecasted minimal impacts have Madison County officials prepared for only a couple of inches of rain. At this time, emergency procedures are not slated to implemented.