Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
She may not have been the first storm of the 2021 hurricane season, but she was the first one to have threatened a significant impact to the North Florida area. On Wednesday, July 7, Elsa approached the area during the late morning and early afternoon hours. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), when she hit Madison with her strongest, it was estimated to be with 26 mph sustained winds and gusts up to 40 mph. Those are rough estimates, since the NWS does not have an official observation station in Madison. Elsa also dumped upwards of 4.5 to 5 inches of rain on the county. Although this was not enough to cause major property damage, Elsa did make her presence felt.
According to Madison County Emergency Management Director Leigh Basford, approximately 50 calls were received at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). An overwhelming majority of these calls were for downed trees and power lines. There were two cases of trees falling on vehicles, but neither of these resulted in injuries or entrapment. There were a number of minor traffic accidents, many of which occurred on I-10.
Basford stated that the EOC was activated for a total of 33 hours at a “Level One” (which means all departments were activated, a sort of “all hands on deck”) activation level. “The teamwork [between departments] went well,” said Basford. “Many thanks to the public safety partners for response efforts and pre-preparedness actions, days ahead of impact, to prepare our county. It's always a challenge with storms, but with the possibility of a Cat. 1 hurricane headed toward Taylor County, this group worked as a team to provide the best service to our residents. 'Thank you' to the Madison County Sheriff's Office, Madison County Fire and Rescue, Madison County Road Department, Cherry Lake Volunteer Fire Department (VFD), Hamburg VFD, Sirmans VFD, Lee VFD, Madison County School District, Madison County Health Dept., Florida Forest Service, Madison Correctional Institute, Duke Energy and Tri-County Electric Cooperative. This group, along with many others, stands ready to help Madison County prepare for, respond to and recover from any disaster. We are still in the beginning of the season, so we want everyone to stay vigilant throughout the season.”
The NWS is still predicting an above-average Atlantic hurricane season, with 13 to 20 named storms spawning six to 10 hurricanes, with three to five of those being major hurricanes. Hurricane season began on Tuesday, June 1, and will continue through the end of November.