The Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office, working in conjunction with the Wakulla Property Appraiser’s Office, have developed preliminary damage assessments as the county and state wait on a federal disaster declaration and financial assistance.

With much more assessment work to be done the assessment crews have discovered 39 destroyed homes, 31 with major damage, 20 with minor damage and a total of 254 homes affected in some way for a grand total of 344 homes. Affected homes are homes that had storm damage but did not have water in living quarters. The homes were closely split between 144 mobile homes and 166 single family dwellings. Preliminary damage estimates are nearly $7 million. Most of the destroyed homes are in the Sopchoppy area. Damage to businesses was limited.

As the waters lower around the county the assessments crews will continue their work to develop a more complete picture of damage.
The flood waters are continuing to rise in central Wakulla County. A large area of flooding on U.S. Highway 98 has forced crews to reduce the road to one lane near Fair Way subdivision and the Wildwood Country Club. The golf course is under water in many areas and residents of Fair Way are also underwater. The flooding is also creating some impacts within the Wildwood subdivision near the golf course.

Lost Creek in Crawfordville is dropping after threatening Gulf Coast Lumber. Rehwinkel Road’s flooding remains steady.
The flood waters from the Sopchoppy River are going down slowly. Once the water allows crews to view the bridge, Department of Transportation officials will inspect the 70-year-old structure to see if it is structurally sound.

The mosquitoes will become an issue soon and WCSO is working with the Department of Health to determine if aerial spraying is an option in the coming days and weeks.
Crawfordville Elementary School remains open as a shelter and five citizens used the facility last night. Feeding and water operations are planned for the Sopchoppy area where the Salvation Army served food at Sopchoppy City Hall last night and will be doing so again today from noon to 8 p.m.
Wakulla County Sheriff Donnie Crum said the sheriff’s office plans to shift some of the patrol vehicles to larger trucks in recent years has really paid off during the flooding.

“The trucks have been able to go into locations where the patrol cars can’t,” he said. “The pick-up trucks have been a real blessing.”
Road Closures:

U.S. Highway 98 between Crawfordville Highway and Rehwinkel Road is very close to requiring closure and is being actively monitored.

Current road closures and impacts due to flooding, damage, and/or bridge damage:
 
- Smith Creek Rd @Syfrette Creek Bridge
- Harms Road
- Harvey Mill Road / Lawhon Mill Road
- Whiddon Lake Road @ Jump Creek
- J.K. Moore Road @ end of pavement
- Donaldson Williams Road
- Surf Road @ Buckhorn Creek
- Bostic Pelt Road
- Edgar Poole Road near Jack Crum Rd.
- Lonesome Road
- Forest Road 13 @ end of pavement
- Fairway Drive
- Rehwinkel Road
- U.S. Highway 98 at Wildwood Golf Course (passable, subject to closure)

-Otter Lake Road at Westview Street.

- There are several locations with major infrastructure damage: Surf Road at Buckhorn Creek, Smith Creek Road at Syfrette Creek, Harms Road, Harvey Mill at Lawhon Mill, and potentially both bridges over the Sopchoppy River (Smith Creek Road and Rose Road).  Lost Creek Culvert on Bostic Pelt Road has major damage.

- Residents are encouraged to contact the Wakulla County Emergency Management, 745-7200, to report damage, regardless of whether they require assistance. This information will be utilized in determining the needs for federal disaster and/or non-profit organization assistance.

- WCSO is beginning to identify several unmet human service needs. Numerous residents have called requesting assistance with muck out (removal of flooded carpeting, drywall, etc) and debris removal from private property. These needs have been relayed to Volunteer Wakulla and Big Bend COAD.

A. American Red Cross
 Managing Shelter Operations at Crawfordville Elementary.
 Bulk distribution of clean-up kits, bottled water, small snacks.
 Damage assessment teams out today.
 Outreach teams (caseworkers) scheduled to begin today.

B. Salvation Army
 Mobile feeding.

C. Florida Division of Emergency Management
 SERT Liaison demobilized.
 44 pallets (2 truckloads) of bottled water received.
 22 pallets (1 truckload) of meals received.

D. Florida Department of Transportation
 Liaison in EOC.
 Monitoring state road conditions.
 Standing by to conduct structural inspections on two bridges over the Sopchoppy River (Smith Creek Road, CR-22) once water recedes.
 Standing by to develop a temporary bridge plan for Sopchoppy should inspections deem aforementioned bridges damaged.

E. Progress Energy
 Current Outages: 198
 Crews conducting repairs where possible. Some flooded properties cannot be repaired until water recedes.

F. Talquin Electric Cooperative
 Normal operations.

G. Volunteer Wakulla
 Managing volunteers and donations.
 Coordinating Big Bend COAD member activities.

State of Florida Status:
The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) is currently at a level 1 full activation. Governor’s Executive Order #12-140 declaring a State of Emergency is in effect.