'Get through this together': Officials urge Tallahassee to be ready for Hurricane Ian

Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat
·4 min read

With Tallahassee and the Big Bend in the potential bullseye of a rapidly strengthening Hurricane Ian, local officials urged residents to get their final storm prep done now.

Meanwhile, Florida State University made the painful decision to cancel classes from Tuesday through Friday during Homecoming Week. Homecoming events, including a parade planned for Friday, will be postponed until April 2023. Florida A&M University later followed suit.

The Seminoles' home football game against Wake Forest is still on, for now, with kickoff at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Kevin Peters, director of Leon County Emergency Management, warned during a Monday news conference at the Public Safety Center that Ian is expected to slow down as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico, which “could amplify or prolong” its effects.

“For Leon County, Hurricane Ian poses a significant wind threat and potentially exposes our community to tropical storm force winds for long periods of time,” Peters said. “The storm will also bring moderate rainfall of four to six inches of rain.”

Ian incoming

Leon County Government and the City of Tallahassee provide updates on Hurricane Ian’s forecasted track and preparations at the Public Safety Complex.

Posted by Tallahassee Democrat on Monday, September 26, 2022

Peters was joined at the news conference by County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor, Mayor John Dailey, School Superintendent Rocky Hanna, Sheriff Walt McNeil and other elected and appointed officials.

Proctor announced that he declared a county state of emergency, which will open the door to state and federal assistance and allow the county to move faster in procurement and other response efforts.

“We’re not God, but we know the power of God when God has the hiccups,” Proctor said. “We know the power of nature."

Dailey noted the thousands of miles of infrastructure, including roads and power lines.

“We are monitoring and clearing debris, where necessary, on all of our infrastructure across the city of Tallahassee so that we are truly prepared for whatever the storm may bring us,” Dailey said. “We will assess the damage once the storm passes, and we will move forward with restoration.”

The mayor said mutual-aid agreements are in place with out-of-town utilities so that outside help can be marshaled if needed. He urged people to look out for their families and neighbors.

“We will get through this together because we are Tallahassee strong,” he said. “I would like to take a second as mayor of Tallahassee to remind each citizen while we still have a day or two before the storm is going to strike please take this time. It’s not a time to panic but it is a time to prepare.”

McNeil suggested people top off the gas in their cars and have extra cash on hand. As he has done before, he pleaded with the public to stay off the road when weather conditions deteriorate.

“We can anticipate with this storm that there are going to be trees down,” McNeil said.

Hanna noted that the district is preparing for the possibility of opening schools to serve as emergency shelters for both residents and people from across the state. But he said it was “premature” for the district to announce any school closures.

“You’re kind of caught in a Catch-22 — it’s that keeping people safe and keeping schools open,” he said. “Where is that sweet spot? The last thing we want to do is have to shut down schools and for 60,000 parents to figure out what they’re going to do for child care. But at the end of the day, we’re going to do what’s right and what’s best.”

Ian, a minimal Cat. 1 hurricane as of Monday afternoon, is expected to intensify into a major hurricane as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and remain around that intensity as it passes near Central Florida’s western coast on Wednesday and Thursday.

Its ultimate destination remains an uncertainty. Much of of the state, from the north-central coast to nearly all of North Florida, is inside the five-day forecast cone.

Meanwhile, people lined up to fill up sandbags at sites across the city and county. Dylan Vause, 21, shoveled sand into white woven bags Monday afternoon at Apalachee Regional Park. The sandbags are to keep water out of the garage of his mother's home on Apalachee Parkway.

"She lives at the bottom of the hill and we get a lot of flooding in her neighborhood," Vause said. "We do a lot of preparation for that."

Vause acknowledged the prospect of Ian hitting Tallahassee was a little scary.

"You never know what to expect," he said.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee residents told to prepare for Hurricane Ian