As tropical weather approaches, the end of the weekend and early next week are expected to be soggy.
After Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 54 counties late Thursday afternoon, which included Columbia, Hamilton, Lafayette and Suwannee counties, in advance of Potential Tropical Cyclone 4 — which will be called Debby if it becomes a named storm — local governments followed suit Friday.
Columbia County, the City of Lake City, Suwannee County and the City of Live Oak all held emergency meetings Friday and declared local states of emergency.
Shayne Morgan, Columbia County’s emergency management director, said during Columbia County’s emergency meeting that the current storm is expected to be another rain event.
“At this point, we’re still thinking it’s a lot of rain,” Morgan said following the meeting. “It’s been so scattered with how the storms have aligned with this one that it’s been difficult to pinpoint impacts.”
Noting the projections will change during the fluid storm situation, Morgan said Friday afternoon that he was expecting somewhere between 4-8 inches of rain from the storm, with it currently expected to arrive in the area Sunday afternoon.
It wouldn’t be the first time a storm named Debby inundated the area with heavy rain.
In June 2012, TS Debby stalled in the Gulf of Mexico and its outer bands inundated North Florida with 30 inches of rain over a 48-hour period, leading to major flooding.
With the county public works department preparing for forecasted heavy rains from the storm, all county-owned retention ponds are being pumped dry to aid in possible flood relief during the storm.
“River flooding is a major concern for the northern and southern ends of the county,” Heather Futch, the county’s public information officer, said in a release Friday afternoon.
During the emergency meeting, Morgan said if the flooding becomes an issue, the county would use the Winfield and Fort White community centers as shelters from the rising rivers.
Whatever impacts end up being felt from the storm Columbia County Public Works employees spent several hours Friday preparing.
Starting at 7 a.m. Saturday, sandbags will become available at three locations around the county. Sandbags, which are limited to 15 per vehicle, will be available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Public Works, 607 NW Quinten Street in Lake City; the Southside Sports Complex, 1963 SW Bascom Norris Drive in Lake City; and South Columbia County Sports Complex, 17579 State Road 47 in Fort White.
Steve Brown, the City of Lake City’s public works director, said during the city’s meeting that sandbags will also be available at the city’s public works location, 180 NE Gum Swamp Road, starting at 7 a.m. Saturday.