The Evacuation to Jacksonville
As a 10-year-old weather enthusiast at the time (now, degreed meteorologist), I had been watching the tropics very closely. I had already seen Charley and Frances ravage the southern part of my state, and Ivan was showing a similar threat. Upon entering the Gulf of Mexico, Ivan was a formidable beast. There was still quite a bit of uncertainty, but we went under a Hurricane Watch on Monday night, while most of us were going to bed. Ivan was a powerful Category 5 Hurricane with winds of 160 mph. Here is the projected path and the advisory text from that time:
At this time, Ivan was forecast to make landfall as a 140-mph Category 4 Hurricane somewhere between Morgan City, LA, and St. Marks, FL. When we woke up the next morning, we were waiting to hear about evacuations. The last hurricane to hit the Florida Panhandle was Hurricane Opal, the benchmark storm for Northwest Florida. My mom's then-fiancee was stationed at Hurlburt Field, and the military has different evacuation procedures, and he was told to evacuate, so my mom, my grandmother, myself, and our two dogs packed up our bags and started our evacuation process. Unfortunately, when you live in a military community where most of the population is military, everyone still evacuated at the same time. Plus, Okaloosa County (and several other counties) were starting their evacuation processes. So, our original destination was Lake City (near the I-10/I-75 junction). For those that aren't familiar with Okaloosa County, there are only two ways to get to the interstate for those of us in the coastal regions: State Road 85 and State Road 285. State Road 85 is a 4-lane highway between Shalimar and Crestview. State Road 285 is a 2-lane highway between Niceville and Mossy Head. Those are the only 2 ways to Interstate 10 for Okaloosa County residents. Why are there only 2 ways out of coastal Okaloosa County? Eglin Air Force Base takes up the entire central portion of the county, and there are numerous test sites scattered across the county. Also, several missions that are conducted are light-sensitive, so the military can't have too much light pollution from highways....EYE OF EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE IVAN MOVING SLOWLY AWAY FROM THE WESTERN TIP OF CUBA...HURRICANE WATCH ISSUED FOR NORTHERN GULF COAST... A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CUBAN PROVINCES OF PINAR DEL RIO...HAVANA...CITY OF HAVANA...AND THE ISLE OF YOUTH. A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHEASTERN YUCATAN PENINSULA FROM TULUM TO PROGRESO. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE WESTWARD...INCLUDING THE DRY TORTUGAS. AT 11 PM EDT...0300Z...A HURRICANE WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO COAST FROM EAST OF MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA EASTWARD TO ST. MARKS FLORIDA...INCLUDING GREATER NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA. AT 11 PM EDT...0300Z...THE EYE OF HURRICANE IVAN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 22.0 NORTH...LONGITUDE 85.4 WEST OR ABOUT 40 MILES... 60 KM...WEST-NORTHWEST OF THE WESTERN TIP OF CUBA. IVAN IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 9 MPH...15 KM/HR...AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 160 MPH...260 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. IVAN IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN STRENGTH IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 100 MILES...160 KM... FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 200 MILES...325 KM. THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT WAS 914 MB...26.99 INCHES.
So, we begin our evacuation process. What normally is a 20-30 minute drive to Crestview was a 4-hour drive. So, if you do the math: 22.6 miles in 4 hours, that's roughly 5-6 mph average speed. I believe we left around 11 AM that morning. We had our car stocked up with gas and snacks for us and our dogs. My grandpa stayed behind. He worked as the dock supervisor for a local newspaper, and he had to stay behind for work. We got to the interstate around 3 PM that afternoon. By that time, we wanted to get out of the car, stretch our legs, use the restroom, and let our dogs use the restroom. There is a rest stop just to the east of Crestview (about 2 or 3 miles to the east). When we finally approached the rest stop, much to our disappointment and frustration (along with many other people), the rest stop was closed. Since the interstate was in total gridlock, we, along with several other people, pulled onto the shoulder or median of the interstate to do what we needed to. So, we were on our way to Lake City, very slowly.
Again, what normally takes about 3.5 hours took us about 6 or 7 hours. Rest areas were closed all the way through Marianna ahead of Hurricane Ivan. We got a hotel in Lake City and turned on to see the latest information on Hurricane Ivan. This is the advisory that we saw:
As any evacuee will tell you, the thought of not having a home to come back to is the most nerve-wracking thing ever. The local forecast in Lake City called for the possibility of rain bands and isolated tornadoes. So, we decided to try going further east, to Jacksonville. We called to check in on my grandpa, and he was fine, saying that he was going to stay at work through the hurricane....LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE IVAN HEADED FOR THE NORTHERN GULF COAST... A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM GRAND ISLE LOUISIANA TO APALACHICOLA FLORIDA...INCLUDING THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS AREA AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WARNING AREA. A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA TO WEST OF GRAND ISLE. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM INTRACOASTAL CITY LOUISIANA TO WEST OF GRAND ISLE...AND FROM EAST OF APALACHICOLA TO YANKEETOWN FLORIDA. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. AT 10 PM CDT...0300Z...THE TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE WESTWARD...INCLUDING THE DRY TORTUGAS... HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED. AT 10 PM CDT...0300Z...THE EYE OF HURRICANE IVAN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 25.1 NORTH... LONGITUDE 87.2 WEST OR ABOUT 295 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. IVAN IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH AND A GRADUAL TURN TO THE NORTH IS EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 140 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. IVAN REMAINS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE COMMON IN MAJOR HURRICANES AND ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. IVAN IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL AS A MAJOR HURRICANE...AT LEAST CATEGORY THREE. IVAN IS A LARGE HURRICANE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 105 MILES FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 260 MILES. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD INLAND UP TO ABOUT 150 MILES NEAR THE PATH OF IVAN. A NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT MEASURED A MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE OF 932 MB...27.52 INCHES.
The next morning, we got back on the road to Jacksonville and got to a hotel without much trouble. We settled in our hotel room and turned on the news to see the latest information:
...LARGE AND DANGEROUS HURRICANE IVAN MOVING NORTHWARD TOWARD THE GULF COAST... A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM GRAND ISLE LOUISIANA TO APALACHICOLA FLORIDA...INCLUDING THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS AREA AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WARNING AREA. A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA TO WEST OF GRAND ISLE. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM INTRACOASTAL CITY LOUISIANA TO WEST OF GRAND ISLE...AND FROM EAST OF APALACHICOLA TO YANKEETOWN FLORIDA. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. AT 10 AM CDT...1500Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IVAN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 27.3 NORTH...LONGITUDE 88.0 WEST OR ABOUT 235 MILES SOUTH OF MOBILE ALABAMA. IVAN IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH NEAR 13 MPH...AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE CENTER OF IVAN IS EXPECTED TO REACH THE COAST DURING THE VERY EARLY MORNING HOURS ON THURSDAY. IVAN CONTINUES AS AS A EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR/SIMPSON SCALE HURRICANE SCALE...WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR 135 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS...BUT IVAN IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL AS A MAJOR HURRICANE...CATEGORY THREE OR HIGHER. OCCUPANTS OF HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS WITHIN THE HURRICANE WARNING AREA CAN EXPECT HIGHER WINDS THAN THOSE EXPERIENCED AT THE SURFACE...ABOUT ONE SAFFIR-SIMPSON CATEGORY HIGHER AT THE TOP OF A 30-STORY BUILDING. AFTER LANDFALL... HURRICANE FORCE WINDS COULD TO SPREAD INLAND UP TO 100 MILES NEAR THE PATH OF THE CENTER. IVAN IS A LARGE HURRICANE...WITH HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTENDING OUTWARD UP TO 105 MILES FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTENDING OUTWARD UP TO 290 MILES. ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 939 MB...27.73 INCHES.
Ivan Makes Landfall
We knew it was going to be bad. This was rivaling Hurricane Opal back in 1995. But, we decided to try to get our mind off of things. We went down to Atlantic Beach and did some shell-collecting. It was my first time ever seeing the Atlantic Ocean, so that was cool. Though, to be honest, I was disappointed with the beaches. I had been spoiled by the soft, white sands that the Panhandle had to offer. The hard, brown sand was quite disgusting to me. We got back to the hotel and freshened up before dinner. We walked to the restaurant that was next door to our hotel. Within that short time, a car drove by, and the people inside through coins at us as we walked. One of the coins hit my mom in the shoulder, leaving a sizable bruise. That left a horrible impression of Jacksonville for us. We came back to the hotel and saw Ivan was nearing landfall. We contacted my grandpa again to see how he was holding up, and he was doing okay. They had their supplies at his workplace and still had power. We went to bed that night hoping and praying we had a place to come back to.The next morning, the news coming back was mostly from Pensacola. There was substantial damage in Pensacola, but we hadn't heard anything coming from Okaloosa County. We couldn't get in touch with my grandpa, because cellular service was heavily interrupted. We waited through the day to get in contact with him. Later that night, we heard back from him. He said that our house was okay, but most of shingles were blown off the roof and several branches and limbs were all over the yard....EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE IVAN ABOUT TO CROSS THE ALABAMA COASTLINE... A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM GRAND ISLE LOUISIANA TO APALACHICOLA FLORIDA...INCLUDING THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS AREA AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WARNING AREA. A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA TO WEST OF GRAND ISLE. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MORGAN CITY TO WEST OF GRAND ISLE...AND FROM EAST OF APALACHICOLA TO YANKEETOWN FLORIDA. AT 2 AM CDT...0700Z...THE LARGE EYE OF HURRICANE IVAN WAS CENTERED NEAR LATITUDE 30.2 NORTH...LONGITUDE 87.8 WEST...VERY NEAR THE ALABAMA COASTLINE. IVAN IS MOVING SLIGHTLY EAST OF DUE NORTH NEAR 13 MPH...AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE CORE OF THE HURRICANE WILL BE ON THE COAST SHORTLY. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO NEAR 130 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. A GRADUAL WEAKENING SHOULD CONTINUE AS THE HURRICANE MOVES INLAND. OCCUPANTS OF HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS WITHIN THE HURRICANE WARNING AREA CAN EXPECT HIGHER WINDS THAN THOSE EXPERIENCED AT THE SURFACE...ABOUT ONE SAFFIR-SIMPSON CATEGORY HIGHER AT THE TOP OF A 30-STORY BUILDING. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS COULD SPREAD INLAND UP TO ABOUT 150 MILES NEAR THE PATH OF THE CENTER. PEOPLE ARE STRONGLY ADVISED NOT TO VENTURE OUT FROM SHELTER DURING THE CALM CONDITIONS OF THE EYE...AS WINDS WILL INCREASE RAPIDLY WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING WHEN THE EYE PASSES. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 105 MILES FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 290 MILES. THE PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION RECENTLY REPORTED A WIND GUST TO 98 MPH. THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE MEASURED BY A NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT WAS 943 MB...27.85 INCHES.
The Journey Back Home
We heard that it was safe for us to return to Okaloosa County, so we packed up our stuff and started heading back. As we headed back west on Interstate 10, we didn't see much damage, maybe some trees down as we got closer to Northwest Florida. We were near Chipley when we heard on the radio that part of the I-10 overpass over US Highway 331 had collapsed. So, we got to Ponce de Leon and got off of I-10 and headed down to State Road 20, which runs along the northern shore of Choctawhatchee Bay. We couldn't get on US Highway 98, because it was washed out between Destin and Fort Walton Beach. Being closer to the coast, we saw more damage to trees and some homes. We ventured westward on State Road 20. As we approached Choctaw Beach, part of State Road 20 (a 2 lane highway) had collapsed into the bay. Out there, there are no detours. We were in a long line of cars trying to make our way back home. So we did what we had to do, we started driving in people's yards alongside State Road 20. We eventually got away from the bay as the highway bent a bit further north. Coming into Bluewater Bay and Niceville, power poles were down everywhere. There was no power whatsoever. We came into Shalimar, back home, and there were traffic lights scattered everywhere across the highway, trees down, and power lines everywhere. Thankfully my house and others' houses in my neighborhood were not significantly damaged.
The Aftermath
I wish I could say that everything was easy for us after the hurricane since we didn't have damage. Well, of course, without power, there is no gas, no stores were open, and if any of them were open, there was no food. Water was shut off. Really, there wasn't much we could do. My mom and I drove around town and looked at the damage. Power poles and trees toppled, boats on Highway 98 in downtown Fort Walton Beach, buildings damaged. From my mom's perspective, it looked eerily similar to damage from Opal. No one was allowed onto Okaloosa Island. One, Highway 98 was washed away. Two, there was significant damage along the island. Over the coming days, the local military bases started dispersing MREs (meals-ready-to-eat) to all local residents. I personally liked them, but of course, you really want real food. Power started getting restored slowly. We were without power for about 2 weeks after the hurricane (and 2 weeks without air conditioning in late September is horrible). We got a tarp to put over our roof until it got repaired. Stores were starting to get supplies in. Schools were starting back up. We were starting to get back to a sense of normalcy. Everything was going to be okay.
But That's Not All...
We had our power on for about 5 days or so. I was on my way back from school with my mom, and we turned into our neighborhood and saw state troopers and firefighters blocking off the road ahead. Turns out, they were blocking off our street and surrounding our house. We parked about a block away and walked closer, and the state troopers stopped us. They asked if we lived in the house that they were surrounding, and we answered, "Yes." We got a quick look at what had happened. There was more damage to our yard. We asked what had happened.
Apparently, a dump truck carrying broken limbs and trees had snagged a power line (which was marked with flags because it was low-hanging) and dragged the power pole next to our yard down into our yard. The pole had crushed my grandpa's truck, totaling it. The transformer on the pole exploded in our yard, leaking oil all over our driveway and our yard. The Hazmat crew had already cleaned everything up. There were no witnesses to the incident, so we couldn't track down who owned the truck. The wires attaching our house to the power grid were ripped from our house, and we were without power yet again. About 2 or 3 days later, the power company repaired the pole, transformer, and power lines, but we were still without power. We called several electricians to come repair our wires to get reconnected to the power grid, and there was a whole bunch of arguing of whose responsibility it was (was it the power company's or the electrician's to fix those wires). After about 2 weeks of back-and-forth, we finally got power back permanently in mid-October, about 4 weeks after Ivan had struck. Thankfully, it was done for now.
But little did we know, that we'd have to evacuate again about 10 months later...
By the way, if you want a more meteorological approach to Ivan and its impacts to southern Alabama and northwest Florida, the National Weather Service office in Mobile has a great write-up here.
By the way, if you want a more meteorological approach to Ivan and its impacts to southern Alabama and northwest Florida, the National Weather Service office in Mobile has a great write-up here.
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