Hurricane Isaías & the Scrubs Day Storm: Why Northwest Florida's Biggest Test Came with 120 MPH Winds—and a Trash Pickup Deadline

(00:00) Here's today's B Team Redux. Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Blinded by the Light on the classic rock station, 100.3 KROCK. Good morning, everybody. It's Friday and we are expecting Hurricane Isaias to make its way into northwest Florida late this afternoon into this evening and through the overnight hours. We've got some updates for you as we move through the hour on updated path and projections, updated models and potential landfall spots according to these models. Yeah, intensity has certainly picked up here over the last 24 hours, which is a little bit of a surprise compared to the expected wind shear that we thought this storm would be dealing with earlier. It continues to strengthen. Now, it could succumb to some of that shear as we move through the day, but we're going to get to that here in just a little bit. Plus, at 7 o'clock this morning, we'll have the updated cone and conditions from the National Hurricane Center down in Miami. So, that is where we sit at the moment. (01:16) I'm Schuyler Black. This is the B Team morning show on 100.3 KROCK, the classic rock station. Waiting on Bobby Dewrell to get here. The B Team show brought to you by our friends at Stripes Pub and Grill in Navarre as well as Okaloosa Gas and Outkast Sushi in Miramar Beach. On the National Day calendar this morning, folks, we have Scrubs Day. That's because nothing says holiday like celebrating uniforms that are made for wiping bodily fluids while the rest of us pretend that's not Tuesday. Scrubs Day is that annual little pageant where grown adults pretend the world will end unless they spend 24 hours purging negativity by cleaning, decluttering, and apologizing to houseplants they ignored since April. You scrub your counters, your calendar, and if you're feeling brave, your own behavior, which is adorable because your personality isn't a stain, it's a lifestyle. So, there you go. It is Scrubs Day today on Friday, October 9th. So, like I said, lots of storm info to get to here in just a little bit. We'll give you updates on where you can get sand for sandbags today across our listening area. All of that coming up in just a little bit. Right now, Kansas, it's the point of no return on the B Team Morning Show with the Classic Rock Station 100.3 KROCK. (02:37) There's the Buffalo Springfield this morning for what it's worth on the Classic Rock Station 100.3 KROCK. I'm Schuyler Black. This is the B Team Morning Show Friday, October 9th. As the Emerald Coast braces for Hurricane Isaias that is a very high-end Cat 2 right now. Actually, on the cusp of a Cat 3. We'll see what the National Hurricane Center does at the next update here in about 35 minutes, top of the hour. We'll get that. Did hear from Bobby. He is on his way. So, we'll hear from him in just a little bit. We've got lots of updates, weather-related stuff to get to and preparation, last-minute preparation ideas and checklists to get through as well. So, stay with us. We're going to do our very best to keep you informed as we move throughout the morning. See if we can get in touch with some local emergency personnel here in Okaloosa County on their advice and their plan to make sure that everybody stays safe during this storm. On the National Day calendar this morning, we have National Sneakers Day. Who actually calls them sneakers, right? I think everybody calls them like tennis shoes or whatever. But sneakers sounds like a very like New England, New Yorker type of thing because apparently we needed a holiday to celebrate shoes designed for running that mostly sprint to the couch, right? Nobody actually uses running shoes to run. Well, a few people do. National Sneakers Day is that annual moment when grown adults collectively pretend their shoes have personalities and then somehow we all agree this is normal. So, you celebrate it by dusting off your freshest pair, arguing about brands like it's foreign policy, and posting a photo that says, I contain multitudes, when it really says, I paid retail. It's part fashion show, part nostalgia trip, part quiet panic that your knees sound like microwave popcorn now. Anyway, lace them on up, act civilized, because if we're going to worship something, it might as well be the one thing between you and the sidewalk's bad intentions. National Sneakers Day. It's 626, so look at your Marine Report is coming up next on 100.3 KROCK. (04:57) Get down and party. I don't know, hurricane, hurricane party. Is that what we're talking about this morning? Yeah, that's just, you know, looking for a location right now. God almighty. Bobby joining us here this morning. That's all right. He forgot to change his alarm. Yeah, well, I mean, I don't know why. I was only up reading the, you know, the 1 a.m. and the 4 a.m. updates, so. (05:22) Yeah, he couldn't sleep well. I don't know why people are having a hard time sleeping right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I've, you know, finally, finally dozed off, and then forgot that I, you know, anyway, whatever. Forgot that I hadn't set the alarm. Well, you know, here we are. Good morning, everybody. It is Friday, October 9th, and we are awaiting landfall of a hurricane here in northwest Florida at some point later on today. Yeah, we're, look, we're waiting. We've got about another 20 minutes or so until the, 21 minutes probably, until the 7 o'clock update comes up, and then we'll give you more then, but hurricane hunters overnight did find a stronger and better organized storm overnight. Much clearer eye and tightening eye wall. Now, the National Hurricane Center expects that it's going to keep strengthening for several more hours over the Gulf water. Wind shear should weaken some before landfall. Now, they're still saying that because of the wind shear, the way that jet stream's dropping down, it's going to continue to kind of tear it apart. The center intensity is going to drop a little bit, and the best forecast is a high-end category two at the coast. Forecasters note that if the shear arrives about six hours late, then a stronger hurricane could come ashore. So, landfall is still expected within the warning area Friday night or Saturday morning. A lot of what I'm seeing and looking at, it looks like it's going to be somewhere around 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. The storm is also getting bigger. Tropical force winds now reach 185 miles from the center, and that's up from 125 miles at the 1 a.m. report. (07:06) Look, what that means for us, we're definitely going to be in tropical storm conditions beginning within the next few hours. Hurricane conditions are expected tonight into early Saturday. You got to plan for long power outages. Storm surge is going to be five to seven feet above ground. It's possible from Dauphin Highland all the way to Indian Pass, which includes our coast. And if peak surge arrives at high tide, that's what we got to worry about. (07:38) So, we're basically smack dab in the middle of that. Right. Rain is going to be four to eight inches with up to 15 inches in spots. So, flash flooding is likely. River flooding is expected. The risk begins late this afternoon and continues through tonight and Saturday for tornadoes. Surf is going to be absolutely life-threatening rip currents. So, stay the hell out of the water. (08:04) Okay. Do we have to say that? You do. You do. I promise you if you went to the pier right now, you would see at least four dumbasses with surfboards. Almighty. Right. If you're in zone A or B, the county has ordered you out. You can check your zone at myokalusa.com and look for the Emergency Operations Center. You can check if you're in zones A or B. Shelters are open at Davidson Middle School, Crestview has the pet-friendly Davidson Middle School in Crestview has a pet-friendly shelter is what I was trying to get out. God Almighty. Raider Arena in Niceville is open. Bridges are going to close once sustained winds reach 40 miles per hour and that is going to probably be mid-morning to early afternoon. (08:57) Okay. So, this is only hours away and it could be even sooner. So, if you are in Destin, if you're somewhere locked in by bridges, now's the time. If you want to get out, you cannot make your mind up at a different time. This is the time. Okay. We've got an update coming at 7 a.m. (09:17) We will read through that. We've got the next full advisory at 10 a.m. and you know, look, follow the storm. You can go to our Isaiah Storm Center out at new.emeraldcoastconnected.com slash storm and go into the Isaiah Storm Center. That's where we got the full NHC advisories. We've got all the warnings that are there. We've got all the latest updates. It's all there including the cone, graphics, and all of it. So, it's all right there for you to check out. Yeah. 15 minutes away from an update, Bobby. Just a quick recap on that 4 o'clock update. Moving north-northeast. (09:59) 15 miles an hour. And as you said, the wind field has grown by 50% overnight. Yeah. And the center pressure has dropped as well. I was down to 964, 964. Yeah. So this time yesterday when we were talking about it, it was at 982. Yeah. Significant drop. Yeah. It's still continuing to drop. And right now at 4 a.m. sustained winds were at 110. Now understand that 111 is a cat 3. So we'll see what the update says here in about 15 minutes. We'll pass it along to you as soon as possible. Stay with us. It's the B Team Morning Show on 100.3 KROCK. Here's Queen. Mama Bell on 100.3 KROCK. It's the B Team Morning Show. (10:47) Schuyler Black and Bobby Dewrell brought to you by our friends at Stripes Pub and Grill and Navarre, who is closed today, by the way, as well as Okaloosa Gas. But, you know, when the power goes out, Bobby, natural gas is always on. So if you don't have natural gas service in your home, well, maybe you should think about getting that before the next storm. And then, of course, our friends at Outkast Sushi and Mirabar Beach, proud sponsor of the B Team Morning Show as well. (11:13) It's 6.52. We're about eight minutes out from the next update from the National Hurricane Center. So we will get that to you as soon as we can. But as we wrap up the National Day calendar this morning, I feel like this is probably about as appropriate as it gets. Today is Curious Events Day. Why wouldn't it be? Oh, yeah. I mean, just why wouldn't it be? You know, look, this just seems appropriate. It does. You know, considering Mother Nature apparently looked at the Gulf Coast and said, you know what this place needs? It needs needs a little more character development. Yeah. Yeah. Folks, we got a hurricane threatening to park its butt right on top of us. Weather models that change their minds more often than a politician in an election year. And people standing in grocery stores trying to decide whether they need bottled water, plywood or, well, another case of beer. Here's the curious part, OK? (12:19) We live in a place where a storm can be hundreds of miles away and somebody's already bought every loaf of bread in three counties. And we can put a man on the moon, perform surgery with robots and have artificial intelligence with right love letters. But apparently we still can't agree where a giant spinning ball of atmospheric violence is going to be on Friday evening. (12:43) So, yeah, happy Curious Events Day. Keep an eye on the forecast and hear on the authorities and well, your expectations somewhere below sea level, because around here, the difference between a natural disaster and a three day drinking holiday is, well, it's it's about 40. (12:59) There's the police on at 100.3 KROCK, the classic rock station, 73 degrees this morning, 81 hour high. We are under a hurricane warning and a storm surge warning here in South Okaloosa County through, well, the foreseeable future here for a while. That's right. Hey, and to me, the biggest that I noticed on this is the National Hurricane Center has raised its storm surge forecast from five to seven up to six to nine feet from the Alabama line all the way over to Grayton Beach, which obviously covers every single bit of the coast. Yeah. Look, at seven a.m. Friday, Hurricane Isaias was 245 miles south of Pensacola with 110 mile an hour winds and on the edge of a major hurricane strength. The National Weather Service and Mobile says hurricane force winds could reach Destin and Fort Walton Beach by early this afternoon. All right. So that is an update. It is coming. It is coming quicker than we thought. All right. So we could be in hurricane force winds by early this afternoon. Now, it's strengthened overnight and is getting bigger. So here's what's changed since just our last update. OK, three hours ago. Yeah. Yeah. So what is it? One and seven and ten, I think, are the major updates. I think four or seven and ten are considered intermediate updates. Right. Right. Right. But the next recon flight goes out here momentarily. Yeah. Yeah. So here's so from the last recon flight and here's here's where we are. So we know the storm surge is up. The forecast for the Alabama, Florida line to Grayton Beach is now six to nine feet above ground, up from five to seven. (14:44) The stronger sustained winds are one hundred ten miles an hour, up from one hundred five. Central pressure fell to nine hundred fifty eight millibars from nine seventy two. This is a sign that the storm is intensifying. The hurricane center expects it to become a major hurricane this morning. Now there's bigger tropical storm force winds now reaching one hundred and eighty five miles from the center. That's up from one hundred and twenty five miles. OK, that's roughly a 50 percent growth. Tornado risk now begins late this afternoon rather than this evening. (15:23) The hurricane center says landfall could come as early as this evening. All right. The track is barely moved. The forecast still brings the center ashore within the warning area tonight or early Saturday for Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Eglin. NWS Mobile's local forecast says wind sustained sixty five to eighty five miles per hour with gusts to one five. Tropical storm winds from early this afternoon until early Saturday and hurricane force winds from early this afternoon into the evening. Surge is again six to nine feet above ground in surge prone areas through Saturday morning. We are going to see another four to eight inches of rain with more in spots and major flooding possible. Tornadoes is a given. All right. Several are possible. I'm telling you all now we need to count on tornadoes. OK, north. The NWS Mobile says ordered evacuations should be complete. Anyone who's not left, it's time to to shelter well away from the surge flooding. OK, if you're still in Zone A or B, the window to leave safely is closing. Shelters are open. Davidson Middle School in Crestview that's pet friendly. (16:45) Raider Arena in Niceville. Bridges may close once sustained winds reach 40 miles an hour. All right. For evacuation and shelter questions, call emergency management 8 5 0 6 5 1 7 1 50. That's 8 5 0 6 5 1 7 1 50. The next full advisory is coming out at 10 a.m.. Now you can follow these updates. We've got them all out at new dot Emerald Coast connected dot com. (17:10) You can follow the storm on our Isaiah Storm Center and read the full National Hurricane Advisory right there. Something else that I find really concerning about this is I hate a dark at night landfall. Yeah, you cannot see anything. No, no. So, yeah, there's the update at seven o'clock from the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service in Mobile again. Technically, at this point, it is a cat to high end cat to and 110 miles an hour. (17:45) One hundred and eleven makes it a cat three. That's true. With with an expanded wind field that's grown by 50 percent overnight with the pressure that's dropped to almost 30 millibars in less than a day. And this thing is not done strengthening yet. So, yeah, it's it's time. It's time, folks. Stay with us. We're going to appropriate song this morning. Yeah, there are going to be some winds of change. There's the Scorpions on the classic rock station. One hundred point three KROCK. Schuyler Black, Bobby Dewrell, The B Team morning shows on the air. Yes. Waiting for another update here at 10 o'clock from the National Hurricane Center. (18:33) As you mentioned, Bobby, the ten ten four updates are the are the big ones. So we'll see. We'll see what changes here in two and a half hours. We did get the the seven o'clock update here a little while ago. Pressure dropped again. A wind field has expanded and we are smack dab in the middle of the cone. So most of the most of the models out there from from GFS to the icon, all the way to some of the the new haves, a haves, be H-man and the models all are all are showing landfall essentially between Pensacola Beach and Destin. So a lot of them centered in that Gulf Breeze Garcon Point, Midway Navarre area right now of Santa Rosa County. So, again, still can change here in the next 10, 12 hours before this thing reaches landfall. But that's kind of what we're looking at at the moment. Now, as far as sandbagging locations here in the area, there are several sandbag locations that you can access. We've got Stillwell Park here in Fort Walton Beach, Public Works in Crestview on Ferdinand Boulevard. (19:59) You've also got the Destin Public Works Operations Center over there. They are limiting 12 bags per person while supplies last. Santa Rosa County residents, if you're listening this morning, in Navarre at Leisure Street and Citrus Drive, Tiger Point Park in Gulf Breeze, and Pine Forest Road and Carroll Road in Milton. Over in Walton County, locations include Blue Mountain Beach, Miramar Beach, Freeport, and Defeniac Springs. And Walton County says bring your own shovel. B-Y-O-S. Pick up some garbage bags and bring them too, because there's going to be a good chance that most of these locations are out of sandbags for you to use. Yeah. So kind of at the makeshift point right now folks. So there's the update on sandbagging locations across our eliciting area. Also, Waste Management announced that it will temporarily suspend all residential and commercial waste collection services in Okaloosa County for today and tomorrow. Now, the suspension affects unincorporated Okaloosa County, Niceville, Destin, Mariesters, Cinco Bayou, and Chalamar. (21:15) Obviously, Fort Walton Beach has its own proprietary waste collection service, and the city said as long as the conditions are favorable for collection, they will continue today, but kind of expect a shortened day for many of those folks. (21:32) Yeah, yeah, because those, you know, they have a lot of windshadow. Are you talking about the garbage cans? Yeah, well, the trucks too. I mean, you know, it's it's kind of a rolling, you know, sale. You could say that. Yeah, you could say that. So anyway, that's the update at this break. We'll take a break, pay a couple bills. Are we doing an Ask Uncle Bobby today? Maybe, if I can get my stuff together. Okay, all right. We'll check the inbox, see what we got there. Stay with us. It's the B Team Morning Show on 100.3 KROCK. Journey and The Who do up next. The Classic Rock Station. It's 100.3 KROCK. Good morning, everybody. Here we are, Friday, October 9th, and we got that update top of the hour from the National Hurricane Center. Well, we've got a revised update that came out around 720, okay, and Bobby, Isaiah, has now become a major hurricane. (22:36) Yep. Now, this has been predicted all along. Correct. Yeah, correct. Data was received from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicating that Isaiah is strengthened to a major hurricane with sustained winds now of 120 gusts of higher gusts are in there as well. The minimum central pressure measured is 959 millibars. It's located about 240 miles due south of Pensacola, about 170 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi. There is your latest update, but it is up to an official CAP-3 at this point in time. We'll check in with Sheriff Eric Aden here in just a little bit. He's going to be joining us on the air in about seven minutes, and then, I believe, Fort Walton Beach Police Department Chief Robert Beige is going to be joining Bobby and I on the air shortly after 8 o'clock as well. So, we're going to do our best to keep everybody updated and informed with the latest info from local emergency personnel. Mm-hmm. All right. Stay with us. Jethro and Teacher. The Classic Rock Station, 100.3 KROCK. (23:55) Good morning, everybody. It's 7.50 on the B Team Morning Show. Schuyler Black and Bobby Dewrell. And, Bobby, we've got on the phone line with us, Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden joining us this morning for an update. Good morning, Sheriff. Morning, Sheriff. Hey, good morning. I'm sorry. One second. I'm getting off the phone with Senator Rick Scott. Rick, hold on. No problem. He's a busy man this morning. We certainly appreciate him taking a few minutes to chat with us. (24:27) I'm sorry about that. I apologize. You never want to not answer the Senator's call. So, anyway, how are y'all doing today? Well, we're waiting for a little bit of a breeze. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we are bracing for impact. I mean, our team's working with the EOC and our state partners, you know, had a little bit of a change overnight. I mean, I guess you guys can probably see the same thing I am, that, you know, we're anticipating a three midday today. (24:57) It just got kicked up to a three, according to the National Hurricane Center, about 20 minutes ago. Yeah. Yeah. With a, what, 120 mile an hour wind. Right. Right. But they're still expecting landfall with the wind shear to push that down by the time, you know, we're looking at a very low two or a strong one. I think it's going to be a lot similar or very similar to Sally, except for the slow progression that Sally dumped and dumped and dumped. This is going to move fast and be in and out of here. So, but as far as the storm surge, the rainfall, the percentages and all, I think, you know, we're all going to be pretty similar to that. The winds, etc. Yeah. Now, is this, you know, I was trying to remember, Sally fell right across Navarre, kind of midway, right? Is that? (25:45) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it did. And we were, we were on the eastern side. We're gonna be on the even further east, which, you know, they are expecting some potential, you know, tornadic activity, you know, with the, with the outer bands on the east side and all the way over to, you know, actually Port St. Joe in that area. Right. (26:06) Right. Yeah. And the, I noticed that the storm surge came up a little bit too, which I think was, is a little bit higher, but they're now saying six to, six to nine feet on the storm surge up from five to seven, right? Yeah. Well, I haven't seen that. All I saw was the five to seven, but if you've seen that, it's not surprising. I know that I saw something that looked, you know, on the national level that I was watching ABC earlier, the national level had it, had some things ticked up a little higher than what we're seeing being reported here locally. So maybe that's, but you know, obviously we want to be safe than sorry. You know, like I don't normally pull my boat out of the water, but I did just, this one looked like it could, could have some potentially strong winds and high storm surge. Yeah, that's, that's what I was, you know, a little bit worried about and, and what I've been looking at Sheriff, you know, much like you haven't grown up around here. I think we get a little desensitized at times, right? So yeah, you start going, Oh yeah, I actually said that about my brother yesterday to my cousin was like, you know, do y'all want to come up here? And I'm like, well, first of all, I'm not going anywhere, but my brother, you know, my brother just being born and raised here, you know, he just, he desensitized. (27:20) That's a good way to put it. Yeah. Yeah. But, uh, but it doesn't, you know, you still have to take precautions. You still have to look at it. And, and that's what I was a little worried about is I was looking at, uh, where that cone was showing in and it felt like this one might be in, you know, it might be coming a little bit closer, a little bit stronger. We're definitely in that, uh, that, that hurricane, but, uh, but where I see now to the, the sheer has already started widening it. And so that's, that's part of what a scholar and I were talking about off air is, you know, we're, we're at a point and we kind of, you know, yesterday there was a little bit of hope, Hey, maybe it could be a non event, but we're, we're at a point that it doesn't matter what this thing does. (27:58) Now we're, we're getting impacted somehow, right? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, sheriff, I know you're, I know you're super busy right now. Um, with this thing coming in here in the next, uh, eight to 12 hours, any last minute words of advice for, uh, for the folks here in Okaloosa County? Yeah. I mean, I will say you're going to see the winds pick up significant today throughout the day. By noon, we're looking at 40, uh, by this afternoon, we're looking at 60 mile an hour winds. The bridges are going to close when they get sustained at 40 miles an hour or stronger. So get where you need to be. If you're not on the road now, don't, you know, I would suggest to hold tight. We still have local shelters. We have a shelter at Davidson, a shelter at the college, a special needs shelter at Davidson. Um, you know, so we have those, uh, things available. You know, if they, if someone, you know, feels like that they're in danger at their local, uh, there's ways for them not to have to evacuate out of the area, but get somewhere, you know, pretty quickly before the wind goes through and just be patient. You know, I mean, we had, uh, in hurricane Milton, 4 million people have their power back on within 72 hours. I mean, it's absolutely not like the times of the dark ages of hurricane Opal in the nineties. Right, right. Yeah. There, there's been a lot of upgrades and changes made to the, to the, to the grid down here over the last several years and, and things that have gone in certainly. And, uh, you know, to, uh, to your point, I mean, now, now's a little, now's a little late to be getting on the road, trying to go anywhere far, right? The last thing you want to do is get caught on the road somewhere. So, you know, if you are going to shelter in place, if you're, if you're like some of us, you know, um, find an interior room, shut, shut all the doors that you can to all of your house, right? Because the worst thing that can happen as a projectile come through, blow out one of your windows and then start building pressure inside of your house. So you want to close all your interior doors, find the most interior space that you and, uh, and, and hunker down. But, uh, it is not too late to get to a local shelter. So by all means, you know, be, be safe. That's, that's what we want to Sheriff, talk a little bit because we've been under mandatory evacuation, you know for Zones A and B. What right what does that mean in terms of you? (30:10) I don't I don't think you're going out and arresting anybody today, right? Yeah, I'm glad you're saying that because it's very Confusing and we try to put it out there what? Mandatory evacuation means it means we're telling you that we highly recommend you to evacuate And if you don't there then it's just like what happened in Katrina is if it gets to a certain point We will not be able to respond So we've told you that you're in an area that's very dangerous and a very high risk And if you don't evacuate that we will do not expect us to be able to respond to you when the weather gets to a Certain point now, obviously our first responders put their lives at peril and obviously they will go if the weather conditions permit I mean, we will drive our vehicles over a bridge at 40 miles an hour if we need to save a life But what I'm saying is that it can get to the point where I remember Hurricane Opal when it was over a hundred miles an Hour, I couldn't even shut my car door, right? (31:05) You know We're not gonna put our deputies out there in And risk their lives for that when we've given you ample warning for the last two days Right and and and fire trucks and ambulances while they while they weigh a lot. They they are a huge Win-win-win-win tunnel, right? I mean it when the way it's them. They're they're top-heavy. There's there's a lot to them So it's it's just a matter of it cannot be operated But mandatory evacuation means means you're you're in an area that if those conditions arise to that The answer is going to be we'll we'll get there as soon as we can Period well the sad thing is to your point is we're not gonna forcibly remove somebody right in their house based on a minute That's the misperception people have however You know we also saw some very tragic results in Mexico Beach in that area after Hurricane Michael for people that weren't adhering to that so Right that's just merely a warning. You know that hey We're recommending a mandatory evacuation for those zones and that's that's that's determined by the EOC by Pat Maddox director Maddox and and the county And then you know we're out there trying to provide those warnings. You know knocking on doors. You know given PA system announcements Hey, do you know what the term SIS is do you and everybody thinks it's like a you know Spanish? (32:20) Connection or something like that on the hurricane names does it do you know what it is. I have no idea Yeah, it's biblical. It means God is my salvation Well there we go Well I I we're we're definitely gonna get washed away some sense today I Think we are It's like I said on we well we might get washed in the blood but uh But I'll tell you like I said on Newsmax yesterday. You know I mean you know we're praying for God's You know hedge of protection, but we're ready for whatever the devil throws at us because we are we are well prepared and and we'll be ready to serve and we'll get out there and and and certainly You know see what the aftermath looks like and pick up the piece And we pray everybody doesn't have the damage that this could potentially have but I will say this I'm glad I'm glad I thought about this I Really recommend people go out while they can and take pictures of the exterior of their homes their cars if that hasn't gotten out there Jimmy Patronus is big on saying that about you know documenting things And I've heard him say it because you know as a CFO. He was tied with all the insurance and And knows how all that stuff works And it is critical when you everybody knows you know how insurance works And you know we want to try and get people's claims insurance works And you know we want to try and get people's claims paid efficiently And there's no way better way than do that than a picture says a thousand words Absolutely yeah Absolutely, and and hey you know one thing. I want to say Sheriff and I you know I don't like getting ahead of ourselves, but if we don't get a chance to Talk again for a while once this storm passes through Please everyone remember you're not the only one that's gone through this event. We all have we all have damage we're all going to have needs and The best thing we can do is try to work together and and get along and get through this so you know Stockpiling greedy taking care of your own. That's that's not going to help us right. Yeah. Yeah, it's like the Black Friday on Walmart No, we don't want to see that you know that doesn't work for anybody's you know everybody loses in a situation like that You know we're all in this together. You know right well I remember the aftermath being over in Panama City after Michael and in the fights in the Walmart parking lots And in all of those things we we can be better than that right. We're okaloosa County We can be better than that and and we're all here, and we're all gonna get along I know we'll do everything we can to get information out and sheriff Thank you for for you your deputies everything y'all are doing to to keep us safe and to be there and help us through this Absolutely you guys be safe as well, and if there's something you guys need don't hesitate to reach out We will we will try to give you whatever service. We can well sheriff. We look forward again Thanks for the time, and we look forward to chatting with you on the other side of this system So it sounds great Schuyler y'all take care Bobby. Thank you Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aiden joining us this morning here on the B Team morning show so here in just a few minutes Bobby We're gonna be joined by Fort Walton Beach Police Department chief Robert beige here on 100 point 3k Rock. It's 802 Stick tight more classic rock is next maybe oh, man You got to keep it light-hearted somehow Bobby. Well. Hey, you know like I told you come Saturday It's party for me the drinking my sorrows aware. I'm celebrating that I gave him unscathed one of the two But all he's guaranteeing is that drinking is happening. Hey look man. I just know the way I live my life None of this is going down the middle One way or another that's right. There is no happy medium around here folks good morning 812 is the time Schuyler black and Bobby Dewrell the B Team morning show on the air brought to you by Stripes Pub and Grill in Navarre Okaloosa gas at outcast sushi and Miramar Beach and Bobby about 15-20 minutes ago We had sheriff Eric Aiden on the phone with this and now Fort Walton Beach Police Department chief Robert beige joining us in studio this Morning yeah, good morning chief morning Bobby. Good morning Schuyler. Why'd you say good morning to him first? I don't like that Beavis is Bobby. Oh see see he's just dissing the black That's true, that's true. Yeah the you know what the chief benchwarmer Tom is listening now and is so mad So chief how are things going house preparation going in the city, I mean, I think as well as we can I mean we prepare all year for it. We have plans we do tabletop exercises and Now it's game time. I mean this is really when everything comes together the preparation is done now. We're out there We're doing it whatever we can to make things better for the community And we'll just have to wait to see like you talked about Saturday Yeah, yeah, it's coming. I think they're predicting we get some of the first hurricane winds maybe mid-afternoon It's when it starts coming in maybe and I know we're gonna be start seeing effect early afternoon I think we start getting tropical storm force early afternoon. I would say problem. Yes, okay 2 p.m It's tropical for storm winds and then probably after about 8 o'clock in the morning We're gonna start seeing some of the first hurricane winds. I think we're gonna start seeing some of the first hurricane winds And then probably after about 8 o'clock tonight, you probably don't want to be out you don't want to be doing anything It's only gonna get worse after 2 p.m. And then just really get bad in the evening hours. Yeah Yeah, that's that the original I saw was like 8 to 2 was kind of the 8 p.m. To 2 a.m The window for the hurricane. Yes. Yeah, which which does not mean it's over right? No, that's the worst part of it I mean, that's when the strongest winds will come through that's when the storm surge will be in and everything else But I would tell everybody if they have to do anything today try and get it done before noon I mean you have to get gas if you need last-minute groceries Driving in here the gas lines. There was really no gas station that had lines. There's a free cars at each gas station I mean right now is probably your last opportunity to prepare. You should have already been prepared by this point Mm-hmm, but if there is like I'm getting schooled here But there is something that needs to be done I would say these first few hours this morning need to get them done after about 12 o'clock You probably want to try and shelter in place as best you can. Yeah. Yeah, definitely definitely now Chief Porter. I mean, what are some of the things y'all are looking for? (39:20) what are some of the things that that you've got going on and and being out because I know you know a large portion of Of the city of Fort Walton covers that pretty much sounds a and B the evacuation zone. So correct So yesterday we went around and we try to announce and try and make as many people aware that they are in a and B And in Fort Walton a and B is pretty much everything south of 98 Everything on the sound side of Brooks which was kind of the south side of Brooks, right? (39:47) A lot of the stuff that is right on Cinco Bayou right in Gardner's Beach right there along Choctaw Bay Mm-hmm, and then you have a little bit that sticks up off Robinwood right up around Hollywood There's a little sloth that kind of comes up there that is the A and B. (40:02) So that's the majority of our A and B. The other thing that we have in Fort Walton is we have a few areas that historically flood, especially with the storm surge. So the north side of Ferry Park gets a bunch of water. Generally, Shoe Street will get a bunch of water right between Eglin and Beale. (40:18) Ninety eight. If we have any type of storm surge, 98 will flood from the sound probably to about coral in certain spots, especially around City Hall. And then over in the industrial park, a little bit around Anchor Street and some a little bit in Sylvania Heights will flood off Gap Creek. (40:35) So if you're in those areas and it's historically flooded, be prepared because you'll probably have that similar flooding with the storm because we do have the storm surge and we will have probably several inches of rain. I mean, they look anywhere between four and six inches of rain, possibly higher, depending on how the storm comes and how the rains come through. (40:53) But you can prepare for probably a few feet of water if you live in those areas that historically flood. And Chief, I know you got off the phone. You said a few minutes ago with Public Works Director Daniel Payne about trash collection pickup today. I did. So the city is still picking up trash. (41:11) So if you're in the city of Fort Walton Beach, we are still picking up trash today. If your trash is not picked up by 12 o'clock, it's not getting picked up. You either put it out too late. Something else happened. They will stop picking up trash at 12 o'clock today. What about Bubba down on the corner that's trying to trim his limbs here in the last minute? (41:29) He waited too long because it is not getting picked up and those will become projectiles. Yeah. So if there's anything out and whether it's your trash cans, trash, lawn furniture, anything that can blow is probably going to get blown away. (41:45) So you want to secure any loose items, bring things in to include trash cans because we will play musical trash cans. Oh, yeah. When the storm hits your trash can may blow down the street. And if you're lucky, a trash can may blow to your yard. But it's better to secure all those items. (42:02) If you don't want them hitting your car, you can hit your house or hitting your neighbor's property or something else. So we do have this little bit of time still to start making those final preparations and securing those loose items that are out there. Right. Like as as Ron White said, it's not that the winds are blowing. (42:19) It's what the wind is blowing. That is true. And anything can become a projectile. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And in a hundred mile an hour when it's a deadly projectile. Yeah. Yeah. Trash cans that are sitting on the corner that don't get collected are sales. (42:35) Yeah, exactly. Goes back to the house. And the other thing, speaking on the flooding topic, is that if you see water and you don't know how deep the water is, don't drive through it because even in sometimes bad thunderstorms, we get calls of people that are stranded in their cars because they flooded out and stalled out. They stalled out. (42:54) I mean, if a few feet of water, your car can stall out. Yeah. If you're driving through water, you lose mobility of the car, maneuverability of the car and everything else. If you don't know the depth of the water, don't drive through the water and try to stay off the roads, because a lot of the storm surge flooding will recede fairly quickly after the storm. (43:14) Now, the localized flooding in low lining areas may stay there for a considerable amount of time afterwards. Right. But allow some time for the water to drain. Only leave after the storm if you have to leave, because we're going to try and clear the roads as quickly as possible between the city, the county and the state. (43:32) We need to have the roads open for emergency response, for FPL and for everything else. And anytime we have a natural disaster, a storm that comes through immediately after the storm, a lot of people are curious and they want to go outside to see what is going on. (43:48) Give it some time. Allow us to start restoring some stuff before you start really venturing out from far from your house. I mean, if you want to walk around your house, your neighborhood, that's fine. But if you want to go and sightsee, allow first responders some time to make sure the areas are secure and you laugh at it, Bobby. (44:04) It's that. Yeah, but I just I can picture the people doing. Yeah. Yeah. And you'll see the people that drive over Marler Bridge and then take pictures with their phone of Crab Island and hit somebody. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. After the storm. (44:19) The other thing, and I know it's been talked about a lot, the bridges. So the bridges close at 40 miles an hour. So FDOT will make that call because all our bridges are on state roads. So FDOT will make the call when the sustained winds are at 40 miles an hour. They will officially close the bridges. (44:36) So you want to make sure you're on the right side of the bridge before that. Yeah. Yeah. Be on the side that you need to be on. Yes. Because you're going to be there once it's closed. Well, chief, we know it's going to be a busy weekend for you in your department. So thanks for all that you and your department do for the city and keeping everybody safe and appreciate you coming in this morning, giving us an update. (44:57) And of course, if you get additional updates you'd like to share with us, please pass them along and we'll get the word out. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And and I mean, y'all are, you know, full shift running 24 seven as as always. Right. Oh, we actually have extra people. So we'll have double people right now and a little bit more than double during the overnight hours when the storm will be hitting. (45:18) So we'll have resources out there to respond. But the only cautionary tale to that is that when the winds are unsafe for us to respond, we cannot respond. Right. So you may have to be self-sufficient for a little period of time. Life safety always takes precedent. So if somebody calls with a life safety issue, we will do our best to respond. (45:36) But there may become some point when we can no longer respond. The other thing that we have and we hope that we want to reserve this for special need elderly. But if you're somebody that wants us to check on you after the storm, you can call our dispatch at eight five oh eight three three ninety five forty six. (45:57) And we'll put you on a list to come by sometime after the storm and just check on you just to make sure that everything is good at your house. If you don't have phone communications or something like that, that way you'll know at least somebody is coming to check on you at some point in time. (46:13) We can't guarantee that that's going to be at six a.m. Saturday morning. Right. But sometime during the day on Saturday, we will go down that list and we'll start checking on residents. The other thing everybody needs to be mindful for is that that storm can wobble a little bit left, a little bit right. (46:29) The more it moves to the east, the more effects we'll have. The stronger the storm gets, the more effects we'll have. So everybody needs to pay attention to the county's website, the city's website, your news stations, the radio stations have some means to get that information coming in so you can make the best decisions for yourself. (46:50) Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And the thing is, is to do do make make yourself safe. Right. And one thing, Chief, just, you know, to kind of reiterate, we went we went through it with with Sheriff Aiden as well. But we are mandatory evacuations. But that doesn't mean y'all are coming to arrest anyone. Right. (47:07) That it just means that, like you said, you are in a in an area that we know at some point we will have to say somebody from the city, the city, somebody from the state or the county had made a decision that where your property is, it's going to be unsafe for the weather that we're expecting. Right. (47:24) Currently, that's zone A and B. So you can go to the county's evacuation map. Their maps are posted in a bunch of places. And if you live in A and B, everybody is telling you that is the best idea if you are to leave. Yeah. We cannot drag you out of your house if you want to stay there. (47:41) You're basically going to be on your own. They'll be at some point when police, fire, EMS, first responders can no longer respond. And that's why we come up with some of these maps, because we know that those are the areas where there could be issues in this type of storm that's coming. (47:58) So if you live in an A and a B, it is highly suggested that you evacuate out of the A and B. All right. And then, you know, when one quick thing, chief, and I know we've been talking for a while, Schuyler, but you're fine. But one one quick thing that I want to we kind of touched on it with with the sheriff a little bit, too. (48:16) But the but the emergency operations center, the city, all of those things, you all have plans for recovery as well. Right. Right now we're talking preparedness, but there are plans for recovery. So, you know, the thing I want to say is, you know, I was one of the first ones in at Michael when that happened, and I saw the the shock and everything. (48:36) And it's just a reminder. We've all been through this together. There are actual plans for recovery. Everyone will get aid. Someone will come and help. Recovery is not the time to become selfish. Recovery is not the time to think you're the only one that's gone through this. (48:52) Right. Yes, we have plans to mitigate prior to the storm, which we're always working on. Then we have plans for preparation for the storm. Then we have during the storm and like you talked about recovery and if the damage is severe, there'll be pods that will be set up. There'll be distribution points. (49:09) They'll be set up and we will prioritize, like I said, life safety stuff. First, property safety. Second, normal response, probably third. But we will ensure that we do the best we can for everybody in the community. And yes, good stewardship, some fellowship, some community cooperation goes a long way during a recovery. (49:31) Check on your neighbor. If you have a generator, they don't maybe run an extension cord to them. Let their fridge run. I mean, there's little things that we can do as a community that will pay dividends during that recovery period. And I can tell you, we've already gotten requests from all over the country, from nonprofits, other government agencies, from state agencies, FWC, FDLE have all reached out personally from their top executives to say. (49:59) As soon as the storm passes, whatever you need, you will have. So there is already, the cavalry is already mounted and they're in Tallahassee starting to drift their way west. So as soon as the storm passes, we will have reinforcements. Now, they may go further west than us because that's where the landfall of the hurricane is, but wherever it is needed most, those resources will be. (50:23) The FPNL, and it was some ridiculous number, I think it was 4,800 workers are on standby in the greater area to immediately respond to restore power. And as we've gotten better, and that mitigation has had a lot to do with it, that we've hardened a lot of stuff. (50:41) So the storm of 20 years ago will not be the storm of today, and we'll be able to do a much better recovery because we've designed some of these plans over the course of several storms. Yeah, absolutely. That's a lot of pass along for our listeners over in Santa Rosa County, Gulf Breeze, Midway, Navarre. (50:59) Zone C has been implemented for mandatory evacuation in Santa Rosa County, so. Okay, Santa Rosa County has gone up to Zone C now. That's correct. Okay. So just wanted to share that. Yeah. All right. Chief, thank you. Thank you for coming in. (51:14) And I'm sure we'll talk to you more as this goes along and as we get out the other side, but we certainly appreciate your time this morning. Definitely. Sounds good. We value local radio because we can give out that local message to our local community. And in a storm like this, you need to have a radio available because TV can fail, internet can fail, but hopefully the radio keeps transmitting. (51:35) Chief Page is our biggest fan. That's right. That's right. That's right. We love it. You always count on local radio. Yeah, we do have plans here to staff throughout the entire storm. So you'll hear our voices. Yep. There you go. You know, I like to know that I'm the voice of common reason. (51:52) Is it opposite day? That's why I listen to Uncle Bobby. That's right. All right. It's 8.27. We'll take a break and look at your forecast. Music from Heart and the Stones coming up next on 100.3 KROCK. (52:09) The Classic Rock Station, 100.3 KROCK. It's 8.48. The B Team Morning Show is on the air. I feel like almost every song the last four hours has been so appropriate. Yeah, ominous. Yeah. Totos hold the line on this Friday morning. (52:28) Under 12 hours from the anticipated landfall of the hurricane. Hurricane Isaias, or what are they? I'm calling it Isaias. Isha Isha. Isa. Don't care. Hurricane Isaias. It is expected to reach landfall tonight around 8 p.m. (52:48) Obviously, those timelines can change depending on the speed of this thing, but it's booking right now. Yep. Yep. Moving north-northeast at about 15 miles an hour. We'll have another update from the National Hurricane Center this morning here at 10 o'clock. (53:05) Michael Knight will pass along the latest update to you here later on in the morning, but right now it currently is a Cat 3 hurricane. Major hurricane winds sustained at 120. That wind field, as Bobby said earlier in the show, has expanded more than 180 miles for tropical storm force from the center of the storm. (53:31) I hope you all stay safe this weekend. Again, we're going to keep you updated on everything happening. As long as Bobby has connectivity to his servers, we're going to keep everything updated at new.emeraldcoastconnected.com. All of the hurricane-related news and updates from the National Hurricane Center and from other local emergency management coordinators, we're going to pass that along at new.emeraldcoastconnected.com. (53:59) That's right. I will do my best to stay connected and keep you all informed. Absolutely. All right, folks. I'd like to thank our BT Morning Show sponsors, including Stripes Pub & Grill in Novar, Okaloosa Gas at Outkast Sushi in Miramar Beach. (54:16) Any parting words before we move into the encore hour? Stay safe. Stay safe and remember, if you're here, if you're batting down, there's a bunch of us going through this with you. We're all going to be here and it's how we work together. (54:31) It's how we come together as a community after this that defines us and is why, historically, this community has always recovered quicker, faster, and safer than so many of the other places because neighbors help neighbors and that's what we do. (54:47) If you're new to this area, this is your opportunity to step up and learn what true locals do. That's my thought. If this is your first time going through a storm like this, if you chose to stick around, don't worry. (55:04) Some of us old hats will be here to help out, but remember, you're not the only one that's faced this devastation. You're not the only one that's staring at this storm. The world is a little bit bigger than you. That's what I'm going to ask right now. Just remember the world is a little bit bigger than you. (55:20) There are plans. We heard it from the chief. We've heard it from the sheriff. There are plans. There is recovery. There is a Calvary that is ready to come in as soon as we're through the storm. All right. There you have it, folks. Stay safe this weekend and again, new.emeraldcoastconnected.com for the latest info as long as connectivity is available. (55:44) All right. We'll holler at you back here Monday morning on the B Team Morning Show with 100.3 KROCK. And that's a wrap on today's B Team Redux.