By Sydney Holder Riverbend News
Now that Tropical Storm Elsa, the earliest forming fifth-named storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean, has dissipated, it only seems fitting to take a recap of its aftermath in our covered counties. This includes the rising of the Suwannee River, power outages, fallen trees, structural damage and more.
There were warnings and projections issued last week for areas of the Suwannee River to flood, but according to data from mysuwanneeriver.org, none of the recorded areas in Hamilton, Lafayette and Suwannee County reached their flood stages.
A total of 3,588 out of the 25,200 consumers of Hamilton, Lafayette and Suwannee County lost power due to Tropical Storm Elsa; equaling 14.2 percent of their total consumers in the three counties. As of 5:43 p.m. on Thursday, July 8, Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative (SVEC) completed restoration of power to its consumers that lost power from Tropical Storm Elsa.
"I am grateful to all our employees for their dedication and hard work," SVEC's CEO Mike McWaters said. "I am also very thankful for the help we received from Bryant Tree Service, Musgrove Construction, Sparks Energy, Talquin Electric Cooperative, Central Alabama Electric and Dixie Electric. At times like this, it's good to have friends who are willing to lend a hand."
Suwannee County
In some areas of Suwannee County, areas received as much as five to six inches of rainfall. Suwannee County Sheriff Sam St. John explained that the majority of damage Suwannee County experienced was from fallen trees on roadways and power lines, but thankfully there was no street flooding.
On Wednesday, July 7, the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) revealed there were a couple of reports of fallen trees on structures that the SCSO and Suwannee County Fire and Rescue (SCFR) had responded to earlier in the day, one of these a home, but there were no injuries reported.
Following the exit of Tropical Storm Elsa, the SCSO stated on Wednesday, July 7, that a flood warning was still active for the Suwannee River at Suwannee Springs and that minor flooding was to be expected in the upcoming days.
According to mysuwanneriver.org, as of Thursday, July 8, the Suwannee Springs was recorded at 54.30 feet above mean sea level; Friday, July 9, at 55.41 feet; Saturday, July 10, at 55.70 feet; Sunday, July 11, at 55.55 feet; and 10:15 a.m. on Monday, July 12, at 55.46 feet. The flood stage for Suwannee Springs is 60 feet above the mean sea level. So although the Suwannee Springs rose from Tropical Storm Elsa, the river did not flood in this area.
As of 11 a.m. on Monday, July 12, the Suwannee River in Branford was 20.21 feet above mean sea level, the highest it has been since Thursday, July 8, at 15.60 feet above mean sea level. The Suwannee River in Branford is at flood stage at 25 feet above mean sea level.
Similarly, the Suwannee River at Nobles Ferry Bridge, Suwannee River State Park and Dowling Park have continued to rise in the following days after Tropical Storm Elsa but have not reached their flooding stages.
The SCSO stated on Wednesday, July 7, that SVEC reported about 3,000 Suwannee County consumers without power and Florida Power and Light reported around 270 outages.
As of 6:18 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7, SVEC reported 1,900 Suwannee County power outages, roughly 10.7 percent of their total Suwannee County consumers. The crews remained hard at work that night to service their consumers and as of 8:14 a.m. on Thursday, July 8, a reported 681 Suwannee County consumers were out of power, equaling roughly 3.8 percent of their total Suwannee County consumers.
Hamilton County
In some areas of Hamilton County, areas received as much as five inches of rainfall. Fortunately, there was no reporting of structural damage to Hamilton County Emergency Management.
As of 6:18 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7, SVEC reported 1,100 Hamilton County power outages, 27.5 percent of their total Hamilton County consumers. The crews worked through the night, and as of 8:14 a.m. on Thursday, July 8, a reported 269 Hamilton County consumers were out of power, equaling roughly 6.7 percent of their total Hamilton County consumers.
The Suwannee River in White Springs rose very little, from 70.89 feet above mean sea level on Friday, July 9, before returning to 69.97 feet as of 10:30 a.m. on Monday, July 12. The river is projected to fall to 69 feet above sea level on Friday, July 16. The Suwannee River in White Springs reaches flood stage at 74 feet above mean sea level, so there was no river flooding for Hamilton County.
Lafayette County
Lafayette County Emergency Management reported that Wednesday, July 7, Mayo received 2.93 inches of rain and that the Mallory Swamp Area received 3.25 inches of rain. From the rainfall from the past two weeks, from Sunday, June 20, through Tuesday, July 6, Mayo received 11.91 inches of rain.
Lafayette County had three structures sustain minor damage from Tropical Storm Elsa, two homes and one shed. A sinkhole also opened from all of the recent rain on NW County Road 536, in Mayo.
As of 6:18 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7, SVEC reported 588 Lafayette County power outages, 17.4 percent of their total Lafayette County consumers. The crews worked through the night, and as of 8:14 a.m. on Thursday, July 8, a reported 123 Lafayette County consumers were out of power, equaling roughly 3.6 percent of their total Lafayette County consumers.
The Lafayette Blue Springs Pool rose from 26.19 feet above mean sea level on Thursday, July 8, to 30.10 feet as of 10:45 a.m. on Monday, July 12.