Christian Peterson
reporter@riverbendnews.org
Hurricane Idalia tore through Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 30, with the speed of a freight train. She tore trees, power lines, sheds and even houses apart. She made landfall near Keaton Beach at 7:45 a.m. as a Category 3 with sustained winds close to 125 miles per hour. To everyone's surprise, she remained a hurricane as she tore her way through Northwest Florida. Lafayette, Suwannee and Hamilton Counties were all battered throughout the early morning hours. By Wednesday afternoon Idalia had stopped and became a tropical storm, but not before it could damage the lives of those in our coverage area.
However, law enforcement agencies from the tri-county area and beyond began wading through the destruction to help those who needed it. Power companies from across the state began banding together to bring the power back up for the estimated 190,000 who had lost it. As of Friday, Sept. 1, roughly 30,000 were still without electricity. Governor Ron DeSantis arrived throughout the affected areas on
Saturday, Sept. 2, doing his best to show that the state government had the back of those affected. Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez, Senator Corey Simon and Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson also stopped by Lafayette County to check in on the farming community. Representative Kat Cammack stopped by the areas she represents to offer any assistance she could. Then, to top it all off, the President Joe Biden made a stop in Suwannee County, showing support for those afflicted. Slowly life will begin to return to normal. For now, everyone will hold their loved ones close and begin rebuilding what was lost.
There are currently two points of distribution in Suwannee County providing water, meals and tarps: Branford Elementary School, 26801 SR 247 and Suwannee County Fairgrounds, 1302 11th St. SW. On top of that, meals will be available at the Suwannee Middle School bus loop, located at 1730 Walker Ave. sw, in Live Oak. Breakfast will be served from 7:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner from 4:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. Hot showers and bathrooms are available 24 hours.
In Lafayette County. the local disaster recovery center can be found in the Mayo Convention Center, located at 150 SW Community Cir. in Mayo. It is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. There are also comfort centers set up at Mayo Town Park and in Day providing washers, dryers, showers and bathrooms. Florida Baptist Disaster Relief is also available. For recovery services, call (904) 253-0502 or text “Idalia” to (850) 669-5676.
In Hamilton County, the three points of distribution providing food, water and tarps are the White Springs Tourism Center at 10499 Spring St.; the Jasper Civic Center at 1129 4th St., in Jasper and Jennings Mini Mart at 1186 Hamilton St. Furthermore, in Jasper, a comfort center providing hot food, showers, laundry facilities and other amenities free of charge can be found at 1509 Martin Luther King Dr. SW.
Although many are still reeling from the damages caused by Idalia, each community has continuously stepped up to help its citizens. In Branford alone, the point of distribution sees 100 volunteers a day, allowing the National Guard to go our and help clean up the surrounding areas.