Power Restoration Could Take Weeks
October 13, 2018
Thousands of Hurricane Michael victims in the Panhandle will be without power for weeks, according to Gulf Power.
Crews restored power to more than 40,000 Gulf Power customers with more than 4,400 storm personnel mobilized and working in the hardest hit areas.
“All of our crews are out working and customers will be seeing more bucket trucks in the hardest hit areas,” said Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power spokesperson. “We also have drones and helos in the air today to provide us with more detailed reports of our system.”
“Customers in the hardest hit areas should prepare to be without power for weeks. Gulf Power has not given an estimated restoration time for the hardest hit areas including downtown Panama City, Callaway, Parker, Lynn Haven, Youngstown and surrounding areas.
Restoration estimates have been announced for several areas:
- Bay County west of Highway 79 is estimated to be restored by midnight, Oct. 14.
- Bay County east of Highway 79 to the Hathaway Bridge is estimated to be restored by midnight, Oct. 15.
- Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties are estimated to be restored by midnight, Oct. 19.
Fall Festivals Today In Gonzalez, Cantonment
October 13, 2018
There are fall festivals today at the Gonzalez United Methodist Church and at Carver Park in Cantonment:
Gonzalez United Methodist Church Fall Festival
Gonzalez United Methodist Church will hold their annual Fall Festival on Saturday, October 13, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. There will be an arts and crafts show, children’s activities, live music, and food concessions will be available. The event is free and everyone is welcome. The church is located at 2026 Pauline Street in Cantonment. For more information call (850) 968-6006 or visit www.gonzalezmethodist.org.
Pine Forest Assembly of God
The Cantonment Arts and Crafts Festival is going on Saturday at the Pine Forest Assembly of God, 3125 Pine Forest Road. Entry is free, and a lunch plates will be available for $7.
Cantonment Fall Festival
A Fall Festival will be held Saturday, October 13, from 11 a.m. until dark at Carver Park in Cantonment. Live music performances, food and craft vendors, and kids area. The park is located at 208 Webb Street in Cantonment.
Tate Volleyball Celebrates Senior Night
October 13, 2018
Tate High School volleyball celebrated Senior Night Friday.
Tate volleyball seniors are Lauren Seibert, Kasey Scott, Karen Hill, Grace Talbert, Claire Robinson and Olivia Oxendine.
Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Sunny, Comfy Weekend
October 13, 2018
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 63. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 86. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 67. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Calm wind.
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. North wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 61.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 82.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 65.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81.
High School Football Finals
October 13, 2018
Here are tonight’s high school football finals from the North Escambia area:
FLORIDA
- Escambia 37, Tate 32 [Read more...]
- Pensacola Catholic 41, Northview 22 [Read more...]
- Washington at Pine Forest, 7 p.m.
- Gulf Breeze 45, Pace 42
- Navarre 49, Milton 12
- Panama City Bay at West Florida – POSTPONED
- Pensacola at Panama City Arnold – POSTPONED
ALABAMA
- Escambia County 24 Andalusia 3
- Escambia Academy 42, South Choctaw Academy 20
- Mobile Christian 16, Flomaton 12
- Thomasville 28, T.R. Miller 12
- W.S. Neal at Williamson, 7 p.m.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
Kenneth R. Morgan
October 13, 2018
Kenneth R. Morgan of Molino passed away peacefully in his home Tuesday, October 9, 2018, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was 75. Mr. Morgan was born in the Tatertown area of Pensacola on August 12, 1943. He worked in the electrical power industry for more than 51 years. He worked for R. H. Bouligny for 30 years, Gulf Power for 16 years, and Gulf Power Contractors for five years.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Grady and Mable Morgan; three siblings, Judy Pearl, Michael, and Perry.
He is survived by his wife, Betty Morgan, three siblings, Tim Morgan (Barbara), Pat Powell, and Teresa Morgan (Danny), three daughters, Sheila Bozeman (Steve), and Krystal Zepp (Matt), and Sammie Copple (Shane); grandchildren, Connor, Logen (Kaitlyn), Cameron, Will, Morgan, Gavin, and Quinton; great-granddaughter, Emmerson; and many special nieces and nephews.
Kenneth brought joy to family, friends, and countless children at local schools and other events as Santa Claus for many years. He was a gentle giant who loved, and was loved by all who knew him.
Funeral services will be held on Monday October 15, 2018, at Faith Chapel North. The family will receive friends from 4:30 pm until funeral services begin at 6:00 pm.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is entrusted with arrangements.
Rosalyn Slay
October 13, 2018
Ms. Rosalyn Slay, 65, passed away on Sunday, October 7, 2018, in Daphne, Alabama.
Ms. Slay was a native of Bay Minette, AL and had resided in Baldwin County, AL most of her life. She is preceded in death by her parents, Alvin Charles and Ruth Slay, Jr.
She is survived by her brother, Charles Edward Slay of Daphne, AL; sister, Martha C. Slay of Daphne, AL; nephew, Mark (Karen) Moore of Daphne, AL; two great nephews, Reilly Moore and Colston Moore both of Daphne, AL and one great niece, Kaylee Owens of Chatham, AL.
Visitation was held Friday, October 12, 2018 from 10:00 AM until 12 Noon at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Mary LaVonne LaCoste
October 13, 2018
Mary LaVonne “Vonnie” LaCoste, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend was welcomed into the kingdom of Heaven on October 10, 2018 following a characteristically courageous and hard-fought battle with Alzheimer’s. She was 82.
Born the sixth of seven children on April 9, 1936, in Jay, Florida to Andrew and Lilly Mae Dunsford, Vonnie had fond memories of her childhood where she helped pick cotton in her sharecropper father’s fields and learned to cook biscuits when she was so little she had to pull up a chair to stand on beside her mother. She was raised in both Jay and Century and attended Century High School, where she met the love of her life, Melvin LaCoste. At 16, she married Melvin and they shared 61 years of love, laughter, tears and joy before he passed away in 2014.
Melvin attended apprenticeship school and learned to be an electrician. The trade took the young couple from Pensacola to New York City in the early 1950s where a teenaged Vonnie who had never been to a city bigger than Pensacola learned to navigate Manhattan. Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, they made their home where work took them: Utah, Idaho, California, Texas and Birmingham, Ala. Vonnie never forgot the adventures their travels yielded, nor the friends they met along the way. But home for her was always Florida and she was never completely content until she was there.
Vonnie worked as a waitress as a young woman, and later at Monsanto, but her true calling was motherhood and she was never so happy as when she had a baby to tend to, whether it was one of her own four children, her many nieces and nephews, grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Babies and small children gravitated to her; she could soothe the fussiest and calm the most temperamental. While adults might try her patience, she had an endless supply for children, and never seemed to tire when taking care of them.
Beautiful, feisty, smart, funny-Vonnie was an introvert in an extravert’s body. She was happy to be alone with her nose buried in a book, but could be the life of the party telling stories and jokes. She took pride in keeping an immaculate home, cooking Southern food that could rival any five-star chef, and providing common sense advice and a sympathetic ear in equal measure to her children. She and Melvin were dedicated members of Smyrna Baptist Church for more than four decades and their church family was a constant anchor in their life.
Vonnie enjoyed traveling with her husband and with her beloved late sister, Betty Fuller, and especially loved the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. She loved country music artists like George Jones, Johnny Horton, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn and sang their songs to generations of children as she rocked them to sleep. But to her no one sang as sweetly as her own Melvin and she could never reconcile herself to being separated from him, even if temporarily. Those who love her are rejoicing in their reunion.
Vonnie was a matriarch of a massive extended family, all with personal memories of how she touched their lives. She will be remembered for her beauty-both inside and out-her fierce loyalty, her strong faith, her tender heart, and her passionate love for her husband and family.
Vonnie is preceded in death by her husband, Lawrence Melvin LaCoste, Sr.; parents, Andrew and Lillie Mae Dunsford; sisters, Cammie Simmons and Betty Fuller; and brothers, Dewy, Rudolph, Cleon and A.T. Dunsford.
She is survived by her four children and 12 grandchildren, Skip LaCoste of Pensacola, wife Jean and children Kari LaCoste-Jones, Joshua and Sarah Emerich; Tim LaCoste of Slidell, La., wife Vickie and children Megan Gulledge, and Leanne and Chantry Huffman; Scott LaCoste of Chumuckla, wife Mitzi and children Wyatt and Cameron LaCoste and Alexis and Nate Gentry; and Jenny LaCoste Caputo of Austin, Tx., husband Anton and children Dante and Lexi. She also survived by nine great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers are grandsons Joshua LaCoste, Dante Caputo, Wyatt LaCoste, Cameron LaCoste, and nephews Bryan LaCoste, Danny Fuller and Marc Fuller.
Funeral services were held Saturday, October 13, 2018, at Faith Chapel North, with interment at Bayview Memorial Park, 3351 Scenic Hwy., Pensacola.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.
Michael Recovery Starts Amid ‘Unimaginable’ Destruction
October 12, 2018
Gov. Rick Scott called the destruction from Hurricane Michael “unimaginable,” as “homes are gone, businesses are gone.”
A state emergency-management official said all hospitals in the impacted region have reported some form of “critical failure” — water and sewage problems or infrastructure issues such as crumbling walls — that required patients to be relocated and medical field hospitals to be set up. (Pictured left: A patient from Panama City arrives at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola on Thursday.)
The official said that after Hurricane Irma in September 2017, a field hospital was required in the Florida Keys for a year, and similar situations may be required with Michael.
Similar issues were arising at nursing homes, and crews were flying in supplies to Florida State Hospital at Chattahoochee, which serves patients with mental illness.
Meanwhile, the state is expecting a surge in humanitarian needs, from a lack of food and water to housing
Scott traveled Thursday afternoon with the Florida National Guard to Panama City and Mexico Beach, where Michael came ashore midday Wednesday with 155 mph maximum sustained winds, the strongest ever recorded in the region.
Scott, who expressed frustration about people dismissing evacuation orders on Tuesday as Michael rapidly grew into a Category 4 storm, told evacuees not to return home as roads remain closed by flooding, downed trees and power lines.
“It’s going to take some time to survey and clear all the roads,” Scott said.
The Florida National Guard has deployed 3,500 members for search-and-rescue and humanitarian aid, with assistance from National Guard units from as far away as New York and Kansas. The Florida Highway Patrol has 450 troopers working in the Panhandle, while 150 Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers are conducting rescue missions.
Search teams — working by air, boat and on the ground — have entered Panama City, Mexico Beach, Alligator Point, Eastpoint, St. George Island and Apalachicola. The U.S. Coast Guard ran 10 rescue missions into the region Wednesday night.
The Red Cross is bringing in 500 disaster relief workers.
More than 5,000 people were in 34 shelters that have been opened across the region.
by The News Service of Florida
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Bodies Of Two Flomaton Residents Found In Texas; Third Resident Still Missing
October 12, 2018
UPDATE — The Junction (TX) Police Department said the bodies of two flood victims were recovered Thursday. Both were reportedly from Flomaton; their names have not been officially released by authorities.
“Search and Rescue operations located two bodies along the edge of the South Llano River approximately nine miles downstream from the South Llano Recreational Vehicle Park in Junction, Texas,” the department said. “…Names of victims will not be released until autopsies have been completed.”
Two other people, one from Flomaton and one from Texas, remain missing.
Previous story:
Three Flomaton residents are among four people reported missing after a flash flood Monday morning in Junction, Texas, about 140 miles west of Austin.
Charlotte Moye, Joey Huss and Mike McGee, all of Flomaton, have not been seen since they were apparently swept away by the South Llano River. Flomaton residents Janet Shultz, Todd Shultz and Darlene Huss were rescued on Monday. Janet Shultz was found about 23 miles downstream and airlifted to San Antonio.
Darin Hartman of San Angelo, Texas, is also still missing, according to local news reports.
Moye had gone to Junction to deliver a vehicle to another family member. The missing were at a RV park next to the river when the waters rose rapidly after a deluge of rain, sweeping everything away.
Numerous Flomaton residents are joining scores of others in the search, including the U.S. Border Patrol, Texas Parks and Wildlife and other agencies. The Junction Police Department said Wednesday that the search and rescue mission will continue for several days.
Pictured: A pickup truck buried by flooding along the South Llano River in Junction, TX. Pictured inset: State crews search from the air Wednesday along the river for four missing people. Pictured below: Vehicles, motor homes and other debris line the river area. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
