A phone call at 4:30 in the morning is never good news.
When Sheri McDonald was ripped from her sleep Wednesday morning by a blaring phone, she ran to the kitchen to answer. After seeing the 833 number, she was soon notified that school in Okaloosa County was canceled.
However, in her trek across the kitchen, Sheri felt something wet beneath her feet.
"I thought the dog had peed on the floor," she said.
But after she switched on the lights, it was more than their Chihuahua/Pomeranian dog Mako, could produce.
"The water was just pouring in," she said, telling The Log the water was flooding in under the door from her backyard.
"The kitchen was flooded … my whole house is," Sheri said, noting they have four inches of water in their home on Fifth Street in Destin.
"The hardwood floors are coming up," she said.
By 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sheri and her husband Capt. Bill McDonald of the Mindy Lou II had drained 65-gallons out of one of the bedrooms and 150-gallons out of the kitchen with a couple of shop-vacs, but there was still plenty of water in their home.
"We've never had flooding like this before, never ever. This is the worst we've ever seen," she said, noting they have been in their home since 2001.
"I wanted new floors, but this is not the way I wanted to get them," she said.
"We're actually very lucky because there are folks that have 2-feet of water in their homes. I know we're whining, but we are blessed."
Capt. Bill went down early to check on his boat at Heron Harbor.
"It (the boat) had come up almost to the top of the docks," Bill said, noting the water had risen almost even with the wooden boards.
"I had to re-tie everything," he said, but the boat was OK.
"It's been a scramble all day," Bill said.
But there has been a lot of hustling about town.
Given the heavy storms that pushed through the area, both the city of Destin and Okaloosa County declared States of Emergency, as flood waters inundated the Panhandle. The city of Destin closed all facilities today.
For the better part of this morning, Brooks Bridge in Fort Walton Beach and Mid-Bay Bridge saw closures, but have either opened completely or opened with lane restrictions.
City of Destin Public Information Officer Doug Rainer told The Log that the majority of what crews reported were “mass spot flooding,” but the actual damage caused wouldn’t be assessed until water recedes.
“Some power outages are taking place, but Gulf Power is working to restore those,” Rainer said.
According to Gulf Power’s outage map (as of 3:40 p.m.), there were a little more than 100 people without power in Destin. That number was easily more than 1,500 this morning, as the Indian Bayou area of the city was without power for a handful of hours.
There are still roadways closed throughout the city. As of the city’s 2:30 update, here’s the state of city roadways.
Legion Dr – open
- Beach Dr – open
- Vintage Cir – flooded
- Hwy 98 – open
- Indian Bayou Dr – closed
- Country Club Dr East – flooded but passable
- Kelly St (near school) – closed
- Sibert Ave – closed
- Calhoun Ave – flooded but passable
- Main St – closed at Coleman Lake
- Intersection of Indian Trail and Main St – closed
- Gulf Shore Dr – flooded but passable
- Sandalwood Dr – flooded but passable
- Commons Dr – closed
- Airport Rd – open
- Hutchinson St – open
- Luke Ave – open
- Cobia St – open
Okaloosa County schools were also closed today, and will be closed Thursday.