Gazebo Gazette

SITUATION OVERVIEW
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* OVERVIEW…At 1000 AM CDT, the eye of Hurricane Michael was located near latitude 25.0 North, longitude 86.2 West. Michael is moving toward the north near 12 mph. A northward motion is expected through tonight, followed by a northeastward motion on Wednesday and Thursday. On the forecast track, the center of Michael will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico through tonight. The center of Michael is then expected to move inland over the Florida Panhandle or Florida Big Bend area on Wednesday, and then move northeastward across the southeastern United States Wednesday night and Thursday, and move off the Mid-Atlantic coast away from the United States by Friday.

The primary impact will be storm surge of 1 to 3 feet mainly along the shores of coastal Mississippi, the shores of Lake Pontchartrain and Maurepas outside of the hurricane protection levees, and east facing shores of Louisiana outside of the hurricane protection levees. Secondary impacts will be locally heavy rainfall of 1 to 2 inches over portions of coastal Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana mainly south of I-10, and wind gusts that could exceed tropical storm force over portions of coastal Mississippi and extreme Southeast Louisiana.

POTENTIAL IMPACTS
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* WIND:
Prepare for hazardous wind having possible limited impacts across eastern portions of coastal Mississippi and extreme Southeast Louisiana.
Potential impacts in this area include:
– Unsecured lightweight objects blown about.
– Many large tree limbs broken off.
– Hazardous driving conditions on bridges and other elevated roadways.
– Scattered power and communications outages.

Elsewhere across Southeast Louisiana and South Mississippi, little to no impact is anticipated.

* SURGE:
Prepare for locally hazardous surge having possible limited impacts across coastal Mississippi, the shores of Lake Pontchartrain and Maurepas outside of hurricane protection levees, and east facing shores of Southeast Louisiana outside of the hurricane protectionlevees. Potential impacts in this area include:
– Localized inundation with storm surge flooding mainly along immediate shorelines and in low-lying spots.
– Sections of near-shore roads and parking lots become overspread with surge water. Driving conditions dangerous in places where surge water covers the road.
– Moderate beach erosion. Heavy surf also breaching dunes, mainly in usually vulnerable locations.

Elsewhere across Southeast Louisiana and South Mississippi, little to no impact is anticipated.

* FLOODING RAIN:
Little to no impacts are anticipated at this time across Southeast Louisiana and South Mississippi.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS
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* OTHER PREPAREDNESS INFORMATION:

When making safety and preparedness decisions, do not focus on the exact forecast track since hazards such as flooding rain, damaging wind gusts, storm surge, and tornadoes extend well away from the center of the storm.

If you live in a place particularly vulnerable to flooding, such as near the ocean or a large inland lake, in a low-lying or poor drainage area, in a valley, or near an already swollen river, plan to move to safe shelter on higher ground.

Always heed the advice of local officials and comply with orders that are issued. Do not needlessly jeopardize your life or the lives of others.

Closely monitor weather.gov, NOAA Weather Radio and local news outlets for official storm information. Listen for possible changes to the forecast.

* ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION:
– For information on appropriate preparations see ready.gov
– For information on creating an emergency plan see getagameplan.org
– For additional disaster preparedness information see redcross.org