City-Wide Late Evening Update (4-28-15, 11:40 PM)

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Posted by: Staff
Date: Apr 29 2015 9:43 AM

Dothan Receives Local Emergency Proclamation: The City of Dothan is currently operating under a "Local Emergency" proclamation. Local officials are currently working with State officials to determine the possibility of being declared eligible for FEMA assistance. 

Tentative Damage Assessment Numbers: As of 3:00pm today, here are the tentative damage assessment numbers for Houston County: 20 structures lost, 29 structures received major damage, 25 structures with moderate damage, and 17 structures with minor damage. These number are expected to increase as the storm recovery process continues. 

Importance of Establishing Reserves Fund: The Local Emergency proclamation allows the City Manager to make necessary expenditures from the City's reserves in order to "speed-up" the storm recovery response time. Establishing a "reserves" fund was a critical accomplishment for the current City Manager, Mike West, when he began his tenure with Dothan. 

Falling Limbs and the Loss of Power after Restoration: Falling limbs are creating a situation where areas that were previously restored with power are needing to be restored again. This occurred today in areas around Park Avenue and Fortner Street.

Working to Restore Power 24 Hours a Day: Through rotating shifts, crews for Dothan Utilities (DU) are maintaining their presence in the field 24 hours a day. DU Director Billy Mayes has stated that many crew members were forced to go home and take a break due to their strong-willed desire to remain working despite the need for them to get rest.

Major Construction Phase Nearly Complete: Major construction work is almost done. In contrast to a "normal" power outage, major construction means that crews are having to fully replace poles and drag wires from pole to pole. This type of work is more intricate and time-consuming.

Mayes has said that with major construction work being nearly completed, DU crews will begin to focus more on what's called "onesie-twosies," which are isolated areas where only a few homes are without power.

Due to the level of destruction, City emergency preparedness officials believe that it is quite impressive that the Dothan is moving from the stage of "major construction" to the "recovery" stage slightly under 72 hours after the storm ended.

Dothan City Schools Open: ALL Dothan City Schools will re-open tomorrow, Wednesday, April 29, 2015. Interim Superintendent Todd Weeks remained in close contact with city officials he was updated regularly regarding our progress with restoring power to schools and clearing roadways.

Todd Weeks has stated that without the quick and effective response from Dothan, their nutrition program did not receive a major loss in terms of food spoilage. He described their losses as only being minimal.

Lengthy Debris Removal Process: The Public Works department anticipates that the debris removal process to last for several weeks. The lengthy time frame is partially due to the "wave-like cycle" in which homeowners discard of their vegetative debris  (small limbs first, larger limbs seconds, then the trunk, and the stump).

Garbage Crews: Dothan's garbage crews will remain on regular schedule

Additional Police Presence: Police Chief Steve Parrish has stated that the police department will maintain their presence in areas that are still without power. They will also continue to provide assistance at locations that are set-up to shelter and/or feed citizens who have been affected by this storm

Parrish also confirmed that a Spanish speaking officer was sent to speak with residents who were identified as being storm victims with "language related barriers." The officer took a map along with him so that he could visually show them the locations of the city's shelter and food distribution centers.

Safety Issues During the Outage: Fire Chief Larry Williams would like to remind citizens to treat all down power lines as being"hot"....so DO NOT attempt to touch them!!! Also, please keep in mind, that sharp objects could be hidden within debris, so please be careful!

Keeping An Eye o Future Weather Conditions: Chief Williams said that officials are continuing to keep a watchful eye on the rainy / potentially stormy weather conditions that are anticipated to arrive tonight

 

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