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PALM COAST OBSERVER
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PalmCoastObserver.com
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2016
After the storm: Cleanup continues, beaches reopen, FEMA declaration issued The storm left about 1,000 ‘hazardous trees’ in Palm Coast and damaged 25 school buses. SCHOOL HURRICANE MAKE-UP DAYS SCHEDULED
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HALLOWEEN BOO BASH
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The school district, forced to add four days back into the school schedule to make up for the four days school was closed because of Hurricane Matthew, approved an amended school calendar Oct. 18. Two of the four makeup days will fall on the first two days of Thanksgiving week: Monday, Nov. 21, and Tuesday, Nov. 22. Another will fall on the last Friday before spring break: Friday, March 10. The last will be April 14, which had initially been scheduled as a teacher workday.
5 to 8 pm at Belle Terre Park 339 Parkview Drive Dress up for our costume contest, games, refreshments, & bounce houses!
Calendar of
EVENTS OCTOBER
SAT.- HALL OF MON TERROR
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Haunted House & Show at Fire Station 21 9 Corporate Drive For ages 12+ 7-9pm Oct. 29; 7-10pm Oct. 30; 7-11pm Oct. 31 FREE admission Your worst nightmares Come to life!
JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR
The mountains of debris from Hurricane Matthew are being whisked away, beaches are reopening, and FEMA has made the declarations required to help local residents rebuild. Here’s a look at how Flagler County is faring after the storm. PALM COAST CLEANUP EFFORTS CONTINUE
City crews are still picking up storm debris in neighborhoods, making multiple passes to make sure they get everything. “A total of a little over 600 truck loads have already been picked up,” City Manager Jim Landon said at an Oct. 18 City Council meeting. “It represents over 23,000 cubic yards of just yard debris. … And we’re not even halfway through with our first round. It is a huge task.” The city has asked residents to separate trash into three categories: vegetative debris (which will be mulched); non-vegetative construction debris, such as loose roofing shingles; and bagged yard debris and regular garbage. Meanwhile, city crews have also been checking trees around parks, trails and sidewalks to make sure
that there aren’t damaged limbs that could fall on people. City staff have estimated that more than 1,000 “hazardous trees” will need to be dealt with because they’re unsafe, Landon said. In some cases, city staff will have to cut down potentially dangerous trees on private property without the standard notice, “so we’re not waiting for the next wind gust.” The city has communicated with FPL to make sure areas that have PEP tanks — wastewater treatment tanks that rely on an electric pump to push wastewater out of the tank and on to city treatment facilities — are prioritized during extended power outages, so the PEP tanks don’t overflow or back up into people’s bathtubs, Landon said. “They have critical facilities that they prioritize,” Landon said. “One of the post-event efforts we’re going to make is that our PEP tank areas are included in their priorities.” SCHOOLS OPEN, BUT WITH SOME DAMAGE
Three Flagler County school campuses — Bunnell Elementary, Rymfire Elementary and Buddy Taylor Middle — were used as shelters during the storm, and another, Flagler Palm Coast High School, was used to house National Guard soldiers after the storm. Superintendent Jacob Oliva said
that as the storm had approached on Wednesday, Oct. 5, he didn’t really think it was going to hit. “I kept thinking to myself, ‘We’re not going open a shelter; it’s not going to hit. We’re Flagler County; we’re resilient.’ But as the day started to progress, my attitude started changing.” Then Oliva and school district staff thought they might have to shelter a small number of people — 20, 30, maybe 40. But the list of evacuation areas began growing, and, when the district opened its shelter at Bunnell Elementary at 6 a.m., school staff arrived to find a line of people waiting to be let in. Altogether, the schools housed about 1,900 people — about 700 each at Bunnell Elementary and Buddy Taylor Middle, plus about 500 at Rymfire Elementary — and about 250 pets. Before school resumed on Wednesday, Oct. 11, school staff arrived at classrooms to find handwritten notes of thanks left behind by people who’d stayed there during the storm. “Our message was clear that we knew folks didn’t want to be there ... but if they were going to come into our schools, they were going to get a first-class experience,” Oliva said. But the schools sustained some damage from the storm — “probably well over a million dollars’ worth,” Oliva said. “When we were able to enter our buildings, we found a lot of water intrusion,” he said. The roof at
SUN. PINK ARMY 5K RUN/WALK & 1 MILE SUPPORT WALK
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Join the Pink Army! 5K run & 1M walk start at 7:45am Florida Hospital Flagler All money raised stays in community for breast cancer prevention; Info: Palmcoastgov.com/ PinkArmy5K
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GAME DAY SOCIAL
HASSLE - FREE BOATING
Come to the Community Center for board games, cards & dominos! 12:30 to 4pm every Tuesday & Thursday FREE; light refreshments served
PALM COAST LOCATION SATURDAY OCT. 22nd, 11 - 3pm
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