Volusia County Ian Update 25: Emergency Operations Center stresses safety messages

Ormond Beach Observer
News

by: Volusia County Community Information

With the powerful Hurricane Ian leaving behind catastrophic rainfall and wind damage, county emergency management officials are urging residents to stay off the roads, shelter in place and continue to put safety first.

Volusia County's Public Works director emphasized that Volusia County has not had a storm of this magnitude when it comes to rainfall.

“A 100-year storm event is roughly 11 inches of rain over a 24-hour period,” said Bartlett. “Ian just dropped more than double that amount across Volusia County. Do not take the risk driving into a flooded area, turn around, don’t drown.”

Volusia County remains under both a tropical storm warning and a flood warning. Local officials are anticipating an additional 1 to 3 inches of rainfall into the night, with possible tropical storm force winds as the outer bands of Ian move over the county.

“We are very much in the response mode,” said Volusia County’s interim emergency management director, Jim Judge, in a Wednesday afternoon briefing at the county’s emergency operations center in Daytona Beach. “We have Volusia County Fire Rescue, Beach Safety/Ocean Rescue in partnership with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office and as we move forward, we’re going to move into recovery mode.”

Storm safety

The speakers at Thursday’s news briefing emphasized the following points:

With the impacts of Ian just now being realized, this isn’t the time to be out on the roads. Residents are urged to shelter in place and stay off the roads until they’re notified that it’s safe to go out. Standing water, downed trees and other debris make roads dangerous and impassible. Public works crews will start to conduct their assessments and clean things up after the storm has passed. Help create a safer working environment for all emergency crews working to restore services by staying off the roads.
If out on the road, motorists should be aware that some traffic signals may be temporarily inoperable. When approaching an intersection where the traffic light isn’t working, it should be treated as a 4-way stop.
Residents are urged not to go in the water at county beaches due to extremely dangerous ocean currents and waves.
If residents encounter a downed power line, they should assume it’s live and never touch it or go near it.
Regarding generator safety, never use a generator indoors or outside near windows, vents or air intakes that could allow carbon monoxide to come indoors. This could be fatal. Also, proper ventilation is critical to reducing the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator’s engine exhaust. And when using one, be sure to maintain plenty of air flow space around the generator.

A countywide curfew remains in effect from 8 p.m. Thursday through 7 a.m. Friday morning.

Updated information can be found at Volusia.org/PIN. Also, the Citizens Information Center (CIC) remains open to answer questions. The phone number is 866-345-0345.