Alachua County under state of emergency as Dorian threatens

Aug. 30--Early impacts of Hurricane Dorian began being felt around Gainesville on Thursday as motorists hunted for gasoline and shoppers pulled cases of bottled water of store shelves.

Agencies across Alachua County met at the Emergency Operations Center to coordinate their response plans, but stopped short of cancelling events like tonight's high school football games.

Gainesville and Alachua County are opening sandbag stations Friday, with a limit of 10 sandbags per person:

--City of Gainesville Public Works, 405 NW 39th Ave., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

--Citizens Field, 1400 NE Eighth Ave., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

--Wayside Park, 11855 NW US 441, Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or until supplies run out. Motorists are advised to access the site via County Road 237.

A state of emergency that was declared for much of Florida on Wednesday was extended to Alachua County on Thursday. Although the projected path of the storm continues to shift, heavy winds, rain, and flooding are expected for the area. Tropical Storm force winds are likely to begin later in the Labor Day weekend and perhaps into Tuesday.

Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell said deputies and other employees have been put on notice that they may have to work on Labor Day and that vacation time that has not already been approved will not be granted.

The Combined Communication Center, which dispatches for county and Gainesville fire rescue and law enforcement agencies, will also be fully staffed around the clock if need be.

"They are prepared to go into what is called a 'lock in' where they will be locked into this building, which is hurricane-hardened. It's a real hardship but they are committed to doing their job," Darnell said. "We will have three chainsaw teams of deputies with three people on each team -- a spotter, a driver and a cutter. They will be responding to roads where they can clear it safely and not have to wait for the big rigs from public works."

Alachua County School Superintendent Karen Clarke said a decision on closing schools will be made as Dorian nears and will be determined by both the weather and whether campuses are needed as shelters.

In past hurricanes several schools have been used as shelters, particularly for people who have fled coastal areas for safety inland.

Another factor is safety on the roads, Clarke said.

"There's a point where running buses is not safe so when it won't be safe to have ambulances on the road, it won't be safe to have buses on the road," Clarke said. "If we have shelters on Monday, we won't be able to clean them to have school on Tuesday. It's one of those things were you just have to look at the whole picture and all of the little things that go into it."

Clarke added that "flex days" are built in the yearly school calendar to provide leeway for weather-related closures. If school closings exceed those days, the district would consider other options such as longer days to ensure the state requirements for the length of instruction time a year are met.

Gasoline supplies began running short across Alachua County on Thursday, particularly acute along Newberry Road.

When Hurricane Irma hit the state in 2017, Florida experienced a fuel shortage, which affected travelers traveling northbound to escape the storm. Gas stations were nearly all sold out of their supplies and the ones that had any gas had people in cars lining up hoping to fill their tanks.

Gov. Rick Scott promised residents that the shortage wouldn't happen again. His successor, Gov. Ron DeSantis, has already declared Florida to be in a state of emergency. The governor's office didn't respond to The Sun's questions on Thursday asking what specific steps his administration has taken for a potential fuel shortage.

In a news release, however, the governor's office said the state waived Florida hours of service and truck weights for fuel trucks. He has also requested Alabama and Georgia do the same to help trucks easily move throughout the southeast region.

"The state of Florida is working with industry partners to identify resources, including trucks, staff, etc. to distribute more fuel throughout the state," the release said.

Gainesville officials reminded people that their tap water will still be on, even if they lose power. City Commissioner Harvey Ward urged people to fill up containers of water at home to avoid having to go to the store and buy more expensive bottled water that "generally isn't tested."

Facebook users took to the popular group Word of Mouth to inform other locals where they can find water and gas. Some people passed up the opportunity to buy available Dasani water that was still lingering on store shelves.

"I'll just use the water in our swimming pool before I buy Dasani water," one person joked.

Almond's Automotive at City Line Marathon said it still has several hundred gallons of regular gas but anticipates to run out later Thursday, joining other stations experiencing shortages. Another gas truck will come arrive in the evening at Almond's. After that, the station will have to rely on its Jacksonville-based reserve.

John Ronan helped Tamika Swope pack cases of water and plastic bags filled with food into his car at the front of the Winn Dixie parking lot near Main Street on Thursday morning.

Ronan, an Uber driver, had ferried shoppers to Winn Dixie, Walmart and Publix stores around the city in the past few days, he said, and he expected to make more.

"Everyone should be stocking up," Ronan said.

Pallets of bottled water were stocked near the front at Winn Dixie, several Publix locations, Lucky's Market and Ward's Supermarket early Thursday, with people buying little else.

"Floridians, we don't go overboard, but we prepare," said Debbie Moore, a Melrose resident who works in Gainesville.

Moore stopped at Publix, 1302 N Main St., to buy water, dry pasta and bottled sauce, canned soup and batteries.

The store limited customers to five cases of water but still had a large supply at hand.

Moore said one of the reasons she fills her pantry with goods prior to a storm is that her rural home has gone up to two weeks without power.

"I raised three Eagle Scouts," she said. "We're always prepared and we see it as an adventure."

At Lucky's Market, 1459 NW 23rd Ave., Quil Cauchon, 22, a Gainesville native, perused the refrigerated beer. Her cart was filled with bread, water, canned goods, a couple six-packs of beers and two bottles of white wine.

"It gets really boring, so alcohol and board games are a necessity," she said.

This sentiment has become common, and so-called "hurricane parties" are endorsed by college students and adults alike.

At the parties, friends and family gather together to ride out the storm with good company, plenty of food and usually booze.

Cauchon is not worried about power outages in her home, which has happened in the past, but rather is concerned about potential flood waters coming through her garage door.

Sand bags are next on her supply checklist, she said.

Across town at the Winn Dixie Liquor Store, Bill, a Gainesville resident, tugged a shopping cart containing a bottle of Dewars Scotch, Tito's Vodka and Bacardi Black Rum back to his vehicle. "If I told you my last name, my wife would be upset with me," he said.

Bill said he prepared his pantry with nonperishable items, gassed up his car and tied down anything loose on his back porch of his Duckpond home.

"It's the kind of neighborhood where people prepare, have checklists," he said.

One business with its own checklist is locally-owned Ward's Supermarket. Employees scrambled to stock shelves with extra food Thursday. Ward Williams said that as long as conditions stay safe for employees, Ward's is expected to stay open during its regular business hours.

"As long as we can be, we will be here for the community," she said.

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