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Debby's Dousing Results In Chaotic Monday

    A tropical system’s trailing winds brought saturating rains, power outages, and emergency management disruptions to Lake County on Monday.  Hurricane Debby made landfall in the Steinhatchee area midday on Monday as a category 1 hurricane, with the storm’s trailing wind bands hitting Lake County and bringing a variety of public service operational problems with them.
    Chiefly, Lake County’s 911 emergency response system was impacted, with the county reporting ‘intermittent’ disruptions in the system.  The problem was part of a larger problem in the Tavares area brought about by a significant power outage.  Lake County reportedly relocated its emergency operations center from its own offices to elsewhere in Tavares.
    “Due to the storm, we lost essential functions in the building,” said Sarah Lux, Lead Public Information Officer for Lake County of the EOC problem.  “To ensure continuity of service, we moved to the nearby Tavares EOC to continue operations without impairment.”  By Monday afternoon, operations had been restored to the regular county EOC.  County staff reported that a blown transformer coupled with a failure in the backup system led to the problem.  Both the cities of Tavares and Leesburg were recognized by the Lake County Commission on Tuesday for their support of the county while it made repairs.
    Significant rainfall totals and power outages were reported throughout the area on Monday, with Duke Energy carrying the largest outage load with 450 customers out in the Grand Island area, 99 in Dona Vista, 2,500 in the Eustis/Tavares area, and 14,000 in the Howey-in-the-Hills area.  Clay Electric reported over 1,500 outages in its Astor and Marion County service areas.  SECO Energy reported the fewest outages in the area, with less than a dozen outages in the North Lake County area reported as of midday Monday.
    The City of Umatilla reported only minor issues resulting from the weather, with small amounts of storm debris reported and a tree down in the area of Glendale cemetery.
    In Eustis, the city reported little impact on operations from the weather.
    “The city is faring well,” said city public information officer Kay Yaccarino on Monday. 
    Debby’s lasting impact will be felt from its rainfall totals, which rose to as much as five reported inches in the Umatilla area.  Totals varied widely, however, with automated stations in Paisley and Umatilla reported just two and three inches, respectively.  Rain tracker John Bates in Pittman reported four inches. 
    Lake County attempted to help residents be prepared for the weather, providing sandbag locations throughout the county.  Residents were able to take up to 10 bags each, and locations were busy.
    "We've done 250 bags so far," said Wayne Herrell, a Lake County employee who was staffing a sandbag location at the North Lake Regional Park on Saturday.  The location was staffed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in advance of the storm to assist residents.
    Lake County government closed its libraries and administrative offices on Monday due to the storm, but Lake Sumter State College continues operations as normal, as summer classes are wrapping up and final exams are underway.