Santa Rosa County is under a flash flood watch until 7 p.m. on Fri., June 16 and portions of southern Santa Rosa County remain under a flood warning until 1:15 p.m. A rainy pattern will continue across the area through the weekend, which could result in locally heavy rainfall and potential flash flooding issues. Santa Rosa County Public Safety will monitor conditions throughout the weekend.
The county's public works department has sand available on a first-come, first-served basis at the following locations:
- The corner of Leisure St. and Citrus Dr. in Navarre
- Tiger Point Park in Gulf Breeze
- Pace Fire-Rescue in Pace
- The corner of Pine Forest Rd. and Carroll Rd. in Milton
To report the flooding of a ditch or street, use the online Citizen Work Request form.
Residents must provide their own sandbags and shovel. Bags can be purchased at many local hardware stores. For information on how to make and use sandbags, visit the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. While sandbags can help mitigate to an extent, buying flood insurance is the best protection against flood loss.
Floods are the nation's most common and costly natural disaster and cause millions of dollars in damage every year. And get it sooner rather than later - flood insurance requires a 30-day waiting period.
Prepare now for severe weather. Make sure all family members know the plan.
- Have multiple ways of receiving alerts.
- Every home should have a NOAA weather radio, the first line of defense before relying on alerts through a smartphone.
- Smartphone weather apps are also an excellent delivery source of severe weather information and other disaster updates - especially in the overnight hours. Santa Rosa County's alert app - AlertSantaRosa.com - provides updates on emergency incidents (hazardous materials as well as severe weather) in the county at addresses of your choice (work, school, home, etc).
- Be sure that you have not disabled your alerts on your phone and that it is fully charged and within reach. If you use the "Do Not Disturb" feature on your phone at night, turn it off so that any emergency calls may come through.
For current weather events, visit www.weather.gov/mob. For information on preparing for disasters, visit www.santarosa.fl.gov/emergency.
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