Panama City Beach – white waves continued to crash Bay County beaches Friday as Hurricane Ike charged toward the Texas coastline. “The water is still extremely rough,” said Carol Wagner, Beach and Surf supervisor with the Panama City Beach Police Department but not as high as yesterday. .
Though far from the storm’s path, Bay County continued to be buffeted from the effects of the trecherous storm that has chased hundreds of thousands of Texas residents inland. Dangerous local swimming conditions were expected to remain in Bay County today but diminish through the weekend, officials said. According to the National Weather Service, a high-surf advisory remains in effect until 10 a.m. Saturday.
Sgt. Tony Walker of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office Beach Patrol said high tides continued along the beach Friday, though it was not as extreme as Thursday. The wave heights “certainly have diminished, but not a lot.” Wagner said she expected red-flag conditions to continue through today and possibly Sunday. Walker said the 15-foot waves on Thursday decreased to 8 and 10 feet on Friday, while the double-red flag conditions remained in effect, meaning “there was still a high potential for loss of life.”
On Friday, people were walking along the beach “just trying to get their feet wet,” Walker said. Wagner said the Beach patrol was warning beach walkers Friday to stay out of the surf. “It’s still really rough out there,” she said.
On Thursday, the county responded to two surfers who got into difficulty, Walker said. One had to be picked up by the Coast Guard after getting into trouble at Bay Pass near the jetties. Another surfer returned to shore on his own after getting into trouble at Beach Access No. 18.
Walker expected conditions to slowly improve though the weekend as Hurricane Ike makes landfall in Texas and releases its energy.
The Florida Highway Patrol reported Friday afternoon that County 30-E at Cape San Blas Road in Port St. Joe had only one lane open because of flooding. Motorists were asked to use caution and recognize that the conditions on this road could change at any time. Also Friday afternoon, the FHP reported westbound lanes of U.S. 98 from Destin to Fort Walton Beach were open. One eastbound lane was open, but still had standing water on it. Motorists were asked to use caution in this area.
Be Careful!!
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