Sand available at four locations within the county

Santa Rosa County may experience heavy rainfall resulting in flooding from Invest 93L. According to the U.S. National Weather Service Mobile Office, local impacts will be dependent on whether this system stays near the coastline or stays out over the Gulf and may include:

• Isolated to scattered storms containing heavy rainfall are expected to begin as early as Wednesday afternoon/early evening and potentially last through Friday morning. Heavy rainfall could lead to flooding concerns.
• A high risk of deadly rip currents beginning Thursday.

Due to the potential flood threat, the county's public works department has sand available on a first-come, first-served basis at the following locations:

• The corner of Leisure Street and Citrus Drive in Navarre
• Tiger Point Park in Gulf Breeze (1370 Tiger Park Lane)
• Pace Fire-Rescue in Pace (4773 Pace Patriot Boulevard)
• The corner of Pine Forest Road and Carroll Road in Milton

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 ( www.flash.org ) . 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.

Be prepared. 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 during overnight hours. Santa Rosa County's alert app - AlertSantaRosa.com - provides updates on emergency incidents (hazardous materials and 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/974/Emergency-Management .

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