Hurricane Sally Hits Home- Pensacola, Florida

September 16th has been a bad day for John Minor’s hometown of Pensacola.

This is the second time we have had a hurricane on this date. This storm surprised us with sustained winds of 105 MPH and the wind and surge from what was supposed to be minimal Cat 1 hitting Bay St Louis that ended up stalling as it came ashore as a strong Category 2 hurricane. Wind gusts of 121 MPH at Fort Morgan and 137 MPH, at an 18m-high tower, at Ingram Bayou were collected after the storm.

This was not the wind of Hurricane Ivan that also came in on this date back in 2004 but it was a longer, wet storm and when the lights are out and the roof is off it feels similar. Most of what I am seeing is floodwater everywhere, trees down and shingles off, along with flat roofs from the many older structures in the country’s oldest city.

The 3 Mile Bridge, or Highway 98, is damaged which connects Santa Rosa and points east to Escambia County. The 3-mile is a critical piece of NW Florida traffic movement and is causing huge challenges for everyone, myself included, as we take an hour and a half to go around what used to be called “Bo’s” bridge, a now well-thought of Garcon Point Bridge.

I am in the field in my own home town with my team of property damage experts as we go from location to location assessing and establishing values and damage for our local property managers, officials, and national clients.

Pensacola is a town of winners and we will be back in shape before the next Blue Angels show. Just Watch!