Destin

Not sure about now but I'm going June 2-6 and it doesn't look good around that time. Man I hope they stop this thing so they can start the cleanup.

Several medium to large size tar ball sightings were reported on the eastside of Mobile Bay on the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Confirmation still pending.

Ill be there for billy bowlegs myself....with my boat!!!

I'm going for the 4th. FML if the oil fricks it up.

Here's everything you need to know about Destin as of yesterday:

Situation Report # 12
Monday May 10, 2010 at 1200 hrs EDT

Charlie Crist
Governor

David Halstead
State Coordinating Officer

Weather Summary:

· Florida beaches are open.
· The 72-hour NOAA trajectory shows no oil landfall in Florida.
· According to the NOAA oil plume model, the oil spill is 100 miles southwest of Pensacola, 179 miles from Port St. Joe, and 340 miles from St. Petersburg.
· There will be a generally moderate southeasterly wind pattern across the Gulf Coast for the next several days. Rainfall is not expected across the northern-central Gulf today, but a breezy southeasterly flow of 10-20 knots is expected through Thursday. This southeasterly flow will have the potential to move new onto the coast of Louisiana. Seas will generally run 2-4 feet today and rise to 3-5 feet tomorrow as winds increase across the region.

Current Situation:
· Unified Command estimates release rate of oil from Deepwater Horizon at 5,000 barrels per day.
· This event has been designated a Spill of National Significance.
· Unified Command continues with a comprehensive oil well intervention and spill response plan following the April 22 sinking of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig 130 miles southeast of New Orleans.
· The cofferdam (containment dome) was lowered into the water on 5/6/10. Alternative solutions are being explored to resolve the issue with methane hydrate crystals. There will be no in situ (controlled burns) today.
· Approximately 10,000 personnel are working the on and offshore response, with an additional 2,500+ trained volunteers.
· Oil-water mix recovered (in gallons): approximately 3.6 million
· Response vessels in use: 290
· Dispersant (in gallons): 372,000 deployed/ 180,000 available
· 13 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines:
o AL - Dauphin Island, Orange Beach, Theodore
o FL - Panama City, Pensacola
o LA - Grand Isle, Shell Beach, Slidell, Venice, Cocodrie
o MS - Biloxi, Pascagoula, Pass Christian
· The National Park Service has 2 incident management teams in the Gulf region.
· NOAA expanded the boundaries restricting offshore fishing (more than 20 miles off the coast) in Federal Waters until May 17.

Florida Specific:
· Oil Containment Boom (in feet)
o 145,000 total deployment in Florida, 22,500 deployed 5/9/10
o Pensacola staging area: 13,400 staged/ 40,000 ordered
o Panama City staging area: 5,600 staged/ 10,000 ordered
· In accordance with established plans, protective booming is now being deployed in the coastal areas of Bay, Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton Counties. Maintenance on booms already deployed is also being conducted.
· There are 538 BP and contract personnel working on the effort in Florida.
· BP issued a 25 million dollar block grant to Florida; first priority is costs associated with booming.
· The incident command post in the U.S. Coast Guard's Sector St. Petersburg and the virtual planning cell in Sector Key West continue to focus on strategy and planning efforts.

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Was in Destin working this afternoon. The beaches were fine but they are thinking they are going to have problems very early next week. There were dozens and dozens of the large round haybails being unloaded on the beach near the "Whales Tail." They said they were taking no chances and would spread the hay in the water if the oil came to soak up the oil.

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Here's the Walton County plan:

Walton County has a plan to protect its beaches from a potential disaster

May 04, 2010 7:53 PM

Santa Rosa Beach, FL - Walton County Emergency Management in conjunction with C.W. Roberts Contracting INC, has developed a plan to prevent the oil from reaching the 26 miles of Walton County beaches. This makes Walton County the first county in our area to have a plan, outside of placing booms, that will take effect before the oil is on the beaches. Booms are 90 percent ineffective in open water. The plan encompasses three stages.

In stage one, barges equipped with blowers will be placed to spray hay into the water for the oil to adhere to. The hay will clump together with the oil and will make it easier to remove the waste from the water. The plan is to spot the oil as it nears our beaches, but is still miles off shore, and begin to spread the hay. (Video demonstration will be available on www.waltonso.org and the Walton County Sheriff's Office FaceBook on Wednesday)

Stage two includes 50,000 feet of New Green Type 4 belted silt retention fence ready to be deployed along the shores of the Walton County beaches. As needed, the fencing will be positioned along the beach as a second line defense against the oil. Bales of hay are being strategically placed along the beaches of Walton County and will be rapidly deployed in the case oil does reach the coast. The hay will be spread along the shore in front of the New Green Type 4 belted silt retention fence to capture the oil and will make cleanup easier. The oil covered hay can be cleaned up using the machinery the county uses to clean up the seaweed.

Stage three provides a great defense for our precious Coastal Dune Lakes. The lakes will be protected by concrete jersey walls, wrapped with the New Green Type 4 belted silt retention fence, placed and lined with GeoHay. GeoHay is made from 1-hundred percent recycled synthetic fiber. This product acts as a filter and is highly absorbent, as well as non-biodegradable, strong, and durable.

Additionally Regional Utilities and Murphy Oil have provided 10,000 feet of boom that is ready to be deployed. Until floating petroleum approaches the Florida Coast, it is impossible to predict the precise locations, extent and amount of time the boom equipment would need to be deployed.

The county is submitting the action plan to the Department of Environmental Protection seeking their approval. The county is prepared to move forward with this plan in an effort to protect the beaches of Walton County.

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Heading down that way in next few days. How far has oil traveled and what is expected over the next few weeks.

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Next few days, I would say completely fine. Next few weeks, not sure.


I live in Gulf Breeze, FL (Pensacola area). I went to the beach here yesterday and there was no smell of oil and no sign of it. The news here is optimistic because of favorable winds for the time being.

Parents are at Seaspray on the Island right now - told me they have been collecting oil balls and they are getting cancellations like crazy. Doesn't sound *too* bad. Right now, that is.

keep an eye on this forecast; updates nearly daily. looking good for panhandle...

LINK

Leaving tomorrow to go down there and take some students on their open water scuba certification dives and then to Pensacola on Satury/Sunday for their Advanced Certification dives. We will be close to shore and then about 9 miles out so I can tell you first hand Sunday night what it looks likes.