Dothan area escapes wrath of Fay

Much of the Wiregrass escaped the wrath of tropical depression Fay with only minor flooding hitting some communities.

Clark Matthews, director of the Dothan Houston County Emergency Management Agency, called the storm a good training exercise for local emergency officials in the case of a hurricane.

“We escaped a lot of the storm’s impact,” Matthews said.  “We actually expected more and were prepared for more. But we lucked out, and we didn’t get the brunt of it.”

Matthews said Dothan Houston County EMA fielded more than 300 calls for service ranging from a flooded home to tree limbs on power lines. Matthews said the area was prepared for the worst. Officials gave out more than 2,000 sandbags to area residents to help prevent flooding. 

Ron Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service out of Tallahassee, Fla., said the Dothan area averaged about 4.5 inches of rain over a 48-hour period starting Friday. 

Block said a few strong thunderstorms were expected overnight and into Monday morning, with possible high wind gusts from the “extreme back end of Fay.” Later in the week, he said, the area was expected to return to its summer time routine of daily thunderstorms and showers. 

Much of the Wiregrass was under a tornado watch for most of Sunday from 11:45 a.m. to 9 p.m. The tornado advisory included Barbour, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Pike counties, according to the National Weather Service Web site. 

The National Weather service issued a flood warning for the Newton area in Dale County for areas near the Choctawhatchee River. The warning will continue from Monday afternoon until late Tuesday night, unless it’s canceled. At 10:30 a.m. Sunday, the river was at about 11.6 feet, and flood stage is 19 feet, according the National Weather Service Web site. Minor flooding, which will impact mostly farmland, is predicted for the area, according to the National Weather Service. 

Matthews said many area residents suffered minor flooding in their homes with up 2 inches of water. 

“Fay could be a warmup for things to come. It was a good learning experience for people,” Matthews said. It was a good opportunity for us to develop partnerships and renew relationships.”