- The Wakulla County Board of County Commissioners issued a countywide mandatory evacuation for citizens and visitors by no later than 8 a.m. on Thursday, September 26, 2024.
- Neighbors in the Shell Point neighborhood say they're planning to leave ahead of the potential Hurricane Helene.
- Watch the video above to see why they're leaving now despite staying for previous storms.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A mandatory evacuation order is now in place for all of Wakulla County. The time to prepare for Helene is now. I'm Kenzie Krueger in Shell Point where many neighbors who live on the water are packing up and leaving the area.
"I met my husband Jim and he said he had paradise in the middle of the forest on the beach so I said I've got to see it." When Stephanie Parks moved to Shell Point 25 years ago she instantly fell in love with it. "So we came down here and leased it for a year and stayed, never never left."
Years after her husband passed, she's still here by herself. She's lived through multiple storms. "I just feel like I'd be better off here than somewhere else it can happen anywhere, but this time I might not stay."
Kenzie Krueger: "You said you've stayed in the past, but why are you thinking about leaving this time?"
Parks: "Because it's a different storm, it's gonna come in faster and it's headed right here."
Neighbors in Shell Point have been packing up their things, including Bob Strauss, who's been helping his neighbors put prepare. "We never know, and everybody is pretty much taking this seriously."
Despite the uncertainty of this storm, he's doing what he can to stay hopeful. "I'd still like to have a home here when this is over, but there's no way for me to know and there's not much reason for me to worry."
No shelters will be open in the county with this storm. Wakulla County leaders tell me if a storm is a category three or above they do not open shelters in the county.
As the Shell Point community prepares, Parks says it's just part of living here. "It's the price you pay when you leave the beach you know it's a beautiful place but it's disastrous at times."
Due to the expected arrival of Hurricane Helene, all Wakulla County Schools and administrative offices will be closed September 25th through the 27th, and all extra-curricular activities are canceled as well.
