Category Archives: Weather

Videos: EOC, KLVB, Grinder Pump, Bank, Computers, Health Ordinance, and Alcohol @ LCC 2018-07-24

Longest at 2.5 minutes: appointment to Parks and Rec. Commissioner Scottie Orenstein was not present at this Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Not on the agenda and not on the county’s website, Chairman’s Announcement of Emergency Operations Center Open House.

The applicant spoke for 6.a. Beer, Wine & Liquor License – Jack’s Chophouse, 4479 N. Valdosta Rd. We have a winner for the RFP for Banking Services.

Maybe they all finally got to read the 7 d. Ordinance Adopting Current Board of Health Rules, since this time Continue reading →

Lowndes EMA Hurricane Season Open House 2018-07-26

WTXL, 19 July 2018, Lowndes County holds open house to inform community on severe weather,

LOWNDES COUNTY, Fla. [sic: s.b. Georgia] (WALB)—Lowndes County Emergency services personnel are preparing for an upcoming open house to inform community members of possible severe weather that could strike this season.

Ashley Tye, Lowndes County EMA Director, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Still of Lowndes County EMA Director Ashley Tye from Atlanta Journal-Constitution video 10 September 2017

When: 6-8PM, Thursday, July 26, 2018

Where: 250 Douglas St, Valdosta, GA 31601-5029

Event: facebook

Join local emergency responders and Meteorologist Kerri Copello, News Manager for WFXL/Fox 31, for a tour of the EOC and an informational session on the 2018 Hurricane Season to include preparedness information.

Continue reading →

Rainbarrel from Valdosta Stormwater 2018-07-20

Gretchen picked up a rainbarrel when she stopped by the Valdosta City Hall Annex to drop off okra (Okra Paradise Farms has customers everywhere).

Movie: Filling above 10 gallons (6.0M), Raining

Here’s a video of it filling up: Continue reading →

Videos: Public Works, Development, Planning, Health Board Appointments, budget, qualifying @ LCC 2018-01-09

For two out of three boards, they came up with one name between Monday morning and Tuesday evening. No one applied for the Lowndes County Development Authority; instead they appointed Gary Moser who applied to be on Planning Commission. They reappointed Franklin Bailey, head of homebuilders association, to the Planning Commission, plus they appointed Ed Hightower to finish the unexpired term of Brad Folsom. They appointed Dr. Frances Brown to the Lowndes County Board of Health. And the County Manager recognized Public Works for their good work during the recent storms.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each item, with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the Continue reading →

Videos: Weather, Development, Planning, Health Board Appointments, budget, qualifying @ LCC 2018-01-08

County Manager Joe Pritchard thanked county staff for their performance during the recent storms and the public for mostly staying off the roads. It will cost $450 to qualify to run for County Commissioner.

No, we don’t know what was wrong with the sound. We will try to get it better tomorrow evening.

No applicants for the Lowndes County Development Authority Board of Health, and many for the Planning Commission.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each item, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. See also the notes on the agenda. Continue reading →

Videos: Hurricane Irma, Register rezoning, Utility Authority @ LCC 2017-09-26

23 minutes last night to approve 3:2 with many conditions rezoning the 6c. REZ-2017-09 Robert A. Register Estate, with no shouting afterwards like there was at at the previous evening’s Planning Commission meeting, yet a lot of grumbling at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, especially since they seem to have forgotten the greenspace condition.

Biggest crowd in a long time, REZ-2017-09 Robert A. Register Estate

I would like to commend the Commission for the amount and depth of discussion in this meeting, especially in the unscheduled 10. Commission Comments and Recognitions and Meeting Adjournment, which was mostly about Clay Griner’s idea of having a county-wide utility authority including all the cities in the county. Update 2017-10-20: moved the rest of this utility authority commentary down to the video item below.

Also not on the agenda was Chairman Slaughter comments on community response to Hurricane Irma (which were mostly about county staff; well-deserved especially for Ashley Tye) and Georgia Power Representative recognizes county hurricane response.

While it’s great that Georgia Power came to compliment the county, does that electric utility rep. reside in or pay property taxes in Lowndes County, and why was he not required to state his name and address? Ditto the software salesman for Continue reading →

Cancelled: Lowndes County Commission Regular Session @ LCC 2017-09-12

The Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission is cancelled. There is no notice of this on lowndescounty.com because county offices are still closed today and power is still out in parts of the county, according to Commissioner Scott Orenstein. He responded to an inquiry from Gretchen Quarterman after no county business numbers answered this morning.

2017-09-11 5PM Cone of Probable Path
2017-09-11 5PM Cone of Probable Path of Tropical Storm Irma, National Hurricane Center, NOAA.

Lowndes County Emergency Management did include a notice of cancellation of yesterday’s Lowndes County Work Session in its PR of Continue reading →

ZBOA cancelled @ ZBOA 2017-09-12

Today’s meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals is cancelled, according to Tracy Tolley, Zoning Coordinator for the City of Valdosta, in response to an inquiry from Gretchen Quarterman.

Irma Wind Swaths
Hurricane Irma Wind Field History, National Hurricane Center, NOAA.

ZBOA did not meet in July or August due to lack of business. An agenda for today’s cancelled meeting is still posted on Valdosta’s website, which I am copying here, just in case. Probably most items will reappear on next month’s agenda. Continue reading →

Hurricane Andrew was record-breaking, Irma is much worse

Seth Borenstein, NBC Miami, 8 September 2017, Hurricane Andrew Was a Monster; Irma Could Blow It Out of the Water: Andrew, “an incredible buzz saw giant tornado of a hurricane,” killed 65 people; Irma is much larger,


Satellite imagery of Hurricane Andrew (inset, at left) from Aug. 23, 1992, is digitally superimposed, to scale, over imagery of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 7, 2017.
Photo credit: NOAA

At the time, Andrew was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history with damages of $26.5 billion in 1992 dollars (about $50 billion in current dollars), according to the National Weather Service.

“The effect of Irma on the state of Florida is going to be much greater than Andrew’s effect,” said Continue reading →