By By Kerry Whipple Bean
and Lisa Tindell
A weakened Tropical Storm Ida posed little threat to Escambia County late Monday night and early Tuesday morning, but it was a “good exercise” to remind residents of the damage storms can do, Emergency Management Director David Adams said.
For Reenora Byrd and her family, the storm was more than a reminder. A tree fell around 2 a.m. and smashed the trailer in which Byrd’s daughter Angel McDaniel had been living. Luckily, McDaniel and her son had been staying with Byrd.
Byrd said the falling tree also damaged the water lines to her house. The family had no insurance on the trailer.
Byrd and family members were trying to sort through belongings Tuesday morning to salvage what they could from the trailer, with clothing, photos and baby items drying in the house and on the porch.
Adams said the tree falling was likely a result of Ida, which brought heavy rain and wind into the area overnight.
But the storm — which had been rated as high as a Category 2 when it was over the Gulf of Mexico — had weakened by the time it made landfall around Dauphin Island, with top sustained winds of about 35 mph.
The rare late-season storm caused about 160 power outages in the county, but those had been cleared by daylight, Adams said.
In addition to the tree that hit McDaniel’s trailer, there were a few limbs and small trees down in the county, although they caused no damage, Adams said.
Escambia County Schools were closed Tuesday, a decision made on Monday as a precaution.
Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.