Most Lafayette County residents have the drill down fairly well now as they start the clean up after Hurricane Jeanne, the fourth hurricane to slam into Florida in less than six weeks. No state has suffered such a weather-related ordeal since it happened to Texas in 1886.



Hurricane Jeanne made landfall near Stuart, Fl. late Saturday forcing thousands of storm-weary residents into shelters and tearing part of the roof from a hospital.

Recently cleared debris was hurled about again as the Category 3 storm came ashore shortly before midnight near the southern tip of Hutchinson Island about five miles southeast of Stuart. Reports said waves of 24 feet were reported ahead of Jeanne, high enough to cause six-foot storm surges all along the Florida coast. Earlier Jeanne had torn across the Bahamas, leaving neighborhoods submerged under five feet of water. The death toll from Jeanne has risen to nearly 2000.



As with the others before her, Jeanne was still strong enough to make herself felt on Sunday afternoon when she swept across Lafayette County with sustained winds of 45 to 55 mph and gusts of up to 70 mph in some areas.



One hundred ten local residents chose to spend the night in the shelter at Lafayette High School while Jeanne made her western trek from the east coast, and up through the middle of the state on her way to Georgia and the states northward.



Heavy rainfall is being reported, causing evacuation in low-lying and flood-prone areas. Predictions for flooding in this county and surrounding counties are dependent on rainfall in Georgia which fills rivers to the south. Rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches were expected in the storm’s path adding to the already saturated ground and filled rivers, lakes and canals.



Power was lost on Sunday before 8 p.m. for most Mayo homes and some reports had county residents without lights by 3 p.m.



Some crews worked during the night and all day on Monday restoring power for some while others are still without.



A state of emergency was declared by commissioners at 1 p.m. on Saturday, for the third time, and Emergency Manager Donnie Land, Sheriff Carson McCall and first responders readied the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) meeting room for the duration of the storm.



On Monday Land reported minimal damage with very few calls coming into the EOC office.



Land said if residents have suffered hurricane damage they need to call FEMA, 1-800-621-3362 to file a report and/or call him at 294-1950 for further advice.



Jeanne follows Charley, which struck Aug. 13 and devastated southwest Florida; Frances which struck Labor day weekend; and Ivan, which blasted the Florida panhandle when it made landfall in nearby Alabama on Sept. 16. The storms caused billions of dollars in damages and killed at least 70 people in Florida alone.



Gov. Jeb Bush warned Floridians not to let storm fatigue get the best of them, “even though we’re weary and even though this is a painful process.”



Some Lafayette County residents are saying, “if practice makes perfect, we should be getting pretty good at hurricane readiness, or as one local person said, “getting good at hurricane dodging.”