Freeport Storm Shelter Opens Thursday as Isaias Nears Landfall
Freeport High School opens as Walton County’s first storm shelter at 8 a.m. Thursday as Tropical Storm Isaias tracks toward a Friday landfall on the Panhandle, with sandbags already stocked behind the Freeport Annex and a Hurricane Warning now covering the city.
The shelter at Freeport High School, 12615 U.S. Hwy 331 Business, doubles as the county’s pet-friendly and special-needs registry shelter. Cats and dogs are welcome but must remain with their families — sheriff’s officials are asking residents not to drop animals off for staff to watch. The special-needs designation covers residents who depend on powered medical equipment or supplemental oxygen.
“Freeport is the first one that opens up when it starts to approach 75% capacity. Then we open up the other shelter and push that information out as well,” Walton County Emergency Management Director Jeff Goldberg told News13. Walton High School serves as the county’s second primary shelter and would open if a mandatory evacuation is ordered. A voluntary evacuation order for coastal zones began at 8 a.m. Thursday, and county commissioners convene at 10 a.m. in DeFuniak Springs to weigh whether a mandatory evacuation is needed.
Sand and sandbags are stocked at the vacant lot behind the Freeport Annex off Blue Ridge Parkway, one of four county-run pickup sites ahead of the storm. Residents must bring their own shovels; the county supplies the sand and the bags. Additional sites are open at the Blue Mountain Pit at 924 CR 83, South Walton, the corner of US 98 and Professional Place, Miramar Beach, and the Woodyard Pit off Vines Road, DeFuniak Springs.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office has shifted to 12-hour Alpha and Bravo rotations to keep deputies, dispatchers, fire rescue, jail staff and animal services working around the clock through the storm. “If we say to evacuate, we don’t make that decision lightly because we understand the hardship to people, the economic impact,” WCSO Emergency Manager Catie Feeney said.
The National Weather Service upgraded the Hurricane Watch to a Hurricane Warning for South Walton at 5:03 a.m. EDT Thursday, placing Freeport alongside Santa Rosa Beach and Sandestin in the warning area. Forecasters project peak winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 70 mph, arriving Friday afternoon and lingering into early Saturday morning as the storm — expected to reach hurricane strength before approaching the coast — crosses the northern Gulf. Walton County schools are closed Thursday and Friday.
Emergency managers are urging residents to know their evacuation zone, make a family plan, and sign up for county alerts, relying on verified county and public-safety sources as the forecast evolves.
Originally reported by WJHG Newschannel 7 and MyPanhandle (WMBB), with shelter listings from News13 and sandbag locations from the Walton County Emergency Management FAQ. Image: National Hurricane Center five-day forecast cone for Tropical Storm Isaias via MyPanhandle.
