Mayor, City of Savannah leaders give briefing on impacts of Debby

Leaders from nearly every department of the City of Savannah were present Wednesday afternoon for a press briefing on Tropical Storm Debby held at City Hall following the storm’s movement out of Savannah earlier Wednesday morning. Mayor Van Johnson, City Manager Jay Melder, City of Savannah Emergency Management Director David Donnelly, Director of Stormwater Operations Zack Hoffman, Savannah Fire Chief Elzie Kitchen, Assistant Savannah Police Chief Robert Gavin, Chief of Community Services Taffanye Young, and Chief of Planning and Economic Development Faye DiMassimo were among the leaders on stage for the briefing.

“They have sat in windowless rooms looking at computer screens, they have waded into flood waters and answered calls from people who were upset,” Johnson said of the team of people standing on both sides of him. “They ate cold pizza and drank hot soda. They answered the call for the people of Savannah.”
Johnson entered the room giving high-fives to each of the officials on the stage with him, which also included Mayor Pro Tem Dr. Estella Edwards Shabazz. He noted that Savannah would remain in a partial emergency state until 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, while praising the work done by city leaders and citizens alike to prepare for the storm.

“We’re lucky and we’re phenomenally blessed,” the mayor said. “You all know what this storm was looking like for us, and we’re still Savannah strong. As bad as it was, it could have been much worse. We saw major rainfall from Debby, and as a result, we are experiencing major flooding. This one was different.”

Melder spoke to some of the damage done by Debby, which was briefly a Category 1 Hurricane before being downgraded again to a Tropical Storm by the time it reached Savannah late Monday night.
“Most of the threats from Tropical Storm Debby have moved past our area, however we still are dealing with impacts of the storm here,” said the City Manager Wednesday. “Since the beginning of Monday, we have seen an average of 10 inches of rain, which means that more than 19.7 billion gallons of water have come into our stormwater drainage system since that time, a majority of which has been pumped back out. But we know that amount of water has caused flooding in some of our streets.”

Both the Mayor and City Manager noted the worst impacts of the storm in Savannah were felt in the Tremont Park Neighborhood area. There, Melder said residents were “still dealing with the impacts of structural flooding.”
Chief Kitchen said the Fire Department helped with more than 150 tons of sand for residents and businesses. He said SFD received 154 calls for service while Assistant Police Chief Gavin said his department had 1,100 calls for service. Melder said there were 37 impacted homes where residents needed help, and 10 people were rescued from homes during the storm. There are 22 active residential inspection teams working in the city’s most impacted areas, including Tremont Park, according to Hoffman.

“We will be doing damage assessment in that neighborhood to help with recovery there in the coming days and coming weeks,” said Melder of Tremont. “We do still have some significant street flooding.”

Hoffman spoke and said the Springfield Canal’s overflowing caused some flooding issues along Louisville Road as well as along portions of Stiles Avenue. He said those areas could take “several days if not weeks” to resolve the flooding issues fully. Donnelly said Wednesday his department anticipates “another one to three inches of rain over the next few days.”

According to Young, three main centers for housing residents displaced by the storm were used by the City. She said 30 people stayed at Tompkins Center, 31 at Enmarket Arena, and between 80-100 at the Civic Center. All three were slated to be open on Wednesday night as well, according to Young. She asked residents needing a place to stay to call 912-651-6926. The City’s homeless shelters and faith-based centers were also available to those in need of help, she said.
“The worst has passed us,” Melder said. “We do still have some dangerous conditions, especially on our roadways, so we ask that residents who are driving remain vigilant and not drive through any standing water. So we have our stormwater mission happening, and that will be ongoing, we have our sheltering mission and that will be ongoing, and of course, we stand ready to rescue and provide any assistance from a public safety standpoint.”

The regular meeting of Savannah City Council is still scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday at City Hall.
“The City of Savannah will reopen all offices on Thursday, Aug. 8 following closures this week due to the impact of Tropical Storm Debby,” said a press release issued Wednesday afternoon by the City. “Emergency and essential services are still in full operation addressing residual flooding and roadway issues. A damage assessment for private and City-owned facilities is underway. If any residents sustained storm-related damage to their property, it should be reported to the City by calling 311 or using the SAV311 mobile app.”

“The City’s Sanitation Department resumed collection routes on Wednesday on a one-day delayed schedule. Wednesday’s routes will be collected on Thursday and Thursday’s routes will be collected on Friday. Missed routes will be serviced as quickly as possible. Street cleaning resumed Wednesday on its regular schedule and parking will be enforced accordingly.”