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Mandatory evacuation expanded for visitors in coastal Gulf County

Gulf County has issued a mandatory evacuation of all non-residents located in the Indian Pass, Cape San Blas and Simmons Bayou areas due to anticipated impacts from Hurricane Idalia.

A voluntary evacuation order has been issued for residents and property owners in these areas.

All Gulf County beaches are closed at this time.



The evacuation order will last until it is rescinded by the Gulf County Board of County Commissioners or after seven days, whichever comes first.

At an emergency meeting held shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Monday, the county commissioners declared a local state of emergency due to the storm, which is expected to make landfall as a major hurricane just east of the forgotten coast on Wednesday morning.

At that meeting, a mandatory evacuation order was issued for all visitors located north of the Stump Hole on Cape San Blas as well as all recreational vehicles located in coastal Gulf County.

This report will be updated as information becomes available.



Meet the Editor

Wendy Weitzel, The Star’s digital editor, joined the news outlet in August 2021, as a reporter covering primarily Gulf County.

Prior to then, she interned for Oklahoma-based news wire service Gaylord News and for Oklahoma City-based online newspaper NonDoc.com during her four years at the University of Oklahoma, from which she graduated in May with degrees in online journalism and political science.

While at OU, Weitzel was selected as Carnegie-Knight News21 Investigative Fellow among 30 top journalism students from around the country. She also was senior editor managing a 12-person newsroom in coordination with Oklahoma Watch, a non-profit news organization in eastern Oklahoma.

Wendy Weitzel The Star Digital Editor

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