Dear San Carlos Owners & Guests,
Hurricane Sally’s track has shifted slightly to the east causing local conditions in Gulf Shores to worsen. The National Hurricane Center has stated that “extreme life-threatening and historic flooding” conditions are anticipated throughout the duration of this storm. This includes damaging winds, storm surge of up to 6 feet, and potential rainfall accumulation of 30 inches.
Summary of Hurricane Sally’s Approach:
1. Hurricane Sally is approaching the Gulf Coast at just 2 mph.
2. Sally’s slow movement is raising concerns of extreme rainfall and flooding (projected 17″ of rainfall in Gulf Shores).
3. Sally currently has sustained winds of 80 mph.
4. Life threatening storm surge may reach 4-6 feet in Gulf Shores.
5. Sally is forecast to move inland early Wednesday and track across the Southeast.
6. Isolated tornadoes may occur later today through Wednesday across southern Alabama.
7. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has recommended “evacuation, especially of non-residents, and those living in flood-prone areas south of I-10”.
Gulf Shores Mayor and City Council have ordered a mandatory curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting tonight through Thursday morning. Travel is not permitted during curfew hours, except for emergency situations.
Due to the flooding conditions, all San Carlos Guests and Owners are advised to remain inside of your unit and not attempt to drive on local roads. The following roadways are impassable in the City of Gulf Shores:
West 4th Avenue
West 5th Avenue
West 6th Avenue
Windmill Ridge Road
Outer lanes on Hwy. 59 south of Fort Morgan Road and Hwy 182 are impassable.
All beaches and public beach accesses remain closed until further notice. Double red flags are flying and waters are closed due to life-threatening rip currents and surf conditions.
Earlier today we encountered accumulation of water in numerous lobbies due to the high winds blowing the east lobby doors open. In order to rectify this issue, maintenance staff had to lock all east lobby doors to prevent additional water accumulation. Guests and Owners, staying on the east side, were asked to come to the third floor front desk for assignment of a temporary key to lock/unlock the east lobby door when needed. If you are currently staying in a unit ending ’01 through ’04, please contact me at your earliest convenience so that I can meet you for assignment of a key (251-747-4111).
Another issue that we encountered this morning concerned the intermittent power interruptions toward all three elevators. After each interruption, the elevators would attempt to reset and often times failed to continue operation. In order to rectify this situation, I made the decision to bring our generator online for purposes of establishing an uninterrupted power supply to all three elevators. This remedy worked well but we decided to stop backup generator use after three hours in order to conserve generator fuel (the generator fuel tank supplies approximately 35 hours of use). Under these circumstances, I am asking all San Carlos Guests and Owners to please not use the elevators until tomorrow when we will again use the generator as a constant power supply for the elevators (i.e. if you use the elevator now, without generator power, you risk the possibility of being stuck in the elevator if we lose power at San Carlos. Not because the generator won’t kick-on and provide backup power, but instead because the elevators may not reset properly).
Tomorrow morning I will discuss this issue with the Board of Directors and make an intercom announcement on the timeframe for generator backup use so that everyone can plan accordingly for elevator use.
Lastly, please bring in your balcony furniture if you have not done so already and please recognize that the second floor parking garage is for Owners only. The Board of Directors empathizes with everyone who would like to park on the second floor for vehicle protection. Unfortunately, there are limited parking spots on the second floor and San Carlos staff may need to stage the hurricane shutter system in this area if conditions worsen.
Please contact me with any questions or concerns.
-Dan
(251-747-4111)