The Emergency Operations Board of Nassau County has declared a local state of emergency on Tuesday night, as they continue to clean up after Tropical Storm Beryl.

“We’re demonstrating to the state that through the process of damage assessment, there is a reason for calling a regional declaration,” said Daniel Hinson, director of emergency management for Nassau County.

The main reason, Hinson says, is that damage is more severe than they had previously estimated.

He says declaring the emergency will expedite the cleanup.

“Typical purchase policies that are in place can be overlooked and allow for streamlining of getting back to normal as quickly as possible,” Hinson said.

He also said it frees up some monies to help pay for some of the “costly efforts that we went through” to protect people and cleanup debris.

“We’re hoping to make a decision on possibly bringing in a bender – either a contractor of some sort – to assist so that we can pick this stuff up quicker and get everyone back to normal as fast as possible.”

Right now, he says they’re still getting calls about falling trees.  He believes more will fall.

Many trees were weakened or saturated with water during the storm, so they’re falling in the days after.  The good news is that there were fewer reports of trees falling onto structures than trees just falling.

Nassau County’s damage, Hinson says, is mostly located eastward from I-95, “and even then it’s kind of spotty.  You can’t pinpoint one specific neighborhood.”

Hinson says the best way to keep informed is to get a NOAA weather alert radio which go off on special weather alert segments.

If there’s an emergency, he says to dial 9-1-1.

If there is damage to your house, he says to call the emergency operations center at 904-548-4980.