Recovery and cleanup efforts have begun now that Hurricane Irma has passed through Northwest Florida, leaving in its wake historic flooding and widespread wind damage.
At a 3 p.m. Monday news conference, Mayor Lenny Curry said first responders had rescued more than 100 people in Riverside and San Marco stranded by floodwaters.
“Not only are they stepping up, neighbors and friends are stepping up,” Curry said.
Curry described Irma’s impact as rare event, “a magnitude we haven’t seen in nearly 150 years,” and a situation the city would likely need weeks to fully assess.
Irma’s rainfall was compounded with a high tide, peaking at the Main Street Bridge around 2 p.m., and causing what the National Weather Service described as historic flooding in Downtown and the neighborhoods adjacent to the St. Johns River and its tributaries.
According to the weather service, a prevailing south wind will continue pushing water toward Downtown, meaning the river would only recede about a foot during the coming low tide.
Weather service officials said Irma caused storm surge typically associated with a Category 3 hurricane.
The next high tide will be around 2 a.m.
Curry warned residents hesitant to leave their homes that flood waters would likely not recede over the next 24 hours, and that first responders will continue rescuing people in those areas.
“To be clear, we will be moving into a recovery stage soon,” he said. “But we are in a rescue stage at this point.”
Meanwhile, about 250,000 JEA customers were without power at 3 p.m. Monday.
The utility said it needed to wait until sustained winds were below 40 mph before crews could begin working.
JEA CEO Paul McElroy said the company is assessing the damage.
“We have 500 people that are either vegetation management or line workers actively working on restoration,” McElroy said. “They’ll work 16 hour shifts until the job is done.”
As of 3 p.m., the weather service said sustained winds had returned to 20 to 30 mph, with gusts around 50 mph and will continue to diminish over the next two days.
Sheriff Mike Williams said Monday his office remains in an “assessment mode” and that he did not have a timetable for opening bridges and allowing access to evacuated areas.
Williams said the bridges heading into Downtown remain closed because of flooding, while bridges crossing the Intercoastal Waterway to the Beaches will stay closed “until we can assess the damage.”
Westbound traffic leaving the Beaches is allowed, while eastbound traffic is still closed.
Curry said the state and the federal government also are assisting, but that the recovery is something the city should expect to take a long time.
“To the people of Jacksonville, keep praying, keep working, take care of each other.”