Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said Sept. 29 that some may be breathing a sigh of relief that Duval County won’t face the brunt of Hurricane Ina but coastal and tidal flooding remains a concern through the weekend.
“Ian has moved further offshore which means the rainfall we anticipated will be much, much less here in Duval County,” Curry said. “However, I want to make this clear, we are not out of the woods and you should not let your guard down.”
Ian regained Category 1 hurricane strength Sept. 29 after weakening to a tropical storm as it continued to move northeast after making landfall in Cayo Costa near Fort Myers on Sept. 28 as a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 150 mph.
Curry told reporters at a noon news conference that the storm was about 80 miles southeast of Jacksonville but the entire county remains under a tropical storm warning and Duval County’s coastline is still under a hurricane watch.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Alexander Boothe said during the news conference that tidal flooding from the St. Johns River will be a concern during high tide through Sunday.
“Because a lot of the headwaters come from central Florida where a lot more rain fell, a lot of that water is going to channel down (the river) and up through Downtown,” Boothe said.
He said the risk from coastal flooding will decrease Oct. 1 as Ian leaves the Northeast Florida area.
According to Boothe, Jacksonville is not going to receive the 10-20 inches of rain that led to flooding during Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Curry said at a 5 p.m. briefing that Ian would be directly off the Duval County coast by 10 p.m. Sept. 29, but the National Weather Service predicts its strongest effects will remain offshore.
“We were anticipating something of that magnitude with Ian. With the storm siting offshore, the heaviest rains are going to go with it and stay south,” Boothe said.
Curry wants Duval County residents to remain vigilant.
“Do you expect an Irma or a Matthew event, or both? (It’s) less likely than it was yesterday and last night but still possible,” Curry said.
Curry said city offices will remain closed Sept. 30 and until further notice. Duval County Public Schools, offices and after-school activities will be closed through Oct. 2, according to a city news release.
Public beaches are closed until officials deem the sand and water safe.
According to Curry, the majority of the damage in the city was downed trees and power outages. He urged people to stay home unless they need to be on the roads.
In a 9 a.m. televised news conference, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Lee and Charlotte counties in Southwest Florida are “completely off the grid” and 1.5 million people in that region are without electricity.
That’s in the Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Sanibel Island and Cayo Costa area where Ian made landfall.
That includes 250,000 people in the Sarasota area, he said.
State officials requested aid from the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Urban Search and Rescue team. Curry said 50 personnel deployed at 8 a.m. Sept. 29 to Tampa. He said they will be going door-to-door in highly impacted areas to search for lost, missing or trapped individuals.
“It’s hard to watch — loss of life, lives destroyed. And as we get through this, we’ve already deployed some people. We stand ready to help our neighbors down there,” Curry said.
“While Ian will have less of an impact on Jacksonville, it’s crucial that we take our resources and help our neighbors in the hardest hit areas.”
Curry said city garbage, yard waste and recycling pickup is suspended through Sept. 30, and normal scheduled collections will resume Oct. 3. The mayor said the missed days will not be made up. The suspension will give the Trail Ridge Landfill time to clean up from rain and wind.
JEA
Workers at Jacksonville’s municipal utility started responding to power outages in the afternoon Sept. 28.
JEA CEO Jay Stowe told reporters at the news conference about 22,000 customers were without power at the peak of the event.
As of 5:47 p.m. Sept. 29, the utility’s online tracker showed 88 outages with 6,189 customers affected. That’s only a fraction of the more than 2 million Floridians that DeSantis said are without power statewide.
Mutual aid utility crews from the Northeast Public Power Association, a coalition of New England municipal utilities, began arriving Sept. 28 at JEA’s staging area at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center on the Westside.
JEA Media Manager Karen McAllister said in an email that 56 workers traveled to Jacksonville from that coalition.
A utility spokesperson told Daily Record news partner News4Jax that 240 mutual aid workers are expected to arrive by the end of Sept. 29 to help assess utilities and restore power.
Curry said JEA appears to be restoring power in its service territory quickly.
Stowe said that as of noon, crews were not able to address outages in Jacksonville’s beach communities due to sustained high winds. He said the bucket trucks would not operate the booms until winds drop below 30 mph.
Customers can report outages and see impacts on their area at jea.com/outage_center/outage_map.
Buses and air travel
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority expects to resume its normal fixed-route bus service by midday Sept. 30.
JTA CEO Nathaniel Ford said the St. Johns River Ferry would likely start running again Oct. 1, but will need clearance from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Jacksonville International Airport closed its terminal at 11:50 p.m. Sept. 28 and will reopen once the airfield and terminal are considered safe for flight operations.
The city says passengers should contact their airline for rebooking options and the most up-to-date flight information.
Shelters
The city has four emergency public shelters open for those displaced by Ian impacts:
• The Legends Center at 5130 Soutel Drive is open for the general population and special needs.
• Landmark Middle at 101 Kernan Blvd. is open for the general population and is pet-friendly.
• Atlantic Coast High School at 9735 R.G. Skinner Parkway is open to special needs residents only and is pet-friendly.
• LaVilla School of the Arts at 501 N. Davis St. is open specifically for people experiencing homelessness.
Historically, city shelters are underused during hurricane events, and officials said Ian is no exception.
JFRD reports 252 people are using the shelters out of a 4,709-person capacity.
The highest-use facility is in LaVilla, with 115 people taking shelter, according to JFRD.
The city is continuing to urge Duval County residents to access information on the storm, shelters and services from media channels; social media; the city website COJ.net; and the JaxReady mobile app.
For more information, call 630-CITY (2489).
