A fallen tree blocks Cedar Bend Drive in Clay County. | Jamie Valet, Jacksonville Today
Published on September 27, 2024 at 1:14 pm
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People in Northeast Florida awoke Friday morning to power outages, fallen trees, downed powerlines and scattered flooding after Hurricane Helene barreled ashore late Thursday in the Panhandle.
Mayor Donna Deegan says it could take days before all of the power is restored.
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“We may be looking at the outset of a few days,” Deegan said during a news conference at noon. “Hopefully it doesn’t take that long, but it could because we have some complicated situations.
“We had a lot of trees go down, and some of those trees took out lines. Some of those trees took out infrastructure that actually feeds the systems.”
Category 4 Hurricane Helene made landfall in Dekle Beach in Taylor County shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday, packing 140 mph winds. It was the strongest storm to ever hit that part of the Panhandle.
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Utilities in Northeast Florida reported more than 257,000 people without power at 8:30 a.m., including 113,000 JEA customers. Clay Electric showed more than 99,000 customers without power and Florida Power and Light Co. 45,280.
Some 63,086 JEA customers remained without power as of 1 p.m.
JEA asked customers to remain patient. The utility was working first to resore power to hospitals, shelters, and police and fire stations. After that, crews will turn to individual customers.
JEA customers can report outages at https://jea.fyi/4eb2OnT or call (904) 665-6000.
Jacksonville city offices and the Duval County Courthouse remained closed Friday as the city cleaned up from what officials called “significant” damage.
Citizens were encouraged to stay home and off the roads so JEA can restore power and first responders can clear roads. “Now is not the time to venture out while there are downed powerlines and standing water that could be energized or of unknown depth,” a statement from the city said.
Deegan reminded drivers to watch for possible tidal road flooding tonight. About 50 of 155 traffic signals damaged by the storm were yet to be fixed as of noon.
If traffic light is out or malfunctioning, treat the intersection as a four-way stop, the city says.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department also asked people to stay off the roads so first responders could assess damage and clear debris.
“Our jobs are dangerous enough,” the department posted on X. “We kindly ask you to stay off the roads while we assess the damage and clear what needs to be cleared.”
Still, traffic through Downtown as well as the Southside and San Marco was fairly heavy in spots during the morning rush hour. Police were guiding traffic around downed trees in spots, while JEA crews worked an issue on Beach Boulevard near University Boulevard.
Jacksonville International Airport was open, but almost all departures were canceled as of Friday morning. Airport officials asked departing passengers to check their status with their airlines.
About 250 people were still using the city’s five shelters because of power issues. Schools should reopen on Monday unless some of those being used as shelters are still needed, Deegan said.
In Clay County, the storm left downed trees and powerlines along with widespread power outages. County officials asked residents to stay home if at all possible as its crews continue to clear trees from roadways.
Residents can call the county to report damage at 877-252-9362 or go to alert.claycountygov.com.
Clay County’s county emergency shelters at Clay High and Wilkinson Elementary closed, but the remaining shelters remained open. Garbage pickups were completed Wednesday, but crews will finish the remaining yard waste and recycling pickup on Friday.
St. Johns County officials said they too were assessing damage Friday morning and removing debris as quickly as possible, though they stressed it would take time.
Residents and business owners in St. Augustine should call 904-825-1065 if they need assistance.
Residents and business owners in St. Augustine Beach should submit the following web form for assistance: https://broker.edmundsassoc.com/RSS/?municipalId=SAUGFL#MAKE_A_REQUEST. They also can call 904-471-1119 or 904-471-2122.
The National Weather Service in Jacksonville continued to warn of coastal flooding in Northeast Florida, as the service itself became a casualty of the storm’s high winds:
NWS Jacksonville has lost power and so KJAX & KVAX radars are down. @NWSNewOrleans has assumed backup for us. Please take shelter overnight as Helene makes landfall and heed all warnings. #flwx #gawx
— NWS Jacksonville (@NWSJacksonville) September 27, 2024
Randy comes to Jacksonville from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, where as metro editor, he led investigative coverage of the Parkland school shooting that won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for public service. He has spent more than 40 years in reporting and editing positions in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio and Florida.
