ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Strong winds and significant street flooding was what St. Augustine dealt with during the height of Hurricane Milton.
Multiple downtown streets were flooded and parts of St. Johns County were under mandatory evacuations because of the storm.
Conditions were very different on Friday and St. Augustine business owners bounced back after the storm.
Compared to other hurricanes like Ian, Nicole and even Matthew, business owners who spoke with First Coast News said they consider themselves lucky that the storm didn’t cause significant damage and they’re happy to get back to work.
More than 24 hours after Milton, downtown St. Augustine is getting back to normal. Traffic and people are able to cross the Bridge of Lions. But, there are remnants of the storm all across from the Avenida Menendez Seawall. Sandbags that were used to protect businesses from possible floodwaters are piled up now that they’re no longer needed.
The patio at Harry’s Seafood, Bar & Grille is getting a full cleaning before hungry visitors are welcomed back this weekend. Harry’s is right along the Matanzas River and has gone through plenty of storms. They’re down the street from the Hilton with a reminder of how high the water got during Matthew is memorialized with a plaque.
A short walk down the block, Chris Holland is back to work at South-a-Philly Steaks and Hoagies.
"It was not helpful at all to businesses because we had to close for three days," said Holland, "but the storm itself was not too bad here."
Holland has been in business for 15 years and said flooding from storms, and even high tides, is just part of the new normal that businesses have to deal with downtown.
"I would say since Matthew in 2016, that's how it's been the entire time since then," said Holland. "We’ve taken precautions, which might be more than we need to do, but it’s better off that way.”
The St. Augustine Marina had some docks flipped over by the storm, which have been roped off by caution tape and cones. Ripley's Bayfront Mini Golf is next to the marina and is back open after being closed for three days, however, there's still some water flooding the 16th hole.
"The course was really bad," said Javier Rosado, who works at Bayfront Mini Golf. "If I would go to leaf blow, water would get everywhere, it wasn’t really accessible, makes it hard for people to play as well."
Despite some relatively high water levels in the river, other mainstays of St. Augustine are getting back to normal. Castillo de San Marcos National Monument will reopen to visitors on Saturday, and now that the water is receding, the lions watch traffic flow back over their bridge.
The owner of St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum said they're grateful that there wasn't significant damage and is happy to welcome back tourists now that it's safe to do so.