ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — St. Augustine residents are back home Thursday night after the city's mandatory evacuation order lifted for parts of the area.
Much of the flooding downtown receded after the evening's high tide, reopening the Bridge of Lions. Rivers returned to streets and ponds returned to parking lots.
"I feel like we dodged a bullet," said Brad Waldrop, who lives in South Davis Shores.
Waldrop, whose home was surrounded by water that didn't get inside, was feeling the same way another man down the street was feeling Thursday.
"We're very fortunate," said Mike McGee. "Very grateful."
McGee evacuated his family, including their four dogs, from St. Petersburg, where their homes don't have power.
"I texted my next door neighbor this morning," said Zach Batdorf, McGee's son-in-law. "He said huge trees had fallen over, his fence was destroyed. So, relatively compared to our area, it seems like this area did pretty well."
Around St. Augustine Thursday, a number of streets were blocked by flooding. St. Augustine police told people not to come downtown because driving through water can push it into homes and businesses.
After high tide, water levels receded and residents counted their blessings after two deadly hurricanes in Florida in two weeks.
"It's just a lot of anxiety," said Waldorf. "I guess, thinking about what’s going on and trying to track the cone and then preparing for that and then this coming right behind it, it’s like, 'Oh no, not again.' Then here we are again. But it looks like we escaped the worst of it. So, that's good."
Storm shelters will close Friday at 10 a.m., according to the city. And the county administrator said the county will return to normal operations Friday.