JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said the city was "extraordinarily fortunate" Thursday after Hurricane Milton left behind minimal impacts to the area, and avoided significant implications from two major hurricanes in mere weeks.
"I am just absolutely beyond grateful that we continue to be so blessed in this city, that we have yet again avoided the worst of one of these monster storms," Deegan said in the final press conference on Milton Thursday afternoon.
The city remained under a Tropical Storm Warning and Tropical Storm Surge Warning at the time of the noon conference. The hurricane and flood watches were dropped and the local state of emergency will end Friday at 5 p.m.
However, Deegan said there is still a concern about road flooding and closures from afternoon high tides and King tides.
"San Marco, Riverside, South Hampton, you need to stay alert if you are in one of the typical flood zones," she said.
Officials anticipate Ken Knight Drive to see flooding Thursday afternoon into the evening, and urged residents in the area to seek alternative shelter.
"Street flooding, as I said, will continue Friday afternoon and into next week during high tides, as water from Central Florida moves up the river," Deegan said, and asked drivers not to go into flood waters.
City response, storm impacts and closures
Deegan hailed emergency responders for their efforts during and after Milton.
The city had 435 customers reporting power outages as of 11 a.m. Thursday. The peak outages were reported around 3 a.m. with more than 13,000 customers without power. JEA restored power to 39, 000 customers in total throughout the storm.
"That's amazing," Deegan said. The outages were nowhere near what residents felt during and after Hurricane Helene which knocked out power to hundreds of thousands.
In terms of calls for service, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department responded to 30 weather-related calls, and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office responded to 384.
Tree crews were responding to 17 open tickets after Milton. For Helene, crews responded to 293 tickets.
"All these numbers are way down from Helene," Deegan noted.
The city's six shelters housed 777 people at the storm's peak, with 724 people in general population and 53 people with special medical needs. As of 11 a.m. Thursday, 534 people remained in shelters.
Deegan said a number of those staying in shelters came from areas hard-hit by the storm. The shelters will remain open until 8 a.m. Friday and will begin closing by noon.
Anyone with a car inside the city-owned garage can keep them there for free through Friday, Deegan said.
Non-essential city employees will return to work Monday. Duval County Public Schools will reopen Monday for a scheduled teacher planning day, and students will return to school Tuesday.
The City of Neptune Beach offices will remain closed Friday, the Jacksonville Beach and Atlantic Beach offices will reopen.
Deegan said there was "good feedback" on the Tiger Dams that were put in place on the beaches to deter storm surges and flooding. However, she said there were reports of people standing on dunes, which can implicate the recent beach renourishment.
"It is extraordinarily important that you stay off those dunes," Deegan said.
Waste pickup
Trash and recycling pickup scheduled for Thursday will be rescheduled for Saturday. The city anticipates Friday collection will remain on schedule. Yard waste and debris collection will resume in an "ongoing manner" Friday until all debris is removed.
Residents are asked not to put out more debris, and to continue following the five cubic yard limit.
"I know everybody wants the debris picked up as soon as possible, and we are doing our very best to make sure that we can do that," Deegan said, noting it could take two to three cycles for everything to be removed.