JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Debby caused problems across Duval County on Monday.
A Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department captain said crews were called out to dozens of trees falling on homes, power lines and into roads.
In Riverside on Oak Street in front of Sola Salons, a tree fell onto a man’s car while he was in it. The man said he heard a loud crack, looked up, and saw the tree falling onto his hood. He was not hurt. The tree also fell onto lines that JEA crews worked on.
Nearby at Memorial Park, a smaller tree fell through a fence and broke it.
Balustrades at the park had not been replaced since they were destroyed last August. The balustrades were fixed two years before that after they were destroyed in 2017.
First Coast News spoke with a woman walking in Memorial Park who has witnessed the balustrades saga.
“Yeah, it was crazy," said Missy Cady. "We were out here walking and I was like, ‘What the heck?’ It was just, what, five years it had been done and it was all gone.”
Earlier Monday across Duval County at Jacksonville Beach, people walking on the beach had sand blown into their faces. One man was trying to surf.
“I figured if I could catch a wave out here, I could catch any wave,” Brock Burnett said. “But yeah, the storm was coming. It looked crazy. My uncle said, ‘It’s up to you if you want to come out here.’ But I was like, ‘No one’s out here. I have all the waves to myself' so I figured why not come out here and just brave the storm, have a last hurrah before I have to go back to college.”
According to the National Weather Service, there is a high risk for rip tides on Monday.