MACCLENNY, Fla. — The St. Mary's River at St. Mary's Cove near Steel Bridge Road is expected to flood Wednesday night into Thursday, according to Baker County emergency officials.
The river at St. Mary’s Cove was already at bank level Wednesday morning thanks to rain over the past week.
Brandyn Morgan lives in the mobile home park in St. Mary’s Cove. He said one week ago, the river was five to six feet lower than the level it was on Wednesday afternoon.
“My biggest concern is like I said when the storm gets up closer to us, it will just surge and come up onto the bank, and then obviously that gives us a whole other list of problems if it does get up here," Morgan said. "And as you see, it’s only a few feet away from being up here now."
John Blanchard, Director of Emergency Management for the Baker County Sheriff’s Office, said the St. Marys River is forecasted to be at 15 feet Thursday into Friday.
As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, the river was three-four feet below the bridges, which he said is good news. He said the water is moving fast enough that there isn’t flooding yet, as of this afternoon, but there is potential for flooding.
There are no closures so far in Baker County, Blanchard said, as of three p.m. Wednesday.
Morgan said if it does start flooding in his neighborhood, they will leave for higher ground.
“If we need to we’ll pull out of where everybody else has a way to get out of here if it gets to that we’ll all band together and get out,” Morgan said.
Rain has been steady throughout the day in Macclenny.