Rough water, high winds lead to trouble for St. Augustine

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A nor’easter brought rain, wind and flooding to St. Augustine on Friday.

As the noreaster led to rough water, St. Augustine Fire Chief Carlos Aviles told News4Jax that they’ve been called to help a total of five boats since Thursday. No injuries were reported.

“We’ve had two boats strike the Bridge of Lions,” Aviles said. “We’ve had one nearly strike the seawall.”

At least two of the incidents happened early Friday morning, when four people and two vessels escaped separate, dangerous situations on the Matanzas River near the Bridge of Lions.

News4Jax learned that around 7 a.m., a 76-foot sailing vessel came under distress. A spokesperson with the United States Coast Guard said a good Samaritan alerted responders to the sailboat floating adrift toward the bridge, noting smoke was also coming from the boat. The St. Augustine Fire Department, with the help of the Coast Guard, reached the vessel and rescued one man on board.

At 7:30 a.m., the Coast Guard said, a 36-foot sailing vessel became stuck under the Bridge of Lions. Two people were aboard but were rescued. A third person left the vessel earlier in a dinghy, according to the Coast Guard.

Late Friday morning, St. Augustine was dealing with some flooding near the Castillo de San Marcos, with water splashing over the seawall by the historic fort.

Across the river, the beach area at Edgewater Inn was covered by water. The water got so high it was feet from the rooms.

Near Lake Maria Sanchez just south of downtown, the water came up during high tide Friday morning and flooded a street and a sidewalk. A homeowner told News4Jax that around 10 a.m., the water came right up to her picket fence.

“It was literally like the lake was all the way across,” said St. Augustine resident Janie Coffey. “It was like waves were coming through here. It was a lot of water.”

She said she had to move her car to higher ground.

“If you had a low enough car you, wouldn’ve probably gotten water in your engine,” Coffey said.

The wind also knocked down the Halloween decorations in her yard.

She said she’s just waiting for the water to rise again Saturday.

“There’s nothing really I can do other than keep an eye on it. I won’t park the cars over here for tomorrow and just wait,” Coffey said.

Aviles said the flooding follows the tide.

“It is consistent with high tides, so now that high tide is past us, we’re not seeing any of the flooding issues at the moment, but we don’t want anyone to get complacent,” he said. “The water will rise again tonight and tomorrow morning about 10:15.”

The fire chief said a few homes had water inside Friday morning and high tide could bring more flooding Saturday.