PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – Communities along Dunns Creek in Putnam County were nowhere near drying out Friday night.
News4JAX took a ride along with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit for a closer look and took the pictures posted in the album above (mobile users: click here). In the Magnolia Trail community, which sits right next to the creek, streets were flooded and many homes had water up to their front doors.
Homeowner Tom Scully moved in a couple of months ago. Ian was his first experience with a hurricane.
He said he evacuated his home on Thursday when water hit his driveway. When he returned home Friday — he was amazed to learn his home didn’t flood.
“I was able to go up to my driveway on dry land and the end of the road was underwater,” Scully said.
Lt. Mike Wells, with the Sheriff’s Office, spent much of Friday on Dunns Creek checking in on homeowners who live along the creek.
“This is a lot worse than normal. It does get pretty bad during a good high tide or even a good storm, but this is a little more than what they’re used to. With all the rain from Hurricane Ian, you can see it’s over their bulkheads over their docks and almost ready to go into their homes. Luckily, they elevated,” Wells said.
And Wells used a boat because, frankly, that was the only option in many spots.
Further down the creek, Wells said, some homes were not spared by the floodwaters. Along other streets, the flooding was so high that driving down the road would have created wakes, sending water into homes.
Notably, the Sheriff’s Office said its marine unit performed two water rescues. One involved a man who was trying to rude out the storm on a houseboat that was taking on water. The other rescue involved a man who was stranded on a sailboat.