ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – In Southern St. Johns County, many people are staying behind despite mandatory evacuation orders.
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Homeowners along Old A1A were busy sandbagging and boarding up their properties ahead of Hurricane Milton Wednesday.
Skye Taylor has tied down her furniture outside and sandbagged the doors surrounding her home.
“I’ve got about two feet of protection, 18 inches of protection, the water can come up that high before I have a problem,” Taylor said. “I’m staying. I’m defying the evacuation order. I’m staying. I know I could be fined, but you know, I want to be here if something happens.”
Taylor’s house is just feet away from the shore on Old AIA, but she’s hoping her sandbags and a newly built 12-foot storm wall will help keep the water out of her home that’s been standing since 1917.\
Across the highway, some people living on the Matanzas Inlet are also staying put.
Mark Dement said his house has made it through several hurricanes before. Flooding was the worst during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 but this time he’s more prepared.
“Well, we got the tubes for the pool, gives us an extra foot of storm surge,” Demant said. “We’ve got the windows and sliders taped with zip tape and six mil poly, and that kept it out during Irma. And then we’ve got the hurricane shutters. They keep out the wind.”
As Milton approaches the West Coast of Florida, some low-lying spots in St. Johns County we’re already starting to flood.
Chris Cathey and Joseph Ruane were still debating whether to evacuate on Wednesday afternoon. They live a few blocks from the shore.
“Today, coming back home from work, seeing the flooding on A1A, the ditch already flooding, I think it’s progressed a lot more than people think. I think when the storm gets here, it’s gonna be a little bit worse than people think,” Cathey said.
Many people in this area remember how bad Hurricane Ian was with floodwaters devasting homes and businesses but they’re hoping Hurricane Milton won’t be as bad. The storm surge in St. Johns County is expected to get up to five feet or even higher.
Taylor said she hopes Milton dies as soon as it hits land.
“I know it’s supposed to be down to a Cat 1, but that can still, it’s going to dump a lot of rain on a lot of people and be a lot of flooding,” Taylor said.