St. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Hurricane Milton left a devastating mark on Florida, and areas like Hastings and Flagler Estates dealt with the storm’s aftermath on Thursday after receiving nearly one foot of rain.
Hastings, a rural area west of I-95 not far from the St. Johns River, was dealing with extreme flooding in some areas with water going chest-deep.
In Flagler Estates, a high tide around 2 p.m. made flooding in the area even worse, but the water has begun to recede since then.
Videos taken by News4JAX near County Road 13 and Cracker Swamp Road show submerged roads and houses surrounded by water.
A side-by-side comparison of a local roadway posted to social media by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Thursday morning illustrates the flooding tremendously.
One photo shows a barren road with minimal water before Hurricane Milton made landfall, while a photo taken after the storm passed shows the same road completely overtaken by water.
St. Johns County officials said these areas are “notorious for flooding during coastal storms” because of their effect on the St. Johns River.
“We’ve been going door to door, knocking on their doors, making sure the residents are okay,“ Chris Naff with St. Johns County Fire Rescue said. ”If they want to evacuate, we’re giving them the option to get off-and-on to the boats and into an evacuation shelter, just in case. It’s kind of up to them.”
Marine rescue teams will remain in St. Johns County patrolling until late Thursday evening. According to News4Jax team members in St. Johns County, the water is deceivingly deep in some spots and there are a few impassable roads.
Officials are reminding the community not to drive through any standing water.
