ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Damage assessment continued Friday in St. Johns County after Milton swept through Wednesday and Thursday.
No one there was hurt during the storm, but St. Johns County Fire Rescue reported they responded to about 450 calls over a 48 period, with most of them occurring during the height of the storm.
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The county has reported downed trees and power lines.
Standing water in some low-lying areas remained on Friday.
Residents were also seen clearing yard debris, but many people in St. Johns County are grateful to have avoided major damage from Milton.
Rick Hernandez, who lives in South Davis Shores, feels fortunate that his waterfront home avoided serious damage, but he was nervous about it.
“It was about four inches over the seawall Wednesday night, and then Thursday, at low tide it was about this high here, and that’s a normal high tide so that really had me worried that the high tide was really going to be up there. But it started rising but really slow, not like Matthew," he said.
He said water did creep into his yard.
“There was water running down that side of the house. There was about an inch on that brick patio back there when the salt water came in. But we were thankful that’s what it was,” he said.
On the coast, evidence of Milton’s presence was seen in a smashed shed and some dune erosion.
John Kapala, who owns a condo in Crescent Beach, said his property was spared major damage.
“It was amazing,” he said. “The wind was howling, the rain was pouring, I looked outside, and it was like sideways, everything is sideways, so we were a little concerned, but in the morning, everything was pretty much fine. We had some minor damage, some gutters that dropped and debris, but other than that, it went amazingly well.”