JASPER, Fla. – The damage was significant in one rural Florida county, but so, too, is the resolve.
Residents in the small community of Jasper said that they’d never seen anything like what Hurricane Idalia brought to town on Wednesday. Whipping winds and sideways rain started pounding the area just before noon and dragged on across the day.
“Man, it was pretty bad. It was rough, man. At first, it started out as like a normal day this morning. Then, about around 10, 11 o’clock, wind went to picking up and then out of nowhere it came through,” said Terrence Houston. “We’ve never experienced that before. Never. First time. We never experienced this in Jasper. Not in little old Jasper.”
Jasper, located in Hamilton County, is roughly 100 miles from Jacksonville, and it bore more of the fury of the storm. Idalia made landfall as a powerful Category 3 hurricane at Keaton Beach, which is just 80 miles from Jasper.
Power remained out after 10 p.m. for 90% of residents in Hamilton County. It was the most significant storm to cross Hamilton County since Tropical Storm Andrea in 2013.
“The other hurricane we just got a little wind and rain,” said Sheila Williams. “We didn’t get none of this before.”
Trees limbs were down across town and there were residences with broken glass from wind and debris. Houston said that he received a call from a friend whose mother couldn’t get in her house to survey the damage because her front door was blocked by portions of a tree that had fallen down and obstructed the entrance. Houston said he used a chainsaw to help clear a path into her house.
“Seeing this was a first for everybody,” said Jasper resident Cornelius Bennett. “It’s real rough.”
While the damage was significant for residents there, many said that the small community would begin picking itself up and getting things back to normal.