For today’s ongoing updates on Hurricane Milton, go here.
But for significantly less traffic on most roads, you’d be hard-pressed to see that the largest part of Flagler County under an evacuation order was heeding the warning this morning.
From the looks of the Barrier Island and the mainland part of Flagler Beach in the first hours after the 8 a.m. evacuation order, there were many more cars parked in driveways than getting packed or driving off. Homes with sandbags or other storm preparations were the exception. Businesses were more likely to be boarded up than homes, though that was the exception even for businesses, most of which were closed.
In storms past, residents adorned their preparations with special messages to the coming storm–messages somewhere between humorous, resilient and defiantly obscene, their words shaped like middle fingers. Not this time. It’s as if the weariness of hurricane season with three Florida landfalls, and possibly more to come, had taken its toll.
A few neighbors were spotted speaking Milton to each other. But the most flood-prone areas of Flagler Beach, from Lambert Avenue to Palm Drive to South Flagler Avenue, looked as if they were lolling through the low-energy, nearly deserted morning of a soggy Sunday rather than using the last available hours to prepare for what may be one of the most destructive hurricanes in decades on the Gulf Coast, with significant local impacts by the time it begins to reaches this side of the Peninsula after midnight tonight. Either residents had already left (vehicles in driveways suggested otherwise) or they had begun to hunker down.
“Business is slower, but there’s a lot of people staying. I’m not hearing of a lot of evacuations,” Flagler Beach Commissioner Eric Cooley, who owns the 7-Eleven two blocks south of the Flagler Beach pier, said this morning. The store often resembles a town square, with a steady stream of customers in and out, many of them using the store as a place to take a break, have a few conversations, chat it up with the owner. Customers were few today. Cooley had screwed in the aluminum covers to all the ocean-fronting glass panes and prepared the five propane-powered generators that will keep the store’s perishable merchandize cool or iced in case of power cuts.
He looked worn from preparations, but he was disappointed by the lack of a broader response to evacuate, and worries that the influx of new residents since Hurricane Irma in 2017 means that a lot of people think they can ride it out without issues.
“It’s a little disheartening, the lack of preparation,” Cooley said. “I drove through the city last night. There’s a lot of sandbags, but in a storm like this, sandbags aren’t going to stop the water.” He added: “There’s a surprising amount of people staying. I’m hoping the ones staying are the ones with experience.
A lot of the homeowners who’d been flooded in 2017 sold and left, “but a lot of new people moved in and they don’t know what to expect,” Cooley said. “All those houses that were a really good deal–that’s how they sold.”
Flagler County Emergency Director Jonathan Lord said Hurricane Milton’s local impacts will be similar to those of Hurricanes Ian, Irma and Nicole: “If you saw flooding in Irma, Ian or Nicole, you are likely to see flooding with this storm in our community,” he said on Tuesday. He repeated the caution today, even as the storm track has edged south slightly. Rain amounts and storm surge are still expected to combine for a hazardous 48 hours even after the storm passes, as waters swell the Intracoastal well after the storm surge: that’s where it gets troublesome for residents along Palm Drive, Lambert Avenue and South Flagler Avenue, where the Intracoastal goes from beautiful view and placid companion to sinister and unstoppable intruder.
One difference with Milton in Flagler: the barrier island’s businesses have for the most part closed, and started closing Tuesday, which has limited the influx of people to the island, and of gawkers to the boardwalk. In storms past, Cooley said, the boardwalk, across the street from 7-Eleven, often looked like a Disney attraction, which was not helpful.
Cooley and other volunteers from Flagler Strong, the non-profit organization, are getting ready to be the rescuers of first resort if and when the waters rise. In parts of Palm Drive, which rises barely a few inches above the adjacent Intracoastal, water was already pooling several inches deep–as in many parts of Palm Coast, for that matter, where swales are overflowing into streets and yards, though that’s what they’re designed to do in heavy rain events.
Tuesday evening, Ken Bryan, a resident of Palm Drive and a former city commissioner, sent out a video illustrating the difficulties on Palm Drive, where residents were emptying swales by hand, and complaining of city inaction, though city officials are nearly powerless.
“This is Palm Drive. The water doesn’t flow properly so it floods people’s homes, and the city doesn’t have a work schedule today with anyone that can help out, according to our commissioners,” Bryan says as he walks along an overflowing swale. “Even got their own pumps going to try to pump the place out to avoid getting flooded. Absolutely ridiculous. One commissioner’s response? ‘Well, it hasn’t been raining.'”
Residents have been calling and emailing Cooley as a commissioner, asking what will the city do when their house floods. “The answer is: you’re in a flood zone,” Cooley said. “There’s nothing the city can do. As a city, you’re not going to stop this hundred-year rain, you’re not going to stop the Intracoastal.”
What the city has done is line up Crowder Gulf, the disaster recovery and debris management company, on standby so it’s ready to tackle debris removal as soon as practicable after the storm passes. The caveat is if homes are flooded. Then, the city will have to give homeownes time to do what they did after Irma: line streets with ruined furniture and possessions in dispiritingly high piles.
Meanwhile Hurricane Milton’s outer bands were already dumping voluminous amounts of rain on Palm Coast, the barrier island and the rest of the county, 24 hours ahead of what may be significantly worse bursts of precipitation on the north end of the storm.
FLAGLER COUNTY EVACUATIONS:
Effective at 8AM on Wednesday, October 9th a Mandatory Evacuation Order had been issued for the following areas:
- Residents living in Mobile Homes and RV’s Countywide
- The following Coastal / Island Communities
- The entire island from the St Johns County Line to the Volusia County Line
- Marineland through Flagler Beach
- Mainland Communities
- Only the following communities South of SR-100 (Moody Blvd)
- Neighborhoods off John Anderson Hwy
- Neighborhoods off Palm Dr
- Bulow RV Park & Homes, off Old Kings Rd
- Polo Club West / Sweetbottom Plantation properties along Lexington Court / Ashland Way and that back up to the Bulow Creek
- Only the following communities between SR-100 (Moody Blvd) and Palm Coast Pkwy
- Neighborhoods off Lambert Ave
- In Marina Del Palm the properties along the Intracoastal Waterway / basin
- In Palm Coast Plantation:
- Properties off South / North Riverwalk Drive
- Only the following communities North of Palm Coast Pkwy
- Properties within Princess Place
- Properties in Flagler Estates and off of Methvin Road
- Properties off Strickland Road, including those on Shedd Ln, Natalies Ln, Dylan Trl, Boice Ln, Lola Ln, Wasick Ln, and Carter Trl
- Properties directly bordering Crescent Lake and the following neighborhoods in the Dead Lake area: Bull Creek Campground, Park Place Ave, Canham St, Cheryl Elaine Dr, Leissa Ct, Johnny Ct, and Matt Ct.
- Only the following communities South of SR-100 (Moody Blvd)
Cid says
Isn’t it wonderful to live beachside? Yes it is. But doing so exposes you to flooding and ruin. Is it really worth it? Not to me. Glad I live inland and resisted my temptation to buy along the beach 7 years ago. I can enjoy beachside by visiting friends. And friends can visit me and have a place to evacuate to when their homes are under water. Prayers up for all in the path of this hurricane.
Jane Gentile Youd says
OMG it’s only 215PM and I am now looking at my new lakefront back yard behind our pool. Had to remove a newly planted 30 gallon orange tree before ‘she drowned’ this morning… OMG. Our home is on a good elevation and we have lots of land to catch the water but my heart goes out to those of you who aren’t in a FEMA Flood Zone but your home will flood. My prayers that we have no fatalities and no one’s life savings wiped. I pray for us all.
Rick Belhumeur says
Ken Bryan says I’m on another planet but he wants us to participate in an “Exercise in Futility” (an activity that has no point, use, or meaning; which produces no result, and is therefore not worth attempting.) by carrying five gallon buckets of water from a ditch filled with ground water. It will fill up as fast as you take the water out and will make NO difference in whether houses flood when the tidal surge comes tomorrow. The City dug that swale too deep, into ground water and the only solution is to fill it back in or install a properly engineered storm water system to drain properly. Even that will make NO difference in whether houses flood when the next tidal surge comes. Nothing short of building a system like New Orleans did with berms and giant pumps will solve flood water inundation. So who’s the one on another planet here?
JimboXYZ says
Panic in preparation os not a good thing. The projections are this will be Ian-like. Only instead of Ft Myers it’s Tampa for landfall, but it’s supposedly going straight across and leaving at the Canaveral National Seashore like Ian exited in 2022 & instead of tracking the coastline of FL, GA, SC & NC, it heads for Bermuda. Ian flooded South Daytona pretty bad. What can you do, growing FL top to bottom and evacuating into a potential for what was hit by some of Helene. We know there isn’t enough gasoline for every toi get anything more than a few hours from where they are. Is that good enough or the same crap sandwich with full shelters. We know there isn’t enough lodging to get stuck running out of gasoline a couple of hours from the middle of that cone, even where we are today for a periphery of that cone.
I thought about driving 95 North to GA, heading West on 16 to I-75 to loop behind Milton as it leaves. It’s supposed to take close to 12 hours to enter the Gulf Coast to exit the Atlantic side. EV & ICEV’s don’t have that range for 12 hours. I just don’t get the lack of common sense that our leadership for Government displays publicly. Local shelters are going to be full and with the county growing is there enough capacity at the shelters for the entirety of Flagler County. Can the schools hold that many people, feed them or whatever is necessary. And then there’s the sanitary aspect of sewage that all that flushing still will have to go to the same over capacity sewage treatment. Until our government stops growing an overpopulated area for when the sun shines, they really can’t expect that in a dire emergency for a hurricane, that the evacuation is going to be embraced for even local shelters. They’ll take their chances where they are. when the government figures out & admits that they were wrong to grow this area like they have, they’ll understand that nobody appreciates the texts & emails to hold human waste internally to reduce flushing the toilet. We all know our “leaders” will be flushing the toilets whenever they do. Asking 120-130K for population to do that is like asking a community of drug addicts to go clean ? It’s not happening. We all have seen the hoarders for toilet paper. Those people haven’t changed any.
JimboXYZ says
And take a look at that Town Center Parkway/Royal Palms Parkway area that used to have trees, mounds of dirt to fill swampier areas for the new residential construction ? That’s going to flood and be acres of a mud pit. We have people that have dirt bikes, 4 wheel ATV’s & off road Jeeps & trucks. Can one possibly see those types holding their own mud buggy event the moment that the storm passes ? That’s what we’re dealing with, I have neighbors that I know that are those types, proud of their 4WD pickup trucks, looking for swales & empty lots to destroy, they won’t stay off the swales like they do for any summer thunderstorms. I’m not being optimistic, pessimistic or anything else beyond expectations of realistic. This is Flagler County, know who has lived here for generations & lower the expectations, then the leaders won’t be so “disheartened” for being disappointed ? Expect the worst for planning, take better for the actuals. And if better is the actual results, none of us should be neither disheartened nor disappointed, but also know there will be a few that will leave any of us disheartened & disappointed. they are who & what they always will be.
Deborah Dee says
Flagler residents, you are on my mind. My family lives in Palm Coast. I know most of you have gone through many a storm before. It’s not too late to run out and get batteries, an extra cooler for ice, make sure you have enough medications to last you a few days, fill your bath tubs with water for cleaning, flushing, bathing. Batten down your homes and have a plan for being without power for a couple of days. Ohioans are praying for Florida and hope Milton comes and goes without too much fanfare. Love and Hugs to you all.
Lauren says
The city has known about these swale issues for a long time Rick and has done nothing to remedy them. These are easy fixes that might help with some of the flooding issues we have — and yes, I know it wont fix it completely but it could help. Ignoring the issue will never help anyone.
Deborah Coffey says
Thank you, Deborah.
Louann says
When you decide to live at the beach in the 21st century, this is what you get. No pity from the smart people who live on the mainland. How many times does your home have to flood before you recognize that the water is not going to give up? It’s only going to get worse.
Dennis C Rathsam says
Pass the blame all you want…. the people of P/C know who’s to blame! Stuff em in ALVIN, & the council from hell! Thanx for all the new homes, Thanx for flooding our streets now, our yards now! This time P/C is screwed Alvin, its all your fault! You’ve ruiened, many lives because of your greed, how do you sleep at night?
JimboXYZ says
For as bad as it looks on a NOAA graphic. Flagler County should fare better than anyone Sarasota to Cape Canaveral for being middle of that cone. Outside of the self inflicted growth that a recent Mayor approved for growth, many of us will survive Milton to have to deal with a Vision of Flagler County for 2050 that went horribly wrong before 2025. FL simply can’t grow anymore, just like Flagler County & Palm Coast couldn’t. Imagine where Kamala Harris is going to build those 3 million homes she talks about. Are they the one’s already approved yet remain unbuilt ? Remember that Biden’s 1st 100 days was to get 1 million rolling average for Covid vaccinations, Trump handed the show off to Biden at that level. Biden-Harris-Walz, they are the masters of underpromise with the appearances for the over deliver. The inflation is where we are. And now we’re trying to do this in a Cat 3 hurricane, that was Cat 5+ until it was on Tampa’s doorstep, Flagler’s back porch. It sucked when the sun was shining, it’ll suck even worse when Milton leaves too. That Vision of 2050 ? Anyone recall the Alfin brochure of a perfect life for the next 25 years of this ?
always sunny says
I agree It’s comparable to baling out small boat in the ocean!
Kelly A. says
I lived on palm drive. Right on the corner, across from the park. One year there was a TS so bad, the intercoastal came up to the concrete flower bed. The road was under 4 feet of water clear down from lambert to the “new development ” at the end of Palm. This is a full blown hurricane of immense strength and proportions…and no one is leaving those streets?? I’m 44 and I remember telling some of the new owners how bad the flooding was, and I was just a teen. I would be absolutely surprised if even a portion of those houses make it through.
Rick Belhumeur says
Lauren, you are correct about there being a relatively quick relatively easy fix. Thursday we(the Commission) will consider approving a contract with the engineering firm McKim and Creed to create a plan that should include that area of Palm Drive. I’ll be asking for that to be one of the first areas to be considered.
Hank Chan says
Wow. The sanctimony, and total lack of empathy. We love you too.
Blah says
Start your own blog Jimbo…
Laurel says
Louann: Good for you for being so “smart.” We live on the ICW, on the barrier island, and no flooding in our yard at all. Huh. Don’t need your “pity,” but thanks anyway.
Laurel says
It’s a Biden/Harris/Walz local natural disaster, right Jimbo?
Toto says
Wow Louann, “no pity from the smart people who live on the mainland” such compassion…… I lived beachside for over 40 years. This is a classic example of climate change causing the intensity of storms, very warm ocean water…Oh yea, you dismiss climate change-because you’re one of “the smart people”.
Ken is Right says
Ken Bryan is the people’s hero. He has brought the flooding issue to the city manager and the commission several times. Listen to Ken!
Fiona says
This is one of the most inhumane things I’ve ever read here. ‘No pity’? The ‘smart people’? Louann, do you know the quote and illustration from Roald Dahl’s book ‘The Twits’? About beauty? For some reason I feel like it’s pertinent here.
It’s sad to see people so angry that the anger is in them like a virus. Louann, you’re not smarter than anyone else. Just more willing to show people you’re a person to be avoided. Point taken.
Fiona says
Did your family come through okay, Deborah? We took precautions out on the island and we’re definitely okay. Covered in sand, but okay!
Deborah Dee says
Yes! Thank you so much for asking! My parents never lost power and my sister did for about 8 hours. Some debris in the yard – cleanup happening today. They were lucky and we are all so grateful.
JimboXYZ says
Guess who the only one that has whined about DeSantis not taking a certain VPOTUS’s phone call about any hurricane in FL this year ? DeSantis talks with Biden, the only one of the 2 that can order anything. I don’t know where you’ve been for 3.75 years, but build back better was Biden-Harris, so yeah, is this a failure of Biden-Harris to build back better ? We’re looking at every project lobbied being underfunded & even cuts/vetos on the underfunded projects. And using FEMA resources to handle border crisis issues is Biden-Harris too. Local is relative, it’s local to us, for others this might as well have happened in the Guatemala or the Honduras ? And coincidentally, Milt originated from nearby & offshore Mexico. Could the climate change possibly be reflected in the millions that have been redistributed to FL ? Glad you brought it up ? There might very well be, possibly a cause & effect relationship between Climate Change/Global Warming just from redistributing existing population ? Maybe why the sewage treatment facilities are over capacity this year ?
Leila says
Heartwarming to see the caring and empathy in this community.
Rick Belhumeur says
I agree Ken has represented the area very well and has brought the Palm Drive area to the attention of the Commission and City Staff(the City Manager in particular) That area will rank as a high priority because of Ken and I feel confident that it will among the very first to commence. Good luck to you and your neighbors.
Fiona says
Very glad to hear it! We on the east coast were very lucky this time round. The county did get flooding, but it was mostly in the areas we expected. Again, so happy your loved ones are safe—all the best to you.