ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Johns County Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday to extend the county's local state of emergency for another week.
The county has been under a state of emergency declaration since Oct. 5, just before Hurricane Matthew swept up Florida's east coast and left a wake of damage, flooding and debris.
The commissioners met Tuesday in St. Augustine and were updated on the recovery process in the county by emergency management officials, who said there is still a lot to be done.
The county still has one shelter open with 35-50 people inside. Officials are trying to get them alternate housing by the end of the week.
They have 60 crews cleaning up and are about halfway done with debris removal using heavy machinery. They have a long way to go with beach cleanup, they said.
Dozens of families were displaced because of hurricane damage, including Harvey Bleecker and his wife, Kim. Their Davis Shores home in St. Augustine filled with water during the hurricane and had to be gutted. They won't be able to move back for months.
"All of our major appliances are gone. All of our furniture is gone," Bleecker said.
Despite that, the Bleeckers remain optimistic.
"A long process. One day at a time. We'll keep moving forward, and we will get it done," Harvey Bleecker said.
There's no word on a cost estimate yet, but officials hope the federal reimbursement will cover a lot of it.
"We don't even want to think about the budget right now," St. Johns County administrator Mike Wanchick said. "Obviously, life safety is paramount. We are hoping with FEMA reimbursements, insurance coverage, we know we won't be made whole, but we hope it will minimize the financial damage."
The declaration of the state of emergency extends until next Tuesday, for the regularly scheduled Board of County Commissioners meeting.
Beaches reopen to vehicles
St. Johns County has reopened vehicular beach access between the Ocean Trace Road Ramp and the Dondanville Road Ramp. Vehicular access will be permitted from 8 a.m. through 7:30 p.m. daily.
Drivers are reminded to follow the 10 mph speed limit, stay within the designated driving lane, and park on the west side of the driving lane.
In an effort to protect and restore dunes and dune vegetation in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, all other St. Johns County beaches remain closed to vehicles until further notice.
Staff is working with federal and state agencies to replant vegetation to promote dune restoration.
For the most up-to-date beach conditions, please visit the Reach the Beach website at www.sjcfl.us/Beaches, follow @SJCBeaches on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SJCBeaches, or like SJC Beaches on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SJCBeaches.
Mickler's Landing beach parking closed
The Mickler’s Landing public parking area and all related facilities are closed due to the site being utilized as a staging area for equipment, containers and debris associated with post-Hurricane Matthew cleanup.
Contractors will work from Mickler’s South to the GTMNERR and Mickler’s North to the St. Johns County line.
Heavy equipment will be present on the beach from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily until clean-up efforts are completed. All visitors are encouraged to exercise caution when visiting Mickler’s Beach.
Public access to the Mickler’s Landing parking lot will be restored from Saturday mornings through Sunday evenings to allow access to the beach. For more information, please call the St. Johns County Emergency Management Citizen Information Line at 904-824-5550.
Disaster recover center opens
A disaster recovery center has opened in St. Johns County to help survivors affected by Hurricane Matthew’s severe storms and flooding.
The center, which will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday, is at:
St. Johns County Wind Mitigation Bldg
3111 Agricultural Center Drive
St. Augustine, FL 32092
The center will be closed on Sundays.
Disaster recovery centers serve as one-stop shops for eligible storm survivors seeking one-on-one help, FEMA officials said.
Representatives from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Small Business Administration and various state agencies will be at the center to answer questions.
On Monday, FEMA's top flood insurance official, Roy Wright, was in St. Augustine to help residents find help.
The National Flood Insurance Program is pre-authorizing thousands of dollars to go out almost immediately for residents who had flood insurance.
“People, in terms of checks, often begin to see their next check happen two to three weeks later,” Wright said. “And then, the next increment comes based on the insured. If they want to get actual estimates from contractors and the like, we’ll take the time to wait with them.”
Wright said $22 million was paid out after Hurricane Sandy. But Hurricane Matthew's damage will cost hundreds of millions more. In addition to that price tag, Gov. Rick Scott said Monday that there were lessons learned.
“We’ve learned that it’s important to find places for all the linemen that come from outside the state to stay,” Scott said. “Some of them stayed at Camp Blanding. And we organized for some of them to stay at Embry Riddle.”
FDEM and FEMA officials continue to work closely with local officials in hard-hit areas to identify possible sites for additional centers. Survivors can also locate the center by visiting the DRC locator on fema.gov.
Downloading the FEMA App (available in English and Spanish) to their mobile device will allow survivors to:
- Apply for disaster assistance
- Get directions to the nearest disaster recovery center
- Get weather alerts
- Subscribe to disaster safety tips
Many services available at disaster recovery centers are also available by calling the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362. Survivors with questions regarding the application or the appeals process, or who need to register for assistance, may visit online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by phone (voice, 711 or relay service) at 800-621-3362. (TTY users should call 800-462-7585.) The toll-free lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available, (for Spanish press #2).
Survivors requiring a reasonable accommodation (ASL interpreting, Braille Large Print, etc.) while visiting a disaster recovery center may call the appropriate Helpline number above to receive support.
FEMA encourages survivors to register as soon as possible. Those who may have registered with their county emergency management office, the American Red Cross or other community organizations are reminded to also register with FEMA. If you pre-registered with FEMA before the presidential disaster declaration for Hurricane Matthew, there is no need to register again. However, you should call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-3362 (voice, 711 or video relay service) TTY users can call 800-462-7585 to update your information.
Disaster assistance may include grants to help homeowners and renters pay for temporary housing, essential home repairs, personal property replacement, and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance.
The SBA offers low-interest disaster loans for businesses of all sizes, homeowners, renters, and certain private nonprofit organizations. SBA disaster loans may cover repairs, rebuilding, as well as the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged real estate and personal property.
For more information about SBA loans, call SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955, email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visit http://www.sba.gov/disaster. TTY users may call 800-877-8339. Applicants may also apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.
For more information on Florida’s disaster recovery, visit fema.gov/disaster/4283, https://twitter.com/femaregion4, facebook.com/FEMA, and fema.gov/blog.