Elderly man fortunate Hurricane Matthew damage wasn't worse

86-year-old Millard Rigdon's home, car crushed by tree in Putnam County

PALATKA, Fla. – Hurricane Matthew caused severe damage to homes up and down the East Coast.

Millard Rigdon, 86, said he's lucky the damage to his home in Palatka wasn't worse.

Rigdon has lived in his home since 1965 and has made a lot of memories there over the years.

"I’ve cooked every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner here for the last 50 years." Rigdon said.

A giant water oak tree fell on Rigdon's roof when Hurricane Matthew hit. He had been sitting just 3 feet away from where it landed.

“You can see I’ve got three or four holes, that water will run in when it rains. You can’t get up there to put a tarp on it," Rigdon said.

Rigdon was uninjured and, luckily, his home can be repaired.

“A big bang, and everything came down," Rigdon said, describing the sound when the tree fell.

The tree that fell through Rigdon's roof also crushed his car between tree branches.

The tree will most likely sit on his house for one more day but Rigdon said after seeing the destruction along the coast, he feels fortunate.

“Some people would probably complain they don’t have an adjuster out here the same day, but there’s a lot more people worse off than I am," Rigdon said. "They said they’d be here next Wednesday. I said, 'That’s fine.'”

Rigdon has a major support system, including two National Guardsmen that showed up while News4Jax was at his home.

Rigdon also has two daughters who live a few blocks away and plenty of neighbors to watch out for him.

Homeowners in the area have been cleaning up for days after the storm caused extensive damage to trees, power lines and docks. Some homes are still without power.

Electric crews from Ohio were seen working in the area to restore power and get the area back to normal.

According to Putnam County Emergency management, damage assessment teams will continue to evaluate effected areas. Some assessments will be by boat to get additional areas inaccessible by vehicles.

The health department has additional resources in the area over the next few days. They will be making contact with residents and discussing post storm actions and warnings.

Putnam County Emergency Management has provided a citizen information line to report issues from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 386-329-1904 or residents can visit the Putnam County BOCC web page.