4 years later, remembering the horrors of Hurricane Irma

Hurricane brought record flooding to Jacksonville

Heavy rain and onshore winds backed up the St. Johns River causing record flooding as Hurricane Irma passed west of Jacksonville.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On Sept. 10, 2017, Category 3 Hurricane Irma crashed ashore near Marco Island, Florida, and tracked north up the state. By the next morning, Jacksonville experienced the worst flooding in the city’s 250-year history.

Downtown’s streets became rivers. Homes in San Marco and across the city were flooded. Along both sides of the St. Johns River, businesses were shuttered for months in the aftermath.

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The storm passed west of Jacksonville by 100 miles early on Sept. 11 as it was weakening from a Category 2 to a Category 1 hurricane. Through the morning, our river rose to a historical 5.57 feet when a powerful rainband which, combined with the storm’s 86 mph easterly gusts, pushed water into the river basin during high tide.

Flood insurance in Irma's aftermath

Irma, together with the preceding nor’easter, swelled the river down into Clay and Putnam counties.

Black Creek set a record flood stage when the water rose to 30.52 feet two days after Irma passed.

Search-and-rescue spread across the area pulling hundreds of victims to safety.

Power was out for more than a quarter-million people and the debris left behind took months to clear.

WATCH: High rise: The Flood and Fury of Hurricane Irma

One of the storm’s most lasting impacts was on nursing homes. New regulations were put in place after a dozen died from a lack of power in a South Florida nursing home.

Eleven people have died after a nursing home in Hollywood, Florida, failed to evacuate its residents during Hurricane Irma. Authorities say they suffered for days without air conditioning. (Pool via CNN)

The storm served as a wake-up call to Jacksonville’s vulnerability to sea-level rise and the growing threats from stronger hurricanes.

Four years later, City Council has completed a resiliency survey and Mayor Lenny Curry hired a chief resiliency officer to look for ways to mitigate future impact from rising waters during future storms.


About the Author:

After covering the weather from every corner of Florida and doing marine research in the Gulf, Mark Collins settled in Jacksonville to forecast weather for The First Coast.