3:15 p.m.: Emergency officials spent Monday afternoon in “rescue mode” as a surging St. Johns River sent residents fleeing from their homes in San Marco, Riverside and other waterfront communities, said Mayor Lenny Curry.
Curry confirmed that at least 100 people were rescued from their homes in San Marco alone as the afternoon’s high tide pushed an already historic flooded river to even greater heights. He said it could take several days — or even a week — for the waters to fully recede.
He warned people who haven’t evacuated flooded areas that conditions would not improve with the dropping tide.
“They’re not going to recede today,” Curry said. “This is not a one-day event. This is probably a week-long event.”
Water levels in the St. Johns River, as well as other flooded tributaries like the Trout and Ortega Rivers, could drop by a foot later today and will then rise with the following high tide. It will continue to rise and fall over the next few days as the excess water slowly drains from the river basin into the ocean.
Most of the city’s bridges, including east bound lanes to the beaches, remain closed. Sheriff Mike Williams said the agency doesn’t have a timetable for when they will open the bridges and that officials are in the early stages of inspecting them for damage.
Williams also said the Sheriff’s Office has received reports of burglaries but rumors of looting were unfounded.
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12:20 p.m. Tropical Storm Irma is nearing the Florida-Georgia border, but its impacts on Northeast Florida are still unfolding with potentially dire consequences. The St. Johns River — already past historic surge levels — continues to rise, creating what Jacksonville city officials say is an emergency for residents in Downtown, Riverside, San Marco and other low-lying neighborhoods.
Parts of those neighborhoods already look as if they’ve been claimed by the St. Johns, which in downtown is a brackish river heavily influenced by ocean tides. High tide will peak in Downtown around 2 p.m., and the water level could reach about 6 feet higher than normal.
Those extremely elevated water levels could last for up to a week.
Mayor Lenny Curry called it a Category 3-level surge. Irma was a weak Category 2 transitioning into a Category 1 when it sideswiped Northeast Florida. The east side of the storm proved to be fearsome.
Curry urged vulnerable residents in those areas to flee.
“We need you to heed our warnings,” he said.
There were no reported fatalities in Jacksonville, but the city — the largest by area in the continental United States — was left a mess by sunrise. More than a quarter-million people in the city are without power.
Between 10 and 15 inches of rain have fallen across the area, with isolated pockets getting as much as 20 inches. In addition to the overflowing St. Johns, other creeks and tributaries are swollen and have spilled over onto roadways. Rain water has also covered some streets.
Wind gusts reached as high as 85 mph, toppling trees and causing significant damage in pockets throughout the city.
The storm surge has left parts of the city along the river impassable.
The rising water is the result of a trifectaof factors: Storm surge from Irma, massive amounts of rainfall and the coming high tides. Tides in Jacksonville have been higher than normal because of the lunar cycle, a pattern that aligned with Irma’s arrival to damaging consequences.
St Vincent’s hospital in Riverside, which is on the St. Johns River, is evacuating some of its patients to facilities on the Southside and in Clay County.
The region saw significant rainfall in the days before Irma’s arrival thanks to a lingering, super-charged nor’easter, whose high pressure interacting the the low pressure in Irma created more rain and wind over the weekend.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue has received 600 calls for help in 8 hours. It’s not clear how those calls break down into categories but city officials said many were for rescues. Curry, in taking a damage assessment of various neighborhoods, witnesses at least one active rescue.
The North and South Prongs of Black Creek in Clay County reached major flood stage one day earlier than anticipated. Areas in St. Johns also appeared flooded and battered.
By noon, rain had subsided but some strong gusts still blew throughout the city. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said it had re-opened the Buckman and Dames Point bridges. Sheriff Mike Williams said it’s unclear when the spans that cross the Intracoastal and provide access to the Beaches will be open. He warned residents not to expect a quick re-opening.
9 a.m. Mayor Lenny Curry urgently warned residents in neighborhoods along the St. Johns River that flood waters — already at historic highs — could rise another 4 to 6 feet.
The Jacksonville office of the National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for those areas. That covers downtown, San Marco, Riverside, South Hampton and Landon Park.
High tide won’t reach the Main Street Bridge until about 2 p.m. That tide combined with a southerly shift in winds could cause flood waters to rise.
Residents should call 630-CITY if they need help evacuating, or 9-1-1 if it’s an emergency. Residents should post a white flag outside their homes if they want to leave. Use materials like bed sheets.
A Jacksonville Fire and Rescue official said he wasn’t prepared to whether there have been any storm-related fatalities but said there have been many injuries reported, for reasons like structure fires and falling trees. JFRD is getting about 60 calls an hour.
Conditions remain too dangerous for residents to be on the road.
8 a.m. The National Hurricane Center has downgraded Irma to a tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds of about 70 mph. It was located about 105 miles north-northwest of Tampa.
7:30 a.m. Hurricane Irma sawed north through the Florida peninsula Monday morning, dumping tremendous rain and imposing hurricane-force gusts throughout the northeast portion of the state. The St. Johns River storm surge pushed water into the streets of downtown Jacksonville’s business district — breaking its all-time record, with a further increase expected — and cutting winds as high as 85 mph felled trees, blocking roads, while homes across the state’s most populous city reported flooding.
With hours to go until strong wind gusts subside, JEA reported more than 267,000 customers without power. That does not include the populous Beaches communities, where there are no doubt many thousands more in the dark.
Major bridges in Jacksonville are closed and will not re-open until conditions alleviate, which likely won’t begin until the afternoon.
Residents should plan to stay in place for some time. The full extent of damage across the region is not clear, though there are signs Irma may have caused a mess that exceeds Hurricane Matthew last year.
Search-and-rescue teams are pulling some people from flooded homes, though the extent and locations of those operations are not clear.
The St. Johns River hit low tide around 6 a.m. A combination of high tide around noon — tides have been unusually high because of the lunar cycle — and a shift in wind direction to the south could cause waters to rise another 1 to 2 feet, according to the National Weather Service. The intersection of Hogan and Water streets looked like an extension of the river.
As the sun started to rise, photos of flooded roads and fallen trees were being posted to social media. In downtown, bright green flashes of light on the horizon from blown transformers indicated more power outages are on the way.
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Parts of St. Augustine appeared to be under water.
In the early hours Monday morning, a Clay County official sent a notice to residents that the North and South Prongs of Black Creek were rising much faster than forecasted.
Mayor Lenny Curry will hold a 9 a.m. news conference at the city’s emergency operations center in downtown. That will be the first official word on the extent of damage in the city.
Jacksonville is the largest city by area in the Continental United States, so assessing damage will be an arduous task.
Irma had maximum sustained winds around 75 mph and was moving north-northwest at 18 mph. It was about 60 miles north of Tampa at 5 a.m. Forecasters expect Irma to weaken to a tropical storm Monday morning.
