St. Johns County asks people to stay off the roads

St. Johns County is urging the public to stay off the roads as crews conduct damage assessments after Hurricane Milton hit the area particularly hard.

“Many roads may be blocked by flooding, debris or downed power lines, posing hazards to drivers and pedestrians alike,” the county said in a statement Thursday morning. “Emergency responders are currently working to clear debris and restore access.”

The county also asked residents not to put more pressure on the county’s wastewater system.

Residents were asked to avoid washing laundry, to limit showers and to minimize flushing toilets until Friday evening to prevent sewer overflows.

A main sewer line burst Wednesday night on Anastasia Island off Mi-zell Road. St. Johns County Administrator Joy Andrews said it’s the main line for Anastasia Island.

“At this time we’ve made the decision to not shut the water line down, because we still have a lot of residents that did not evacuate and they’re still on the island,” Andrews said. “But we really want to encourage users on the island to limit the use of line flushing and the use of anything that can bring water into our sewer system.”

Andrews said crews are trying to contain the spill. She said repairs could take a few days.

News4Jax reported that the Matanzas River poured over the seawall into downtown St. Augustine early Thursday. Crews registered wind gusts up to 35 mph, whipping palm trees, and watched as water from the river rushed into town, at least half a mile inland.

Waters started to recede slightly after high tide around 3 a.m., but officials warned the water could rise again Thursday afternoon at the next high tide.

More information about Hurricane Milton is available at https://www.sjcfl.us/hurricane/ .

The county also encouraged the public to stay informed through these options:

• Follow St. Johns County Emergency Management on Facebook ( facebook.com/StJohnsEOC ) and X/Twitter ( x.com/StJohnsEOC ).
• Sign up for the Alert St. Johns emergency notification system at www.sjcemergencymanagement.com .
• Register for Nixle Alerts by texting StJohnsEOC to 888777.
• Download the SJC Connect app at www.sjcfl.us/sjc-connect .

Information from Steven Ponson of Jacksonville Today and Michelle Corum of WJCT News was used in this report.

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