Flagler emergency manager concerned not enough residents evacuated for Tropical Storm Ian

Flagler County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord said he was concerned that not enough people appeared to have heeded the county's evacuation order as Tropical Storm Ian churned toward the area.

Lord said in a phone interview Tuesday that only a couple of hundred people sought refuge in shelters at Bunnell Elementary School in Bunnell and Rymfire Elementary School in Palm Coast.

He said the amount of people who turned out at the shelters was not indicative of the total number of evacuees since some people may have opted to go to hotels or to stay with family and friends.

“But just what we saw immediately after the storm had kind of passed and the amount of people and cars on the barrier island makes me think that we did not have a lot of evacuation compliance,” Lord said. “And I realize we are a free country and we are not going to go pick people up and drag them out if they stay behind, but by the same token, it is very concerning to me.”

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Lord said Ian’s forecasted impact on Flagler County was worse than it actually turned out.

Ian was a Category 4 hurricane when it struck Southwest Florida, but had been downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reached Flagler and Volusia counties. The storm nevertheless was linked to five deaths in Volusia County and millions in damages. No storm-related deaths have been reported in Flagler County.

Lord said he worries that someday a powerful hurricane will strike Flagler County and people won’t evacuate.

“What we are seeing in Southwest Florida can 100% happen here as well,” Lord said.

He said that just because Flagler County has not had a Category 5 hurricane in recorded history does not mean it is immune to such a storm.

“It’s very disconcerting to me when we find out people stayed behind,” he said. "It's luck. They've lucked out most of the time recently."

He said the county takes the approach of asking a larger area to prepare to evacuate and then narrows it down as a storm’s track is updated.

“I need to err on the side of public safety. If the storm is less than what was originally forecast, we can let people go back sooner,” Lord said.

He said residents are allowed back to their homes as soon as it is safe.

"We don't take evacuation lightly," he said.

Flagler damage estimated at nearly  $11 million

Flagler County Emergency Management estimated the storm damage countywide at $10,707,598, according to the county’s FEMA declaration information.

The assessment did not check all the houses in the county, but looked at 809 homes in areas that flooded.

The declaration stated that of those 809, 548 houses had no damage. It stated that 173 were “affected,” meaning less than 20% of the property was damaged; 80 had minor damage with between 20% to 40% damaged; and six had major damage with 40% to 80% damaged. No properties were destroyed, which would have entailed damage greater than 80%. Two properties were inaccessible.

The county estimated structural debris at more than 94,000 cubic yards countywide and vegetative debris at more than 28,000 cubic yards.

And 33 homes in the flooded areas checked had water intrusion, according to the county.

Flagler County Property Appraiser Jay Gardner said on Tuesday that the residential damage in Flagler County came to about $11 million, but that it may increase as new damage is reported and any still-flooded areas become accessible. He said that figure does not include damage to the dunes or government structures like the Flagler Beach Pier.

Flagler County had 47,479 single-family homes as of Jan. 1, 2022, Gardner said. But based on all the construction, it would be safe to say that number is up to 48,000 at this point.

Waters to begin receding in western Flagler County

Water should start receding in western Flagler County within the next 24 hours, county officials stated in a press release.

Haw Creek has apparently crested at 8.67 feet, which is “major flood stage,” according to the release, which stated that 4 feet is flood stage. That’s higher than the previous flood record of 8 feet, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the county stated.

But high tide measures at Dunn’s Creek will be slightly higher over the next week, the release stated

Dunn’s Creek connects Crescent Lake and Dead Lake to the overflowing St. Johns River.

Lord said a “handful of homes” in western Flagler County are flooded. The Bull Creek Fish Camp restaurant is flooded and a campground there is submerged, Lord said in the interview.

“We’re not completely out of it yet,” Lord stated in the release. “Flood levels will continue to rise and fall a bit over the next couple of days.”

Rain totals from Tropical Storm Ian in Flagler County ranged from 6 inches at the Palm Coast Branch Library to 15 inches at the Bunnell Wastewater Treatment Plant and potentially higher in some areas, the release stated.

The Bunnell treatment plant has been dealing with heavy rainfall since mid-September.

“More than 2,000 buildings send wastewater to our treatment plant – residents, businesses, government (within the core of Bunnell),” stated Bunnell City Manager Alvin Jackson in the release. “The city has been dealing with approximately 1.5 billion gallons of stormwater and approximately 1.1 million gallons of wastewater per day from customers and stormwater infiltration. The design capacity of the treatment plant is 600,000 gallons per day.”

Getting help

Flagler County residents can apply for FEMA Individual Assistance, such as temporary housing assistance, basic home repairs and other uninsured disaster-related needs.

Visit disasterassistance.gov, call 800-621-3362 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time, or use the FEMA mobile app.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Not many Flagler County residents evacuated for Tropical Storm Ian