JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Jacksonville Beach city officials are preparing for the weather event expected to come through this weekend.
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Jacksonville Beach Mayor Chris Hoffman said sand dunes are paramount to protecting the people who live here.
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“The dunes are really critical to protecting our community during big storms and storm surges,” Mayor Hoffman said. “And the sea oats are really important, not only the top of the sea oats that catch the wind and the sand, but the bottom of the sea oats that hold the sand with their roots.”
Mayor Hoffman says the public works crew is preparing for the storm like they do for any weather event.
“We want to make sure storm drains are clear, we want to make sure that any debris – things like that – that might get picked up by the wind are cleared, that construction sites are secure.”
Mayor Hoffman says they are always keeping an eye on beach erosion. In-fact, she says Jax Beach is scheduled to have their beach renourishment project in the spring of next year.
Read: Neighbors concerned about Memorial Park flooding ahead of weekend storm
Our Action News Jax First Alert Weather team says the peak of the storm is expected to happen late Saturday afternoon into early Sunday morning with wind gusts up to 60-plus miles per hour with heavy rainfall.
“I would have liked some nice weather before I went back to some snowstorms,” Michigan visitor, Cadden Zank said.
Zank and Kyle Tilley came into town for a school function and did not expect to have cloudy skies and rain in the forecast.
Neither did another out-of-town family.
“We were hoping for a little better weather,” Colorado visitor Nan Langland said. “It’s windy, but we’re used to wind and Colorado, but it’s not a cold wind, so it’s okay.”
Read: First Alert Weather Days this weekend due to heavy rain, storms forecast for the Jacksonville area
Langland is visiting her granddaughter, Kelsey Page, who is set to graduate from the University of North Florida, tomorrow. This visit is serving as a little Christmas vacation, but they are not letting the weather damper their family time.
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“We were gonna go to St. Augustine for the Nights of Lights, but if it’s gonna be raining and stuff then we might just have to have a game night or something,” Page said.
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