ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Parts of St. Johns County are under a mandatory evacuation, and people in St. Augustine are taking Hurricane Milton seriously.
Businesses put up plywood in front of their doors and added sandbags.
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With Hurricane Milton on its way, St. Johns County has mandatory evacuations in place for the entire City of St. Augustine – including the beach.
“It is our wedding anniversary tomorrow, and we had to plans to be here, but we’re going to have to leave tomorrow because we’re evacuating,” St Augustine visitor Deedee Lubunyz said.
Milton is for Lubunyz and her family to cut their vacation short. They’re staying at the cabins at St. Augustine Beach KOA Holiday campgrounds, which is in the evacuation zone. But tomorrow, she said they’re heading back home to Haines City, south of Orlando. “At home, we do have all our supplies already lined up because a week ago, having a hurricane and it’s that season, but you know we all gotta do our best,” Lubunyz said.
Our Action News Jax First Alert Weather team said Hurricane Milton could bring storm surge of about 3-5 feet, sustained winds at 40-60 mph, and wind gusts at 70+ mph from Wednesday night through Thursday. They expect flooding in St Augustine to be like Hurricane Matthew in 2016 but could be worse in spots depending on timing the timing of the storm.
“That’s awful,” Lubunyz said. “Like I hope this town will withstand all of that. A lot of it has for so long, so I’m hoping, but it’s just sad and it’s scary.”
The mandatory evacuations in St. Johns County takes effect Wednesday morning at 8 a.m.
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