'You sink in several inches of water:' Fernandina Beach residents continue to deal with flooding

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — While there was less rain Friday, some homeowners in Fernandina Beach are still experiencing flooding on their property.

On Thursday, the city’s mayor declared a state of emergency because of the excessive rainfall and flooding. Mayor Bradley Bean said stormwater is infiltrating the wastewater system.

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Our Action News Jax First Alert Weather Team said since the rain began 11 days ago, Fernandina Beach has received between 14 to 17 inches of rain.

Athletic fields were shut down and so were some businesses.

The overwhelming rainfall flooded preschool Seaside Learning Academy so badly that owner Donna Ferriera said she had to shut down the school. Now, 40 preschoolers are without class.

“I’m really thinking, couple weeks, which is scary,” Ferriera said.

Gilbert Cote who lives off Barnwell Road has been struggling to get in and out of his home.

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“By Monday night it was coming into the house and in the garage,” Cote said. “It was entering the house through the weepholes down there and coming up through our floor in our dining room.”

Cote said he has been pumping water to try to get the water level down. He said Thursday he had about eight inches of water in his garage. But the problem is the water has nowhere to go.

“We don’t have a ditch or anything, yeah there’s nothing, nothing for the water to flow to,” Cote said.

On top of that, several athletic fields in the city had to be shut down.

When Action News Jax spoke with the mayor earlier this week, he said the problem was so severe that the city had to make the tough call.

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“Our practice fields for our youth sports have been just overtaken,” Mayor Bean said. “If you try to set foot, you sink in several inches of water.”

The athletic fields will be shut down through the weekend which means the youth games will not be playing here this weekend.

The Nassau County Emergency Management team said they have been working around the clock to answer phone calls today. And they said they will be working Saturday for anyone who needs help.

Read: Nassau County Emergency Operations Center open

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