A.G. GancarskiJacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry briefed media Saturday morning on the catastrophe wrought by Hurricane Matthew.
“It’s a new day here in Jacksonville,” Curry said, adding that we’re on the other side of the storm and “there’s a lot of work to be done.”
More than 214,000 JEA customers lacked power as of 8:45 a.m. Saturday. Branches and trees were down throughout the city. And that’s just in the interior.
Recovery efforts, especially related to power restoration, will not be dissimilar to Hermine’s impact on Tallahassee. Restoring power will take into next week. And how far into next week is not known.
The major topics of this presser: assessing the damage and finding out when evacuees can return home — especially to Jacksonville’s beach communities, which were under mandatory evacuation, as were low-lying areas.
Curry said Friday public works crews and JEA and supplementary crews would be out as soon as weather permitted.
Saturday, Curry discussed the progress of storm recovery, with assessment and working underway.
Curry lifted the evacuation order as of noon Saturday, which allows people to take Beach, Atlantic, and Butler into the beaches.
Curry warned people to expect downed branches and power outages.
Beyond that, assessment for “schools and city employees,” is a function primarily of power.
Sheriff Mike Williams advised “patience,” noting there were 300 calls for service holding last night; the number is down to 30.
Bridges are open; however, people are advised not to ride around sightseeing, Williams said.
No major incidents, Williams added; just a lot of work to do.
“Assets have been secured,” Curry said, for recovery of power.
A JEA representative said there are “significant” problems, with damage to transformers and lines wrapped around trees.
While the goal is to reduce outages to zero as quickly as possible, “we cannot determine restoration times … plan for long power outages.”
JEA has started restoring critical sites. There are 1,426 JEA employees and eight mutual aid crews are in town now, with 36 expected by the end of the weekend.
Over 100 people are involved in tree removal. Cut and toss crews are already out, ensuring roads are clear.
Curry vowed to have whatever resources are needed to recover from the storm, with close cooperation from the governor to get external assets.
“The governor’s been fantastic,” Curry said, ensuring that resources are available.
The Emergency Operations Center remains fully activated, and will remain so for the duration of this event.
“A lot of work to be done,” Curry said, “and you can expect that during the days ahead.”
There is some room for optimism: the beaches look “pretty good” compared to counties and cities to the south.
And regionally, there are no major issues on roads headed back into the city from other regions.
Air travel in and out of Jacksonville will resume later today.
Still, there has been at least one casualty, and 14 carbon monoxide poisonings from improper usage of generators.
Other injuries: falls and trips, from people surveying storm damage.
Curry summed it up.
“Your city prepared … but there’s a whole lot of work to do … I don’t want to talk about assessments until we get everybody up and running.
“The entire city is hurting … we’re going to work to get this entire city back to normal,” Curry said.
