Drew Dixon
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan has ended the city’s state of emergency declaration as Tropical Storm Debby continued its northeastern track and dumped more rain on coastal regions from Georgia through North Carolina.
Jacksonville City Hall offices opened and resumed operations Tuesday morning. Three hurricane shelters that were opened for the public for the duration of the tropical storm event were also closed at 12 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Duval County Emergency Operations Center has been scaled back to “monitoring status” as remnants of Debby continue to rain on the First Coast area. All nonessential city employees have been directed to return to their jobs and Duval County Public Schools employees have been ordered to return to campuses in order to resume preparations for a return to classes for students, as the school year begins Monday.
While Duval County government operations return to normal functions, Jacksonville officials are still warning residents about travel on local roads as the heavy inundation from the storm is still having an impact.
“Some roads still have standing water as of August 6. Please do not attempt to drive through it. Turn Around, Don’t Drown,” a news release from City Hall said.
The initial state of emergency was declared Sunday. Early voting for the Aug. 20 Primary for Duval County School Board seats, Judge races and other elected positions was supposed to start Monday. But the Duval County Supervisor of Elections Office postponed casting ballots due to Debby and the official revised opening for early voting in Duval County will begin Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile JEA, the city’s utility power provider, still has dozens of crews responding to calls throughout Jacksonville. City officials said JEA had responded to about 71,000 customers enduring power outages as of Monday. That figure climbed Tuesday.
“Crews have restored power for 110,000 customers during Tropical Storm Debby. Crews are working to restore power as quickly and safely as possible in remaining homes. Continue to report downed powerlines and trees to 630-CITY,” a news release said.
Jacksonville avoided any evacuation orders during the Tropical Storm Debby impact from Sunday through Tuesday morning.
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Editor’s note: Drew Dixon’s spouse is an employee of Deegan’s administrative staff.
