Storm damage less than officials feared | Palatka Daily News, Palatka, Florida

A tree downed by the winds of Hurricane Ian lies on a road at the corner of Laurel and S. 19th streets in Palatka on Thursday morning.

Putnam County fared better than expected Wednesday night, officials said, though flooding and blackouts continued to sweep through the area Thursday morning and rising water levels remain a concern.

Bill Pickens, chairman of the Putnam County Board of Commissioners, said the worst of the wind and rainfall from Tropical Storm Ian – which was downgraded from a hurricane overnight – would come Thursday afternoon. The St. Johns River will likely be at its highest Friday as water from further south flows downstream, Pickens said at a 10 a.m. press conference, and high water levels will likely continue for the next seven to 10 days.

“We just extremely want you to stay out of floodwaters and off of roads if possible,” he said.

Putnam County Emergency Management advised in a Facebook post that floodwaters may contain sewage and can cause infections if people wade through them. The agency also warned that driving through flooded roads can create wake, causing damage to buildings and infrastructure.

All Putnam County locations monitored by the United States Geological Survey had reached “flood stages” by Thursday morning. According to the agency’s website, this means that water has begun to rise above its banks and flood the surrounding area.

As of 1:30 p.m.., about 31% of Clay Electric and Florida Power & Light customers — 13,293 out of 42,472 — were without power, according to the companies’ websites. Deputy County Administrator Julianne Young said this number will “ebb and flow” Thursday as some areas lose power and others recover power.

Pickens said the town of Welaka in particular experienced widespread power outages early Thursday morning.

First responders had also conducted two rescues on the St. Johns River by Thursday afternoon.

After a man reported that a houseboat he was staying in had “possibly run aground and was taking in water,” deputies helped bring the man ashore in Georgetown around 2 a.m., the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

Allison Waters-Merritt, the public information officer for the sheriff’s office, said that another man found himself trapped on a sailboat Thursday afternoon after the dinghy that he used to reach the vessel drifted away. She said deputies helped him safely return to shore.

The sheriff’s office also removed three derelict vessels from the St. Johns River before the storm, Col. Joe Wells said in an interview. He said the main calls for service as of Thursday morning were roadway obstructions and requests for welfare checks as people are unable to reach loved ones.

Wells encouraged Putnam County residents to continue taking precautions during the storm.

“Stay home if they need anything, stay off the roadways, off the river,” he said.

Despite challenges, Pickens praised teamwork between local agencies and said Ian has impacted Putnam County less than officials feared it would.

“We expected worse. We got a little bit better of a storm,” the chairman said. “We’re not out of the woods yet, but we’ve been very blessed and we’re blessed to have our team in Putnam County.”

Welaka Mayor Jamie Watts said in an interview that FPL and the Emergency Operations Center were highly responsive when much of his town lost power around 4 a.m. Thursday and most electricity had returned by 8 a.m.

Watts said he has seen some flooding, especially around Sportsmans Harbor, but most residents heeded warnings to evacuate.

“Everybody pulled together and it ended up turning out the best that we could’ve hoped for, because we thought it was gonna be a lot worse,” he said.

As weather improves over the coming days, Waters-Merritt encouraged residents to remain cautious and avoid driving motorboats this weekend, as they can create wake that causes more water to flow into flooded homes.

“(People) just need to stay tight right now,” she said. “If you don’t need to travel, don’t travel.”

People with questions about the storm can call the Putnam County Emergency Management information line at 386-329-1904.