- October 10, 2024
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In total, Flagler County received 1.01 inches of rain during Hurricane Idalia, according to measurements by the county's Emergency Operations Center. The winds on Aug. 30 ranged from 40-49 mph: The strongest gust was clocked at 49 mph in Marineland at 4:06 p.m.
Flagler County’s dune renourishment projects were mostly intact after Hurricane Idalia, Coastal Engineering Administrator Ansley Wren-Key said.
“I did see some lower beach changes,” she said, “but those weren't anything different from any minor storm.”
Wind direction played a big part in the lack of damage. Hurricane Idalia was moving north and west, Wren-Key said, so the winds were southernly. Southernly winds tend to keep the water levels at bay, while northeasterly winds push water higher up on the beach.
“So whenever we get northeast winds, those are the winds that are going to erode the beach and the dune the most,” she said.
Not only did the winds' direction prevent damage, so did the timing of their impact on the county. Idalia made landfall during a supermoon. Supermoons amplify the range of the tide, Wren-Key said.
“We were lucky,” she said.
Local businesses reported relatively minor impacts.
J.T. Cerchiara, the serving manager at the Turtle Shack, said the Turtle Shack remained open during Idalia on Aug. 30, though the restaurant didn’t draw a crowd until dinner.
Cerchiara said the Turtle Shack’s management decided to stay open when the storm's track began shifting further north, even though a lot of Flagler shops closed.
“Just closing for half a day, we could lose upwards of $5,000 or more,” Cerchiara said. “It doesn’t seem like a lot, but you add a couple days up, that’s a lot of money … that we miss out on.”
The Golden Lion was one of the restaurants that closed. General manager Tim Griffin said the restaurant made that decision because most of its seating is outdoors.
“It’s a pretty large preparation job at the Golden Lion, just because most of our stuff's outside,” he said.
The Golden Lion has over 100 employees, Griffin said, and their safety is always management's priority during storms.
Griffin and Cerchiara said that after a storm, the Flagler Beach community will usually come out to support local businesses. Cerchiara said a lot of people don’t want to cook after dealing with a storm, either.
“We try to stay open and stay ready for them,” he said. "[We want to] be like a little safe haven for people if they need it.”
