Rainwater heads north along St. Johns River, floods Astor
St. Johns at Astor hit 4.3 feet; national forecasts call for crest of 4.6 feet
ASTOR — Christina Whitney, 51, was helping a neighbor move his furniture to dry ground when she noticed an empty pontoon boat float down her flooded street in the isolated hamlet on the St. Johns River.
“Oh my God, what’s that doing there?” she asked. But she shrugged it off. “I know people who just untied their boats and hoped for the best.”
The 1,500 residents in the rustic community 60 miles northwest of downtown Orlando were on high alert this week, aware that the water level could continue to rise through the weekend as the river carries Hurricane Irma’s rainwater north to already flood-ravaged Jacksonville. Officials had made St. Johns a no-wake zone since the waves would crash into homes.
“You have all that rain from South Florida, [the] Wekiva River basin and all that stuff is going to start coming up north,” Lake County sheriff ’s Cpl. Brian Forst said. “It’s going all the way up.”
The Sheriff ’s Office set up a mobile command unit in the river town 60 miles northwest of Orlando, and the county issued a voluntary evacuation for the area and was setting up a shelter, saying the St. Johns had reached never-before seen levels.
The St. Johns at Astor hit 4.3 feet, and National Weather Service forecasts called for a crest of 4.6 feet, but officials and residents were skeptical it would stop there.
“I’ve been here 18 years, and it’s probably the highest I’ve ever seen, and I don’t know when it’s supposed to crest,” said Tina Nordle, co-owner of the Blackwater Inn, a popular restaurant at the intersection of the town’s bridge on State Road 40 and the St. Johns.
Bill Arwood, who was removing belongings from his riverside home with help from his brother Jerry Arwood, said the water level moved inland six feet on his property — just three feet from his home.
“I wasn’t worried when it came over the seawall, but I put a stake down, and each hour it keeps coming in,” Arwood said.
The retired Miami Beach police officer had to drive through water to remove items from his home.
Residents tried Tuesday to separate rumor from fact after an untrue story about a Federal Emergency Management Agency agent saying another 4 feet of flooding could come to the town.
“This is what we call Astor Rumor Control because you’ll hear so many things that turn out to be untrue,” said resident Nancy Brand, 74.
Regardless, residents prepared for the worst and said Astor was a bottleneck for the St. Johns and is known as a flood-prone area.
“This place floods about every major weather event,” said Master Deputy Jason Helton, working from inside the mobile command unit at the First Baptist Church of Astor. Helton, who regularly goes boating along the St. Johns in Astor, agreed with others and said this is the worst he has ever seen.
Lake County Fire Chief Jim Dickerson said the department planned to send two trucks Wednesday so firefighters could hand out informational pamphlets and monitor the situation.
Lake County Sheriff’s Capt. Todd Luce said deputies will be focusing on security and enforcement, noting that a curfew enacted by county commissioners is in effect from 9 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. for non-Astor residents “to keep people’s property safe.”
Brand, a real-estate agent, called Astor a “small and really loving community” of properties ranging from mobile homes to million-dollar-plus mansions.
Water overflowed from her backyard canal and reached her deck of her elevated home. She said she doesn’t think the flooding will decrease property values.
“God is not creating any more waterfront property,” she said.
“This place floods about every major weather event.” Master Deputy Jason Helton