UPDATES: St. Johns County preparing for possible severe wind event

ST JOHNS COUNTY

Based on the latest forecast from the U.S. National Weather Service – Jacksonville (NWS Jacksonville), St. Johns County is announcing it will close its government offices at 1 p.m. today (Jan. 9) in the interest of public safety. County operations will resume standard hours tomorrow morning.

St. Johns County is announcing the following service updates for the community:

• Johns County Beach Services will close beach driving to the public at 1 p.m. Beach driving will resume standard hours Wednesday morning.
• Johns County Parks and Recreation Extended Day Programming will remain open, mirroring the St. Johns County School District. Parks and Recreation will close county fields used for athletics at 1 p.m. Parks and Recreation will reopen fields to the public Wednesday morning.
• The St. Johns Golf Club is canceling all tee times scheduled for 1 p.m. or later today (Jan. 9). The St. Johns Golf Club will resume standard hours Wednesday morning.
• The St. Johns County Ocean Pier and Gift Shop will close at 1 p.m. and resume standard hours Wednesday morning.
• The Stratton Road and Tillman Ridge Transfer Stations will close at 2 p.m. and resume standard hours Wednesday morning.

NWS Jacksonville is predicting sustained winds could reach 25-35 mph while wind gusts could reach 60-80 mph as the squall line passes through St. Johns County. NWS Jacksonville also issued warnings of severe thunderstorms with a significant risk of damaging winds and the possibility of isolated tornadoes. A severe squall line is expected to move across Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida between noon and 6 p.m. today (Jan. 9).

This is the final opportunity to prepare for this weather event by securing or bringing inside any loose outdoor items, such as trash cans, lawn furniture and holiday decorations. This is expected to be a fast-moving, short-duration wind event. As of the latest forecast, heavy rainfall is not anticipated for St. Johns County, but this is an evolving system subject to change.

Due to the potential for severe wind conditions, St. Johns County did not collect yard waste today, allowing service providers to focus on quickly completing garbage and recycling collection. Garbage and recycling collection service providers began their routes at 5 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. to help ensure routes were completed before the potential wind event began. St. Johns County asks residents to secure or bring inside trash and recycling bins as soon as possible after collection is completed to ensure bins do not get blown into the street or damage property due to winds.

Following the wind event, residents are asked to follow the Yard Waste Collection Guidelines available at sjcfl.us/SolidWaste/YardWaste.aspx to ensure efficient yard waste collection in the coming days. Residents who would have had their yard waste collected today (Jan. 9) can take it to the Tillman Ridge or Stratton Road Transfer Stations free of charge.

As a reminder, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office monitors bridges within St. Johns County and has the authority to close bridges in the event that sustained winds reach 40 mph. While this wind event may see gusts reach or exceed 40 mph, sustained winds at or above 40 mph are not anticipated at this time, and therefore, bridges are not anticipated to be closed.

St. Johns County Emergency Management encourages the public to stay informed through these options:

• Follow St. Johns County Emergency Management on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsEOC) and X/Twitter (https://twitter.com/StJohnsEOC).
• Sign up for the Alert St. Johns emergency notification system at www.alertstjohns.com.
• Ensure the notification settings selected allow you to be alerted at all times for your safety.
• Register for Nixle Alerts by texting StJohnsEOC to 888777.

SUNSHINE BUS AND COA PARATRANSIT

All Sunshine Bus public transportation routes and COA Paratransit transportation services in St. Johns County will be discontinued at 3 p.m. today (Jan. 9) due to expected hazardous weather conditions, per the recommendation of the St. Johns County Emergency Operations Center. Regularly scheduled Sunshine Bus routes and Paratransit transportation services will resume Wednesday, Jan. 10.

Transportation customer service will also close at 3 p.m. today (Jan. 9) and reopen on Wednesday, Jan. 10. For Sunshine Bus and Paratransit transportation updates, go to sunshinebus.net.