Hurricane Dorian clean-up begins in DeBary, Deltona

DEBARY -- Even as rain and sporadic wind raked Volusia County Wednesday morning, clean-up from Hurricane Dorian began at the Highbanks Marina and Camp Resort on the banks of the St. Johns River.

"We had very minimal damage," said Ray Tourangeau, the park's maintenance manager, picking up a few stray limbs and tossing them into the back of his pick-up truck. "We were very lucky."

Residents had yet to return to the marina, evacuated on Monday by Volusia County government order as the storm approached. Tourangeau expected that order to be lifted by Wednesday afternoon, allowing residents to return to the more than 200 RV and camp sites along the St. Johns River.

READ: DeBary residents fear St. Johns River may flood

"I'd like to thank the people who heeded the warning and evacuated as they were supposed to," Tourangeau said, before steering his pickup away from the marina's entrance to survey other areas of the park.

Water on the nearby St. Johns River wasn't noticeably higher than it was on Tuesday, rising to just beneath the highest level of a three-tiered walkway at the public boat ramp on West Highbanks Road. But the National Weather Service has predicted that the river level will rise to 3-feet 4-inches by Thursday, considered moderate flood level.

In the wake of the storm, with occasional wind gusts and heavy bands of rain showers, few residents were out and about early along the sidewalks on Highbanks Road. In West Volusia, a few customers patronized open grocery markets, convenience stores and restaurants, such as the Winn-Dixie and the DeBary Diner in the plaza at the corner of Highbanks Road and U.S. Highway 17-92.

Officials at DeBary City Hall had received no reports of power outages or property damage from the storm, said Carmen Rosamonda, Debary's city manager.

"All the roads are clear, all the lakes and retention ponds are in good shape," Rosamonda said. "I've been around this morning, covering the city with staff, making sure the roads are clear and there are no hazards for our residents. So far, so good."

In Deltona, a steady stream of diners occupied the Waffle House just west of Interstate 4.

Mark Whitehead, 78, traveled from New Smyrna Beach to the restaurant, a second choice after he found the Osteen Diner closed because of the storm.

"I came from (State Road) 44 and (State Road) 415 and there was no debris," said Whitehead, a retired insurance executive. "Usually, there are limbs along the side of the road, but this time there was nothing."

Whitehead, who has lived in the area since 1971, never lost power at his home, only minutes from the coastline in New Smyrna Beach.

"I only had television interference a couple of times," he said. "I've been through a number of these storms and this is the lightest impact I've been through."

Yet he's not among those who might question whether advance warnings of the storm's threat were overblown, he said.

"With some past storms, I've felt that way," Whitehead said. "But at this time yesterday (on Tuesday), I was still pretty scared. It was a Category 5 at that time. Even now, I'm really amazed that nothing happened. I thought it would be so bad."

Outside the Publix supermarket on Doyle Road, Deltona resident Steve Brown scratched off a lottery ticket and won $100, and it wasn't even the luckiest moment of his day, he said.

"No wind, no damage," Brown said of Dorian's impact to his nearby home.

"This one didn't have as much wind as (2016's Hurricane) Matthew, I guess," Brown said. "We got a few gusts up to 40 mph, but I guess other than that, we're OK."

Others in the area felt equally fortunate.

"This is the fourth named storm we've been involved in," said DeBary resident Ted Ward, checking the yard outside his home on DeBary Drive with his wife, Dawn. "This is the first time we've not had any damage to our house."

Hurricane Irma ripped the roof off the Wards' home in 2017, and trees blocked the street in front of the house after a tornado ripped through the neighborhood, Ward said.

By comparison, the extent of Dorian's damage consisted of a few toppled plants. The Wards praised forecasters, the media and area merchants for helping preparations go more smoothly in the long run-up to the storm.

"The news did an outstanding job of keeping us in touch with everything," Dawn said. "They can only follow the forecast, that's all they can do. In the stores, every time we went it seemed like they were re-stocking," she said. "Everybody got water; everybody got bread. No one was running out."

READ: Hurricane Dorian Wednesday: Where to get food and gas in Volusia-Flagler

Still, the long period of anxious anticipation was emotionally draining, the Wards said.

READ: Hurricane Dorian: When is it safe to go out in Volusia-Flagler?

"I guess it's like cabin fever up north," Ted said. "Hurricane fatigue? Did we suffer from it? Yes. We're just dying to get out of the house."

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