FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — Though Hurricane Helene is making landfall in the Big Bend area, its effects will be felt far from there.
Action News Jax Shanila Kabir spent the day in Nassau County where despite the heavy rains that drenched the area earlier this month, people are not too worried about Helene’s impacts.
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Fernandina Beach Mayor Bradley Bean has been vocal about Hurricane Helene. He asks everyone in town to buckle up and be prepared. That included the dozens of businesses that stayed open on Thursday.
“We haven’t had too much rain. It’s kind of off and on, and this is still quite a few people outside walking and shopping. We had customers coming in this morning,” said Nanette Snow, an employee at Amelia Fine Jewelry.
The owner of Hudson & Perry, Ashlie Rowland, said the shop stayed open during normal business hours. She expects to do the same on Friday depending on the storm’s outcome.
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Many shoppers and visitors walking through town said they are prepared but are not too worried.
Long-time resident Danielle Cunningham said her chief concern is that the ground is already really saturated from heavy rains earlier this month.
“We’ve already had a lot of flooding this past week and a half. The sunshine came out eventually so it really helped dry some things up, but we can get heavy rains, or we could just get really just clouds,” said Cunningham.
Mayor Bean said no evacuation order has been issued; however, the city is prepared in case people need to leave their homes offering free transportation to nearby shelters.
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