Storms near Matanzas Inlet: a Marineland house from afar
A few miles north of Marineland, Matanzas Inlet lets the Atlantic into the Matanzas River. It is one of the few inlets on the Florida east coast left largely to nature, and in a storm it is the door through which the ocean reaches the river side of town. For an owner far away, understanding the inlet helps make sense of what a storm does to a Marineland house. This guide covers the inlet, the storms that pass it, and the photos that show their effects.
Matanzas Inlet, just to the north
Matanzas Inlet is a natural opening in the barrier island, just north of the county line in St. Johns County, where the Matanzas River meets the Atlantic. Unlike many Florida inlets, it has no long rock jetties holding it in place, so its channel and sand bars shift with every storm. A small Spanish fort, built in the 1740s, still stands on the river nearby.
The inlet is the main way ocean water enters the river near Marineland. On every tide, water flows in and out through it, and the river at Marineland rises and falls a little later than the ocean does.
In a storm, the inlet carries much more: surge and wave driven water push into the river, lifting it well above its usual high mark. The main site's guide to the northern Flagler coast describes how Marineland sits between the inlet and the rest of the county.
How storms reach Marineland
Storms reach Marineland from three directions. From the ocean side, wind and waves drive against the dunes and the coquina outcrops, moving sand and carrying spray across A1A. From the north, surge pushed through Matanzas Inlet raises the river behind the town. And overhead, rain from a slow storm can drop many inches on a strip of land with nowhere for the water to go but the river or the sand.
Most storms that affect the northern Flagler coast pass offshore or weaken before reaching it, and they leave behind sand, fronds and salt rather than damage. A few in recent years have come closer, cutting dunes and flooding low land along the river.
For an owner far away, the question after each storm is which kind it was for their house. The main site's hurricane season guide for absentee owners explains how to prepare for the season as a whole.
When the river rises
On the river side of Marineland, the effect of a storm comes mostly as rising water. As wind and surge push water through the inlet, the Matanzas River climbs, sometimes over the course of several tides. Low banks are overtopped, docks sit just above or below the water, and lawns nearest the river flood.
When the water goes back down, it leaves a line of wrack, dead marsh grass, reeds and debris, along the highest point it reached. That line is often the clearest sign of how high the water came, and it can sit on a lawn or against a fence for weeks if nobody clears it.
Once the water falls back, grounds photos record the wrack line, the bank, the dock and the lawn exactly as the tide left them. An aerial video shows the whole river front and how far the water spread. The main site's guide to reading photos after a storm covers the frames to compare.
The ocean side in a storm
On the ocean side, a storm works on the dune. Waves at high tide reach the foot of the dune and carry sand away, sometimes leaving a steep cut face. Wind lifts sand off the beach and drops it on walkovers, decks and A1A. The coquina outcrops along the Marineland beach break some of the wave energy, but sand still moves around and over them.
Walkovers take the brunt: stairs at the beach end can be undermined, buried or carried off, and boards along the top can be lifted. Decks facing the ocean collect sand and spray, and anything left on them moves.
From A1A, the ocean side of an oceanfront house is usually out of sight. Photos from the open grounds show the deck and the start of the walkover. An aerial video shows the dune and the beach in front of the house in one pass. The main site's questions and answers explain what the drone visit covers.
The set before a storm
If the forecast brings a named storm toward the northern Flagler coast, photos in the quiet days ahead of it capture the Marineland house just as the storm will meet it: the roof, the windows and any shutters, the deck, the dock, the yard and anything left outside. Those days are usually calm, with A1A open and the river at its ordinary level.
For an owner far away, the set is a short list of what is still out: furniture on the deck, a kayak on the lawn, a trash can at the road. A neighbor or a caretaker can deal with it in the time remaining, if there is one nearby.
The before set is also the reference for every photo afterward. In a town with as few neighbors as Marineland, it may be the only clear record of the house just before the storm. The main site's guide to the street photo set lists its frames.
The set after the road reopens
After a storm, A1A through Marineland may close for a time while sand is cleared from the road and the road edges and bridges along the coast are looked over. Flagler County decides when its part of the barrier island reopens. The after set is taken once the road is open and the trip is reasonable.
The after set repeats the before set frame by frame. Side by side, the two show what moved on the ocean side and the river side: sand on the deck and drive, fronds on the roof, screens torn, the dune cut back, the wrack line on the river lawn, a dock shifted.
For oceanfront and river lots, an aerial video after the storm completes the picture. The main site's guide to reading delivered photos shows how to lay one set beside the other.
King tides and northeasters through the inlet
Not every high water event in Marineland comes with a named storm. In October and November, the king tides lift the river higher than usual on their own. When a northeaster blows at the same time, its days of onshore wind push more water through Matanzas Inlet, and the river can stand high for several tides in a row.
These events rarely make news outside northeast Florida, and an owner far away may never learn of them. Yet for a river front house in Marineland, they can bring water as high as a weak tropical storm does.
A grounds set after the highest fall tides, and after any strong northeaster, shows where the water reached. The main site's guide for owners who spend part of the year away describes how many add these sets to their year.
Few neighbors after a storm
In most towns, an owner far away hears what a storm did from a neighbor within a day or two. In Marineland, with only a handful of full time residents and houses spread along A1A, there may be nobody nearby to look. After an evacuation, the full time residents themselves may be away until the road reopens.
That makes dated photos more important here than almost anywhere else in the county. They are often the first clear view an owner has of the house after a storm, and sometimes the only one for a week or more.
Owners on a recurring plan through storm season can simply add a before and after pair to each storm that comes near. The main site's guide to managing a Flagler County home from out of state describes how owners far away build a small team around the house.
Leaving the island and coming back
The barrier island is among the first places Flagler County asks people to leave when a strong storm approaches, and Marineland's few residents usually go when asked. For an owner far away, that means the house is truly alone during the storm, with nobody in town at all.
After the storm passes, the county reopens the island in stages as roads are cleared and bridges and road edges are looked over. Residents return first; others follow. Photos of a Marineland house are taken once the island is open and the trip is reasonable, which can be a few days after the wind.
Until then, the before set is the latest clear picture of the house the owner has. Once the after set arrives, the pair shows what the storm did. The main site's questions and answers explain how a visit is arranged around a storm.
A storm season plan for a Marineland house
A storm season plan for a house on the Flagler side of Marineland has four pieces. Street and grounds baseline photos around the first of June, with a flight for lots on the water. Monthly street photos, June through November, set to repeat on their own. Two sets bracketing every named storm that comes close. And a grounds set after the fall king tides and any strong northeaster.
By the end of the season, the sets give an owner far away a dated record of both sides of the house through every storm, and a clear idea of what to prepare next year.
To plan storm season for a Marineland house, visit the Marineland home watch page on FlaglerPropertyWatch.com.