St. Johns County

Free sandbag distribution in St. Augustine to prepare for Nicole, until supply runs out

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — If you live in St. Augustine, you can fill up on free sandbags at Francis Field to prepare for Tropical Storm Nicole.

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People wasted no time shoveling at the large sand mounds and filling up their sandbags. In fact, the City of St. Augustine had to start the distribution about a half-hour early because folks were showing up before its scheduled start time of 10 a.m.

“They’re chomping at the bit to get in here,” said mobility manager for the City of St. Augustine, Xavier Pellicer, who on Tuesday was in charge of the sandbag distributions.

In total, 10 truckloads of sand were delivered to help neighbors get ready for Nicole.

“There’s a storm coming,” said neighbor Debi Trupo. “I just wanted to make sure my house was OK.”

They all worked together, and many maxed out their allotted amount of sandbags.

“Twenty bags,” said neighbor Charlie Judice.

“We’re doing about 20,” echoed another neighbor, Brian Bellinger.

“I’m doing 20,” Trupo added.

The City of St. Augustine has brought the sand in from a contracted company, Hicks Trucking and Fill, LLC.

“I call it nice, clean sand,” Pellicer shared.

“This is really nice sand,” Judice agreed.

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While it’s not foolproof, it could make a difference.

“What you really want to do is put some duct tape or something like that around the edges of your doors and then put the sandbags on that,” Pellicer suggested.

Neighbors here know that every bit helps.

“It’s really good and it’s nice to know that this is here for everybody,” Bellinger pointed out.

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They’ve had close calls with floodwaters before.

“It almost got in but not quite,” Trupo recalled of flooding during Hurricane Ian.

“In Irma, we had the water come within 2 feet,” Judice described.

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So officials say now’s the time to prepare.

“I’d recommend, don’t wait till the very end of the day,” Pellicer cautioned.

Even if the sand supply runs out, Pellicer says you can get still 20 free empty sandbags and fill them up elsewhere.