After Hurricane Milton exited Florida late Oct. 10, it left behind optimal surf conditions south of the Boca Raton Inlet. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Related: Carlisle and Eau open doors to Tampa evacuees from storm; Briny Breezes: County orders evacuation of manufactured and mobile homes as hurricane approaches
By Rich Pollack
With Hurricane Milton still several hours away, the small group of Briny Breezes residents who stayed home despite being urged to evacuate weren’t about to let expected tropical force winds stand in the way of the regular afternoon social hour.
“A bunch of us went down and watched the ocean and talked a bit” on the porch of the oceanfront clubhouse, said Briny Breezes Mayor Ted Gross. “Everyone was prepared.”
The town, like most of the other coastal communities in south Palm Beach County, saw little or no impact from Hurricane Milton, which made landfall later that day, Oct. 9 near Sarasota.
“We prepared for the worst and the best happened,” said Gross, who along with several other residents of the mostly mobile home community hunkered down despite a county evacuation order.
“We have a decent amount of communication with one another,” Gross said, adding that he and other residents were ready to leave if it appeared a change in Milton’s path would have a greater chance of affecting the town.
Law enforcement personnel were out in force when a boat carrying migrants beached in the 4000 block of North Ocean Boulevard in Gulf Stream on Oct. 9 ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall on Florida’s west coast later that day. Authorities said 11 migrants were taken into custody. The boat was removed the following day. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Just to the south of Briny Breezes that same afternoon, Boynton Beach fire rescue personnel and other agencies responded to the arrival of a boat with refugees coming ashore.
Gulf Stream Police Chief Richard Jones said that 11 migrants were taken into custody at about 4 p.m. in the 4000 block of North Ocean Boulevard after the boat beached near the Ballantrae condominiums. Gulf Stream police assisted in the effort along with other first responder agencies including those in Delray Beach and Ocean Ridge.
Elsewhere along the coast, Highland Beach Fire Chief Glenn Joseph said his department responded to some downed and arcing power lines on State Road A1A due to Milton, while in Delray Beach and Gulf Stream officials said damage was limited to a tree branch or two in the streets.
Boca Raton also emerged from the storm in good shape.
“All generally OK and grateful for it,” Mayor Scott Singer said in a text message.
“No major impacts at all,” said city spokeswoman Ileana Olmsted in an email.
This half-sunken sailboat at Sportsman’s Park Marina in Lantana crashed into the sea wall because of the wind from Hurricane Milton. This photo was taken Oct. 10, when the storm’s approach spawned tornadoes to the north and west. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Officials in Manalapan, Lantana and South Palm Beach reported little or no issues with beach erosion — with the storm coming from the west — or with street flooding as a result of minimal rainfall.
Much of the focus was on Milton itself, but a tornado spawned in one of the hurricane’s outer bands was blamed for multiple deaths in a Fort Pierce-area senior mobile home community that was similar in many ways to Briny Breezes.
In Palm Beach County, other tornadoes caused destructive damage in parts of Wellington and Palm Beach Gardens.
Jay Kelley (left) and his wife, Jo Bennett, help Briny Breezes resident Holly McCarthy secure her home on Oct. 8 after Palm Beach County urged evacuation for people living in mobile or manufactured homes. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
That potential threat led some in Briny Breezes to heed the county’s evacuation notice announced Oct. 8 for people living in mobile and manufactured homes.
The order from county leaders was all that was needed to persuade Holly McCarthy to fasten her shutters and flee to Lake Worth Beach and stay with a friend.
“She wasn’t going to leave until they told her it was mandatory,” said friend Jo Bennett. Bennett and her husband, Jay Kelley, helped McCarthy prepare to leave.
Briny Breezes sent information to residents encouraging evacuation, but added that police would not be forcing anyone to leave. The town urged residents choosing to stay to shelter in one of a handful of bathhouses in the park because they are more secure than the community’s mobile homes.
Mary Thurwachter, Jerry Lower, John Pacenti, Mary Hladky, Brian Biggane and Steve Plunkett contributed to this story.
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