In-Home Care for Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach and Painters Hill

In October 2016, Hurricane Matthew’s surge undermined about 1.3 miles of A1A in Flagler Beach, and parts of the road collapsed. In 2019 the Florida Department of Transportation buried a concrete secant wall under the dune from North 18th Street to Osprey Drive. Hurricane Ian, in September 2022, brought a storm tide the U.S. Geological Survey measured at 8.3 feet in Flagler Beach. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection found that the dunes rebuilt after Matthew and Irma were largely gone, that the new wall was exposed along much of its length, and that the seaward 165 feet of the pier had been lost and the rest left unsafe. The road behind the wall held; beyond its ends, A1A was badly damaged. Hurricane Nicole followed six weeks later, and the state’s post-storm report counted about 395 feet of damaged road south of the pier and 7,500 feet of major damage to the boulder revetment between 7th and 23rd Streets South. Since then, FDOT has built a second buried wall, from South Central Avenue to the south end of Flagler County, a $21.4 million job begun in spring 2024.

None of that replaces a plan for the next storm. Since 2023, Flagler County’s map has shown a Potential Hurricane Evacuation Zone along the coast in place of the old lettered zones, and when an order comes, the county publishes the neighborhoods that have to leave. Ahead of Hurricane Milton in October 2024, the order took in the whole barrier island from Marineland to Flagler Beach, along with mainland neighborhoods including those off John Anderson Highway, and the county announced a special needs and general-population shelter at Rymfire Elementary in Palm Coast. Anyone who relies on oxygen or electrically powered medical equipment, or needs help with basic everyday tasks, can register for the county’s special needs shelter program, with questions answered at 386-313-4200. The county calls that shelter a back-up to a personal plan and asks caregivers to come along, because its staff cannot give one-on-one care. With live-in care, someone is already in the house when a watch is posted, packing medications, chargers and paperwork and getting your parent over the bridge early rather than at the last minute. For families who live out of town, extra hourly care before and after a storm means someone checks the food, the medications and your parent in person.

The Flagler County Senior Center is on the mainland, at 2199 Commerce Parkway in Bunnell, about 13 minutes’ drive from the pier. It is open weekdays, with a hot lunch for people 60 and older who enroll and reserve ahead, bingo, line dancing and arts and crafts. County Senior Services also delivers Meals on Wheels after a home assessment: frozen meals each week for residents over 60. For rides, Flagler County Public Transportation runs a shared, door-to-door bus. Riders apply and are approved before their first trip, book at 386-313-4100, ideally four to five days ahead, and pay $2 each way. The driver waits three minutes, then leaves, and the county does not offer rides out of the county. For more on the county seat, see home care in Bunnell.

For a parent with memory loss, the day goes better with a steady routine. Alzheimer’s and dementia care at home keeps that routine going, and companion care covers the company, the drives to the senior center and doctors’ offices, and the waiting at the door for a bus that will not wait long. ElderSource, the Area Agency on Aging for Northeast Florida, handles the screening for subsidized in-home programs and Medicaid’s long-term care program through its HelpLine at 1-888-242-4464. To see every town we serve, visit our Ponte Vedra service areas page.