Palm Beach County storm impact: Light, except for damage at popular waterfront restaurant

About 1,200 people were without power in Palm Beach County this afternoon after a night of strong storms that brought some flooding and wind damage to parts of the state.

Florida Power & Light’s outage map showed isolated storm-related power failures in several places, such as Lake Park and suburban West Palm Beach.

The storm dumped about 5 inches of rain across Florida on Saturday, the Associated Press reported.

There were reports of minor flooding in the area, such as on Palm Beach island, but the water quickly subsided, Town Manager Kirk Blouin wrote Sunday in a text to the Palm Beach Daily News. The storm also deposited more sand on Midtown beach, he said.

At the Old Key Lime House in Lantana, however, the storm’s winds de-moored two sailboats, slamming them into the venerable restaurant’s western concrete docks, causing about $50,000 in damage, owner Ryan Cordero said Sunday.

“There’s an epidemic out there: You can have a boat and be a complete vagrant. These boats broke loose and did immense damage to my property,” Cordero said, adding that the boats’ owners had no insurance.

Cordero said something similar happened last year when Hurricane Nicole came through and sent another unregulated boat into one of the restaurant’s docks “and ripped it to shreds.” The bill for that repair was $60,000, he said.

Dining with a sparking water view: Best waterfront restaurants in central Palm Beach County

Was there damage to the Old Key Lime House restaurant?

The Old Key Lime House itself was undamaged, Cordero said.

The National Weather Service issued several flood warnings and minor flooding advisories for a wide swath of the state, from the southwest Gulf Coast to Jacksonville. Major airports remained open, however, at the start of a busy holiday travel season.

The weather service said a coastal flood advisory for Palm Beach County would remain in effect through tonight, as would a rip current advisory through Monday morning.

The storm was expected to gather strength as it tracked along the Georgia and Carolina coasts, producing heavy rain and gusty winds, the National Weather Service said. Rainfall was expected to total 4 to 7 inches, with higher amounts possible in some areas. The heaviest rainfall was expected through the afternoon before tapering off by late Sunday. Expected wind gusts of 35 mph to 45 mph could bring down trees, especially where the ground was saturated.

The storm soaked Charleston, S.C., with about 4 inches of rain, while the Charleston tide gauge was at 9.62 feet by midday Sunday, making it the highest nontropical tide on record, media outlets reported. Dozens of roads were closed because of flooding in the city.

Strong impacts from the storm were expected later in the week in the Northeast, the AP said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Old Key Lime House dock damaged from severe Palm Beach County weather