At 1 p.m. Friday, James Smith walked outside to find the top of his mailbox missing.
The 20-year-old UF finance junior found the white mailbox top about 10 feet away from his home at the corner of West University Avenue and Southwest 30th Street. It one of many minor damages residents of Alachua County saw in the early hours of Hurricane Matthew.
“I didn’t realize it’d break that easily,” Smith said before his roommate came out to help him fix the mailbox.
Mark Sexton, Alachua County communications and legislative affairs director, said the hurricane brought winds between 10 and 15 mph to Gainesville, with gusts between 20 and 25 mph reported by noon. Peak winds up to 48 mph are still expected in Alachua County on Friday afternoon.
At the Gainesville Emergency Operations Center, officials from different city agencies, including Gainesville Police, monitored traffic signals for power outages and roads for fallen debris.
By noon, GPD spokesman Ben Tobias said a signal at Northeast 53rd Avenue and Waldo Road had gone out but was repaired.
Power outages were also reported near Tower Road and Southwest 24th Avenue, caused by trees that fell onto power lines, said David Warm, a marketing and communications specialist with Gainesville Regional Utilities. The outages were quickly repaired, he said.
About 2,500 homes in Alachua County are currently without power, according to a county press release.
At UF Health Shands Hospital, 35 adult patients were admitted from two coastal-area hospitals in Florida and southern Georgia, wrote Rossana Passaniti, UF Health media relations manager, in an email.
As many as 300 additional staff members were called in to work during the storm, she said.
GPD also called more staff in for Hurricane Matthew, with three times as many officers on duty as on a normal day, Tobias said. GPD is receiving briefings from the National Weather Service every six hours.
Those at the operations center are preparing for the worst, he said.
Sexton said the county is also keeping an eye on the storm, and though Matthew’s impact in Gainesville was less than in other cities, people should still stay inside.
“I think it’s a great night for binge watching, if you still have power,” he said.
A tree fell near Northwest 26th Street and West University Ave. during Hurricane Matthew. Gusts up to 25 mph had been reported by noon Friday.
