People who lived along the coast in Duval County were allowed to return to the their homes Saturday afternoon.
Bridges reopened at noon; traffic was backed up in several places because people were anxious to inspect whether they suffered damage from Hurricane Matthew.
"The beaches here are very long beautiful the sand here is nice and fluffy, but you know now it's kind of, you know, you can see the erosion," Kali Chaplin said.
Many people did not know what to expect. In Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Jacksonville Beach the Category 3 hurricane caused some flooding and the force of the hurricane knocked some trees down. People were worried about beach erosion and storm surge.
While the area experienced both, people are thankful the damage was not as bad as they feared it was going to be. People anticipate it will take days or weeks to rebuild.
"Definitely a big change compared to what it was," Mike Hovat said.
