Hurricane Matthew: Storm Damages Historical Buildings In Colonial City In Florida

The aftermath of Hurricane Matthew is still being assessed as multiple countries in the Caribbean and some U.S. states are dealing with the damage. It is being reported that the storm has left historical buildings in Florida in ruin after passing through.

According to FOX News Latino, St. Augustine's iconic Spanish fortress was spared of any damage from hurricane Matthew, but more than 1,000 historic homes and buildings in north Florida's landmark colonial city were damaged by the storm.

Experts with the Univeristy of Florida said water flooded all seven of St.Augustine's federally designated historic districts last month, damaging about half of all the 2,000 properties in those areas. Homes and businesses along the city's waterfront were overwhelmed despite a $6.7 million seawall completed in 2014.

The damage was significant," said Morris Hylton, director of University of Florida's historic preservation program, who spent three days helping federal authorities record the damage. "Many, if not a majority, of the historic properties, in particular private residences, were impacted."

The site reports that among the famous buildings inundated during the hurricane was Flagler's College's ornate Spanish Renaissance-style main hall, built in 1888. Four feet of water surged through the basement and breezeway, but the hail's higher floors remained untouched.

School president William Abare, had never seen a storm surge in St.Agustine like Matthew's. Blamed for at least 42 deaths in the United States, Matthew raked a large part of the Southeast Atlantic coast last month after killing more than 500 people in Haiti.

Abare refused to evacuate, watching as water flowed over the campus in St. Augustine. Local historians long have claimed the city as the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the mainland United States.

While restoring historic homes damaged in the hurricane can be expensive, people who own and reside in historic houses can apply for FEMA assistance to help with the cost of repairs. Historic buildings that are publicly owned are available for up to 75-percent reimbursement for restoring them to their pre-disaster condition.