- April 17, 2024
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Tony Lulgjuraj grew up in Flagler County, finished high school in Michigan, and then returned. These images are screen captures from the video he posted on Facebook.
The damage was much less dramatic downtown than it was south of the pier.
A Christian cross dangled in the windshield throughout the video.
Oceanside Beach Bar and Grill sustained little damage, other than the sign and the fence.
Some of the buildings in southern Flagler Beach sustained severe roof damage.
Tony Lulgjuraj and his mother, Marina, pose with Johnny and the new baby, Luka. Johnny's wife, Lena, is not pictured. Courtesy photo
Before Hurricane Matthew, Tony Lulgjuraj had never been much of a Facebook user; by the end of it, he was Flagler County’s biggest social media star. His video, shot through the sprinkled windshield of his black Hummer, went viral, with more than 86,000 views.
To many people, Lulgjuraj (pronounced LOO-zher-EYE) provided a profound public service, serving as the first glimpse of their homes in Flagler Beach and also the first glimpse of the destruction of portions of A1A south of the pier.
“Everyone I talked to said I was their eyes and ears,” Lulgjuraj said in an Oct. 11 phone interview, as he took a rare break from working to bring his restaurant, Oceanside Beach Bar and Grill, back to working order. “I made a lot of new friends. I had people coming up and hugging me and kissing me and crying to me. It felt great. I felt like I could help. They thought their whole town was destroyed. I brought them hope, and they were happy.”
One day after the hurricane, Lulgjuraj went to a gas station, and everyone inside started clapping, and they paid for his drinks, he said.
Lulgjuraj got the idea for using Facebook Live from his cousin, who was broadcasting himself from a golf cart in New Smyrna Beach. He had never heard of Facebook Live before then, he said, and he thought it was pretty cool that you can see who is watching and see the comments they are making in real time.
When he gets in his Hummer, Lulgjuraj starts the video rolling and, as a Christian cross on a string of beads sways from his rearview mirror, he gives his commentary about whose roof is damaged or how crazy someone must be to be driving so close to the edge of the broken pieces of A1A.
As he drives, friends and family start making requests: “Check on my house!” or “Look down 16th street!”
Afterward, he said, “I had to turn my phone off because it was killing my battery. I had 600 messages — it was crazy. It kept dinging.”
Ultimately, the reason he wanted to go on his drives was to check on his own restaurant.
With every sign of damage on other buildings, he appears to become more nervous. He talks to his restaurant, saying, “Come on, Oceanside. Hope you’re doing all right. I’ll be right there. … Come on, Oceanside. Stay intact!”
Finally, when he arrives, the relief is dramatic. The brown building with white trim and new deck are sound. “She’s looking OK,” he says. “My baby, she’s still there. … She’s holding up.”
With mandatory evacuation orders for the barrier island, why did Lulgjuraj stay during the storm?
His brother and sister-in-law, Johnny and Lena, had a baby the day of the hurricane, and their belongings were at Lulgjuraj’s house. Also, he spent so much time preparing his 5-year-old restaurant (it’s a family business, with Johnny and their mother, Marina, all working together) that he didn’t have a chance to board up the windows on his own house.
“It was all happening so fast, and I just decided to stay behind and watch over everything,” he said.
Fortunately, everyone stayed safe, but his drives were sobering.
“We got a beautiful little town here, and watching it wash away, seeing the damage — it was devastating,” he said.
He paid his gratitude forward after the storm, as well, grilling sandwiches and feeding first responders, bringing food and drinks to people who didn’t have power.
“We’re a small town, small community,” he said. “Everyone works together as a team.”
