Hurricane Ian 02

Please note: As of this entry, my posts are being backdated as to give “real time writing” for what happened during Hurricane Ian.

The posts will be mixed with personal thoughts, news interjections and random items. I tried my best to give times, but there are points I did not write it down, so you’ll have to understand that there may be some time spans.

As I typed this out, if I’m talking about news for some bullet points in a row, I am trying to keep them together. In instances where I am rambling, as I usually do, don’t mind the nonsensical freeform. That too, I tried to lump together.

Reader discretion advised (there is some TMI [“too much information”]).

Pictures to come at some point (over 1,000 snaps).

 September 29, 2022

 

            8am: news on the radio says Sanibel Bridge / Causeway is destroyed and they don’t know how many people may be trapped on the island.

 

There are crews out surveying all the areas and there are people looking for family as power is out and no one knows if others are safe.

 

9:30am – Sanibel Bridge is completely decimated – four major breaks on the Causeway. There is a little to no road leading to Shell Point Retirement Community and their golf course is under water. The Sanibel Outlets are completely underwater and potentially destroyed. There are random boats everywhere. There’s an indoor storage unit that is completely under water. Mcgregor Blvd is under water and any mobile homes in the Iona neighborhoods are gone while a few houses are on fire. It is hard to tell the difference between the canal and river in some places. Punta Rassa is under water (area near Sanibel Causeway). The boil water notification is still in effect. “It is as dire as we feared”. (News)

 

For us, the sky is blue. There is a nice breeze. Too bad our front street is a river.

 

The news says the images are horrifying. Those who have television, get to see the aerial view and it shows the destruction.

 

“Power of storm picked up slabs of concrete like it was nothing” (News).

 

Some reporter said that the view of the Sanibel bridge is beautiful in the worst way possible because of the way it got broken.

 

“Shoreline was no match for Ian” (News).

 

We were told that there will be no garbage pickup until Wednesday 10/1, with trash only. No recycle, which will be determined at a later time.

 

News reporters were working through the storm for days prior, so now their “days are blending” because it was a long 48 hours for them reporting everything.

 

News: Biden has already ordered federal funding and there’s a FEMA app to apply for help. Sanibel Marina has boats pushed out to a storage unit. The boats are stacked on top of each other on the other side of the street.

 

10:15am: News reported no storm surge warning as the surge is down. The storm is being tracked in Orlando and Jacksonville. There is lots of rain. We will have partly cloudy sun on Friday with no rain for Friday and Saturday. It will help dry everything else. Most importantly, no driving around – crews need to be able to get around to assess areas.

 

Interesting: “1 foot of water can carry a car. 6 inches of water can drag people”. I don’t know – I’ve been in six inches of water before…

 

There is lots of bacteria in the water now, so be careful what you do.

 

It’s currently 72 degrees out.

There are areas of Fort Myers Beach that is so treacherous to get through, that it’s not recommended to go near there. There is a lot of erosion and the damage is so extensive, everything is unrecognizable (news).

 

10:45am: we went outside for a while. The neighbors tried rigging a generator (Ed + Joanne). They made coffee and are offering it to houses around us. There is water in the road and is about knee deep for some people. There is a couple walking a dog and the dog decided to go swimming while kids were floating on beach floats! 

 

The radio is saying that there are too many stores on the beach that are gone. While the TV anchors were reporting, they were doing Google Street View for everything to see “before” and “after”. The decimation is unbelievable.

 

The news also said that the tornado that hit a local trailer park back in January was an EF2 tornado. This storm that flattened the park now, would be equivalent to an EF3. The damage is far worse. There are parts of the connecting islands to Sanibel that look as If it never existed. The Causeway is collapsed concrete. Most of the Causeway has washed away. All together, the Causeway is 3 miles long of poured concrete, to give an idea of what has been destroyed.

 

11:50am – inside the house. It sounds like there are power trucks working on the main road.

 

The Sheriff Office is being interviewed. They are trying their best to do everything at once, but you can only do so much. There are plans in place, but it’s hard when the plan gets diverted. Cleanup versus public safety versus what is out there. He has so many things to do, and is trying to get it all working properly.

 

The news is saying there is wide spread devastation. New and old homes, mobile homes – both new and old – gone – flattened. South Fort Myers (us) completely under water. All of Winkler is an ocean. Naples Pier looks to be gone. It is going to be a long time before Sanibel bridge can be rebuilt. Some people who don’t have flood insurance because they thought they didn’t need it. There is a housing shortage as it is, and now there will be a lot of displacement. There are no intersection lights working, and it’s like the wild west on 41. People are venturing out even though they shouldn’t be. Even in daylight, there’s still going to be a lot of problems. The Pierside Grill in Times Square is no more, along with the Pier. It’s down to the concrete studs. The whole strip next to the Pier is gone. They are thinking the Sanibel Lighthouse is gone. It’s almost in the water, so if it’s still there, that’s a good sign. The water in the Gulf is a dirty copper color. Things are washing into the water and turning it gross. “We are going to be dealing with bad water for a while”. Most homes on Sanibel are damaged but standing. Some of the places don’t look as bad as anticipated, but the Beach looks like a war zone.

 

Interesting fact: Hurricane Charley cut Captiva in half. That’s why there is Captiva and North Captiva. So expect new islands to be formed.

 

12:56pm – thoughts. With all the destruction people who tourist down here for season, most likely won’t be here this winter. Odds are with all the problems with what’s going to be needed to rebuild, there won’t be work. It’ll be slow moving.

 

The news reports that most of Fort Myers Beach is decimated. Town hospital is gone. Sheriff confirms deaths but don’t know for certain the number. They won’t know until they get more search and rescue going.

 

“We are going to be without power and water for a very long time” (news).

As of 1pm, Tampa Hurricane Center says SWFL flooding is historic and would most liekyl stay through the weekend.

 

The news says one part of FMB was still trying to rebuilt some from Charley, so now this will rake longer to rebuild.

 

1:15pm – news says FPL estimates 1.2 million people are without power. They’ve fixed about ¼ of that, but they have to rebuild a lot of the infrastructure rather than try to repair it. They are still in the beginning stages of assessments.

 

3:00pm (ish)

Trucks can be seen over the wall in our back yard. Hopefully this means they are working on power since we are on the hospital grid.

 

Cars are out on our street in high vehicles. They are causing water to go up the driveways like it’s nothing. We can also hear the main road traffic. But the problem with the cars in our community is it is causing the water to move closer up to our garages rather than move down the road.

 

News: there are seven reported deaths. Didn’t say which county. The treatment plant in Naples is operational. Still have pressure issues. The boil water order is in effect. Waste water plant is operational but has problems in some areas. Still minimize use. Six stations are direct feed from FPL, it’s hard. 2.5 million people are without power in the state. The infrastructure is severely damaged. Cell service is bad. Verizon says it plans on delivering a COW (?) – a portable tower.

Cape Coral: going day by day and will assess as needed. Owners without running water will get supplies if they can get it. City Hall is closed, but will try to reopen next week. Public Works: 11pm last night – road ways were being cleared. By 7am, major roads were clear and side roads are next. Chiquita Lock is blocked. Traffic lights are inoperable. It is all being worked on and addressed. Police Department – major intersections are being staffed to get people through. Suggestion for those who aren’t in the city, don’t come back until it is safe. Curfew is established by local government. All buildings in the city have been damaged to some capacity.

 

3:40pm – news says Pine Island got 150 mph winds. Overall, “it’s going to take billions and billions dollars with the help from the government to get things back to normal”. The President approved but it will take time to get it all. (Random news) Boats were pushed over to the other side of the road on San Carlos Blvd. It could take months for crews to search the entire length of Fort Myers Beach for assessments and fixing. It’s worth repeating that this is truly the worst case scenario played out for SWFL.

 

We still have no power or cell service.

 

“Humidity is lower” but the dew point is rising. “Humid tropical air mass” will be uncomfortable since power is out and no rain in the immediate future.

 

Currently Ian is working his way into being a hurricane in the Carolinas.

 

4:15pm – tried to turn on phones just for shits. We got quick service. I was able to call a cousin in Sarasota. It was a quick check because we kept losing signal. Tried someone else, called failed. Tried texting some friends and it was just as faulty. But it’s still sketchy and awful at the same time. Awful because you feel so isolated. We have gotten super reliant on technology and you get mad when nothing is connecting. We you see the LTE change to SOS, it’s defeating.

 

4:45pm. Power status per news: “Dedicated men from 30 states”, 150k customers have been repaired (1.5 million lost). FPL is working day and night. “Crews are facing debris, flooding, surge”. They “Are working hard to continually assess” everything but “every hurricane is different” so they “don’t know status right now”. Depending on assessment, they won’t have estimates on return of power. There are crews strategically placed and there is every opportunity to gain knowledge about what’s happening. But it’s getting to the areas affected that are the problem. The wort hit will take the most time to fix because of grid damage.

 

We hope it is sooner than later because we’re on the hospital grid. Yet, we might not be, as they are building is the assisted living complex behind the hospital, so that might be on a new grid, as well as the new communities next to the hospital. My mother and I know the first thing we are doing if and when we get power and water: Run to shower!

 

5:02pm – news just said they are evacuating patients in 3 area hospitals, including the one down the road. If someone shows up in the ER, you’ll be checked and possibly sent to another area facility, especially since the one here is under water (slightly).

 

5:21pm – “Hurricane Ian has crossed the state as a category 1 hurricane”. Other news – as many as 1200 people may be trapped on Sanibel Island and Captiva. FWC is trying to get boats over to rescue people but they need bigger boats to carry ATV, etc. and pick up people.

 

6:30pm – we took showers on a drippy shower. We rushed through it because it dripped out. So two people trying to get the nasty grime off with a drip.. drip.. drip water after having had been outside and been splashed by cars trying to pass through shin deep water. It’s gross. Cell service is still spotty. Trying when we can to message people.

 

7pm news just said bridge to Matlacha is gone.

 

It’s still troubling we can’t get out of our driveway. Yet we have been told we can go to our cousin’s in Sarasota. We just can’t get out.

 

Reports still have a curfew going. Power out = people drive like crazies, so total darkness and driving don’t mix.

 

I can’t believe there are places open.

 

I75 is open. Someone is calling into the radio station. He owns a few 7-Eleven stores. He is saying the stores he owns are safe to get to and he is fully operational.

 

How is that possible? The stores open? Generators? What other places have people been to?

 

7:35pm – I just don’t know how people expect to use one single tub as their source of water for the toilets to flush. Okay, sure, I didn’t fill my tub to the rim, but I have filled it high enough. After trying to flush today (unfortunately, 2 toilets), we are running out of water. People laughed at us for Irma when we said “fill your tube”. Now that we need it, we need two tubs, but we only have one. My mom’s bathroom is a shower. And we don’t have water to flush + drink and wash. This is a hard lesson. More reason we hope power is restored soon. I know it’ll be time but even still, boil water will be in effect for a while.

 

They said something smart on the radio – if you can boil water, you can do what you need to, and put the rest in the bu. So if you somehow get access, the more clean water you can put pack in the tub, the better.

 

Sun has set. It’s dark. I’m writing in the kitchen with a flash light. Guess it’s time to stop for the night.