Town manager Tom Hamer provided the Longboat Keytown Commissioner on Monday with an update on the status of the town’s recovery and cleanup after Hurricane Ian, as well as a timeline of remaining events.
The town began to closely monitor what would become Ian on Sept. 22, according to reports, as the storm began to gain momentum as a tropical storm south of Cuba. Predictive models at the time depended on where the storm was headed, putting much of the eastern Gulf of Mexico on alert.
“We keep an eye on the tropics all the time, especially during hurricane season,” says Hamer.
The next day, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency that included both Sarasota and Manatee counties.
On September 25, the town opened a sandbag station, and staff from the town’s Department of Public Works managed the area, requesting additional truckloads to bring sand to the mound.
Initial forecasts had predicted that Hurricane Ian would make landfall north of the barrier islands, creating potentially devastating storm surges, but when the storm actually reached land it was more than 50 miles south of the Keys.
“It put us on the upside of the storm. When the wind comes in, it goes out into the bay and not into the islands, so that’s the perfect place,” he said.
Data from the weather station, one of the town’s fire stations, showed that the largest sustained winds experienced by the island peaked at less than 50 miles per hour. The gust reached 72 to 74 mph at its strongest.
“It could have been worse,” he said. “If someone says, ‘I had a hurricane on an island,’ it was more like a tropical storm. So the next time a hurricane is approaching, don’t take it for granted.” please give me.”
Around 5:45 a.m. on Thursday, Hamer and Fire Chief Paul Desie met on the mainland to jointly run the island before the first-come-first-served teams were allowed. Dezzi was already traveling alone around 1:30 am.
Photos included in Mr. Hamer’s presentation show the power lines down, with minimal freshwater inundation and tree debris from rainfall.
In analyzing the town’s response, Hamer included statistics on the town’s communication with residents, which he said could always be improved.
35 commission emails were sent separately from the general emails. 10 Alert Longboat Key messages have been sent. Each of the town’s social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, generated 35 posts. Town officials update the information on the town website every day.
On a typical day, the town’s website receives between 15,000 and 20,000 hits. At the peak of the storm, the website received over 77,000 hits.
At 1:00 pm on September 29, following the staff’s assessment of the damage and conditions, the town allowed entry for individuals in Tiers 2 and 3, including residents. By Wednesday, October 12th, all power was finally restored.
Harmer reported minimal impact on barrier island beaches.
As of Friday, October 14, 196 truckloads of debris had been collected.
“Our public road is almost complete on the first pass,” he said. “Usually on public roads there are at least two, sometimes he knows there are three passes. On private roads, all agreements are in place and we started on the private road last Friday for the first pass. Did.”
To complete the debris collection in a timely manner, the town asked residents to clear all debris from their homes by October 28. Plant debris should be separated from construction debris.
As of Monday’s report, the town is still in a state of recovery.
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