Public lands in Lee and Collier counties managed by the State of Florida and the South Florida Water Management District have remained at risk for more than two weeks after Hurricane Ian crossed SWFL and will remain closed for the foreseeable future. Become.
Water District Chairman Chauncey Goss took a helicopter on Friday to inspect drainage channels and channels designed to carry floodwaters from densely populated areas such as downtown Fort Myers into the regional gulf and Gulf of Mexico. I got
“We’ve been working for several years to make sure they open,” Goss said with help from the cleanout crew. .”
The floodwaters are receding in several debris-filled canals and streams, and water management district workers are working to restore the Ten Mile Canal, a 20-mile man-made stream that runs south from near downtown Fort Myers to Estero Bay. Workers then move on to clear Orange River and Daughtry, Hickey and Telegraph Creeks.
Still, debris on land and in the water creates the potential for injury and disease transmission, so Goss said on Friday it’s best to keep the pubis out of the area.
Fifteen days after Ian landed at Cayo Costa State Park, the water management agency’s emergency operations center remains at Level 1 and fully operational.
Nearly all Florida state parks, campgrounds and cabin facilities in southwestern Florida are closed due to extensive damage caused by Category 4 Hurricane Ian. The opening of the garden will be announced on the homepage of each garden.
Floridahikes.com advises outdoor enthusiasts to avoid trips to the most impactful outdoor areas such as Everglades City, Marco Island, Naples, Estero, Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, Charlotte Harbor, Englewood, Northport and Venice. Advice.
However, public lands administered by the South Florida Districts of Monroe, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Okeechobee, Highlands, Grays, Charlotte, Hendry, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties are open.
on the water
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission warns sailors that floating debris in canals, intracoastal waterways, and larger bodies of water along the shorelines of Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound, and the Gulf of Mexico can be life threatening. doing. Off Lee and Collier counties.
“We have damaged and submerged navigational signs, displaced vessels and other debris in some waterways that may not be visible,” said the agency’s boat and waterway section leader. One Rob Beaton said. “Please be careful.”
Beaton said the sailors should stay in port for now.
If there is a specific reason someone needs to be on the water, the captain should take great care to slow down. A lookout, not the captain, was in a safe position on the boat, “head on swivel” floating trees, construction debris, parts of buildings, vehicles, other boats, and other items blown away by Hurricane Ian. You must be looking for everything.
Also, don’t hang out in heavily damaged areas where paramedics are dealing with the situation. Florida law requires a captain. Whoever is driving the boat is the captain. You don’t have to pass the course to win the title. He rowed within 300 feet of the emergency vessel when the emergency lights were on, keeping wake to a minimum and maintaining a low speed. In other words, the boat travels just a few miles an hour. Sends a wake that looks like water ripples.
A captain with good local knowledge, or familiarity with a particular body of water, should act like he’s never been there before. Many of the navigation aides were missing or submerged, sand was displaced in the water, shoals were displaced, and new shoals were created. The splint end of a broken stake may protrude just a few inches below the surface of the water.
Beaton also said, more importantly than usual, the captain and everyone on board must always wear snap-on or zippered life jackets, whether they are required or not. Drowning as a result of being thrown overboard is the leading cause of boat deaths. If a person has a life jacket, their chances of survival increase dramatically.
Boaters can call 866-405-2869 or fill out the online form at MyFWC.com/boating and click on “Waterway Management”, “Waterway Markers”, “Reporting Damaged/Missing Waterway” We encourage you to report lost or damaged hydrographic markers. marker.
underwater
Your best bet at the moment is to stay away from the water.
The sewer pipeline overflowed into the waterway. A collapsed temporary toilet was swept away by the flood. Gasoline and motor oil leaked from the partially submerged vehicle. Fallen trees are starting to rot in the flooded roads.
That’s from Dave Tomasco of the Sarasota Bay National Estuary Program, director of the organization. We’ve seen more than that in nearby waters elsewhere in Sarasota County.
After the tour, Tomasco said people should stay away from water for health reasons.
“What’s in the water is pretty gross,” Tomasco told The Washington Post, which first reported his findings. “Our bay now looks like root beer. It smells awful. .”
Since Ian landed on September 28, Tomásco has received dozens of calls reporting overflows from wastewater treatment plants south of Palmetto to Fort Myers.
The Post reported that Hurricane Ian left scars on water as well as on land.
Storm winds and excessive rainfall can wash foliage, organic matter and pollutants into streams and creeks, indicating that severe environmental impacts can occur. Poor water quality can damage aquatic ecosystems for weeks, months, or longer and pose a danger to human health in the short term.
Images and video from space captured the extent of the spill.
Todd Osborne, a biogeochemist at the University of Florida, said, “The fact that we can see it from a satellite is pretty impressive on the scale of the freshwater that is flowing out of the landscape.” It’s the only thing that’s flushing into the nearby waters…and storm surges flood the landscape, raising massive amounts of sediment before it flows back into the ocean.”
The Florida coroner’s board announced late Friday that there are now 109 deaths attributed to Hurricane Ian. In Lee County, he killed 54, and in Sarasota, Charlotte, and Monroe counties, seven each. Five people died in Collier County, two in Hendry County, and one in DeSoto County.
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