HOLMES BEACH – As the largest and most populated of the three Anna Maria Island cities, Holmes Beach city officials learned a lot from the challenges presented by Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year.
“I am so proud of the training and preparation that our team went through prior to the two storms last year,” Mayor Judy Titsworth said. “I learned you can never be too prepared and I think we did an outstanding job. Our costs are upwards of $8 million and FEMA and our insurance providers will cover the majority of these costs thanks to our staff having pre-event contracts in place and our consultants engaging with our Emergency Operations Team on documentation and reimbursement applications. And our Development Services team was fully staffed and prepared for rapid damage assessments and permitting. Our citizens and businesses need to understand their roles in the preparation and recovery processes and patience is a big part of the equation, as is humanity.”
Police Chief Bill Tokajer said, “The city has conducted training for many years on hurricane preparation and recovery and there’s no better training than living through the events you train for. Last year, we had real-world experience rather than a tabletop exercise and the city is truly prepared for whatever comes our way.”
Before, during and after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the city used the city website, social media platforms and press releases to communicate hurricane-related information and this year the city has added the TextMyGov notification system. To receive real-time updates, register in advance by sending a text to 91896 that says “HOLMESBEACH” and then enter “YES” in response to the confirmation message you receive.
“Communication is key and choosing the wording is important,” Tokajer said. “We used the word ‘curfew’ instead of ‘checkpoint.’ This was taken by people to mean they had to leave the Island by 7 p.m. What we intended was to let people know if they left the Island they would have to go through a checkpoint and provide re-entry tags to return.”
Tokajer learned another valuable lesson during Hurricane Helene: “We rescued many people the night of Helene – until the water was too deep for the rescue vehicles. As the storm surge rose, we were trapped in the police department. The biggest mistake I made was having my officers and myself stay and I will not make the mistake of keeping our officers in harm’s way like I did last year. When you are told to evacuate, you need to take that seriously. There will not be any first responders to come rescue you until the storm passes,” Tokajer said.
“Have an evacuation plan. Know where you plan to go. When leaving the Island, take your medications, re-entry tag and turn off the electricity. Don’t leave electric vehicles, golf carts or e-bikes in the garage or somewhere else where flooding could cause fires; and take all items off balconies that could become flying debris.”
Re-entry tags obtained in 2023 or later are valid until 2028. If you need a new one, one tag per resident, property owner or business can be obtained with proper identification at the Holmes Beach Police Department, 5801 Marina Drive.
Tokajer said the city’s hurricane recovery and response was a team effort: “We had assistance from 32 different police departments after the storm, which we will be forever grateful for. If we must evacuate the city, under the leadership of Mayor Titsworth we’ll work as fast as possible after the storm passes to make sure the area is safe so you can return quickly. We are praying for a storm-free season.”
Public Works Director Sage Kamiya said, “While we prepared and practiced for emergency response and recovery ahead of the storms, practicing is quite different than the real deal and recovering from the two catastrophic events we experienced firsthand. In past years, we’ve been able to practice small components of a storm – flooding from Hurricanes Idalia and Debby, wind damage and vegetative debris from Ian and flooding from several storms in August 2024.
“We learned preparation is important. The hurricane exercises, emergency operation plan development, practicing evacuating city equipment, preparing facilities and obtaining necessary tools all helped staff respond to these catastrophic events. Each storm brings more lessons we can use and this year Public Works purchased 800 MHz radios so we can communicate sooner and easier with the county and with city staff when cellular service is down.
“It’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help,” Kamiya said. “We invited an incident management team from Texas, public works crews from Santa Rosa County and others from across the state to assist us in our response. If needed, we are prepared to seek mutual aid support again. As a result of these experiences, I believe we are as prepared as ever for this storm season.”
Development Services Director Chad Minor oversees the city’s building, code compliance and planning departments and he feels the insights gained last year will strengthen the city’s resilience and recovery efforts moving forward.
“First and foremost, we observed that the city’s approach to FEMA compliance, flood prevention, building and land development codes and active code compliance efforts resulted in many structures avoiding significant damage and loss of property. This underscores the importance of continued investment in code compliance, floodplain management and the modernization of building and land development codes,” Minor said.
“During the recovery phase, timely access to damage assessments proved critical. Processes and procedures were put in place to streamline permitting and the city continues to waive permit fees for much of the ongoing storm-related recovery work. Valuable lessons were learned and processes and procedures were refined throughout the recovery process. As a result, city staff is well-equipped to respond should the community be faced with another event,” Minor said.
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