ANNA MARIA – Flooding and drainage were the primary issues in Anna Maria during and after Tropical Storm Debby. There was also some minor damage to the City Pier.
On Aug. 8, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy and General Manager Dean Jones provided the city commission with a recap of the tropical storm’s impact. Murphy said most of the storm recovery work was finished, but there were still some pockets of flood waters and still some street sweeping to do.
Jones gave a presentation that included photos of the floodwaters, the pier damage and some key takeaways that included Tropical Storm Debby producing 12-16 inches of rain in a two-day period, most city roads being at flood stage at some point and most of the flood water being gone in less than 36 hours.
Jones said storm surge and flooding occurred along portions of North Shore Drive and some flooding also occurred along Jacaranda Road, Poinsettia Road, Alamanda Road, Fern Street and Rose Street.
Jones said five 3-inch pumps and three 2-inch pumps were deployed in various locations as needed and the pumps helped reduce the standing water.
“We were able to move a lot of water out of the city in a quick amount of time,” Jones said.
Jones displayed a photo taken on the City Pier on Wednesday morning that showed damage done to some of the pier planks near the public boat landing used by the Gulf Island Ferry service. Jones said the damaged planks were replaced the following day and the ferry landing was reopened.
During public input, pier tenant and mayoral candidate Brian Seymour addressed the pier damage and said, “I don’t think it’s coincidence that the damage happened where it happened. That’s where the ferry is. We’re a big proponent of the ferry as a business out there but we need to look at improving the bumpers.”
Seymour said his staff members at the City Pier Grill have seen the ferry boats hit the pier pretty hard when docking.
“I don’t think what we had should have caused that sort of damage,” Seymour said.
Murphy agreed. Jones said the softer bumpers get torn up and the city had already been looking at installing hard bumpers at the ferry landing area. Jones said this would require some water installation and the city has already contacted two companies that do that work.
Murphy and Jones said the WaStop valves that help reduce the inward flow of tidal waters often become clogged by yard mulch and that contributes to the flooding.
“The mulch gets into the one-way WaStops and it clogs them. What we need to do during a storm, in some cases, is unclog the WaStops. It can be dangerous to do that. You literally have to get into the water to do it, so we generally wait until the tides go down to clear the WaStops,” Murphy said.
Murphy praised the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Anna Maria Unit for establishing a post-storm barricade at the entrance to the city that prevented curiosity seekers from entering the city and driving through the flooded areas.
“They did an outstanding job,” he said.
Murphy thanked Sen. Jim Boyd for escalating the mayor’s ongoing Pine Avenue power outage concerns that included the business district and the Sheriff’s Office being without power. Approximately two hours after Boyd was contacted, two FP&L trucks arrived on scene.
“We were fortunate to have the support of Senator Boyd,” Murphy said.
Murphy and Jones praised code enforcement officer Betsy Brown for her work at the Bayfront Park sandbag filling station from which approximately 1,200 self-filled sandbags were taken.
“She’s a hard worker and she really should be commended,” Murphy said.
Jones noted Brown remained at the sandbag area for 10-12 hours one day.
Commissioner Mark Short asked how many homes were inundated with water. Murphy and Jones said they did not have that information. Murphy said the city sent an email to city subscribers asking them to report any water intrusion in their homes but the email blast generated no responses.
During public input, Brenda Twist said her home has flooded twice in the past year and that didn’t happen in the past.
“We had 16 inches of rain in less than 24 hours and then we had a king tide,” Murphy said. “We had a lot thrown at us at one time. I think overall we did a good job and we need to improve in a couple areas. We can sit here and congratulate ourselves all day but we need to zero in on what we can do better.”
