CORTEZ – A community meeting for residents to learn about Manatee County’s post-hurricane recovery assistance program, Lasting Manatee, is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 10 from 6-7 p.m. at the Old Cortez Fire Station, 4523 123rd St. Court W.
An open question and answer session with Manatee County staff is planned. Discussions will center around home repairs, replacements and buyouts, infrastructure repair and mitigation projects, eligibility and how to apply for assistance.
The application process for individual assistance is expected to begin in early 2026. At that time, individuals may submit their needs for disaster recovery activities on their property.
Lasting Manatee is the county’s program for the allocation of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In January, Manatee County was identified as a direct recipient of $252,711,000 in CDBG-DR funds to address unmet needs from the 2024 hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton.
HUD requires that 70% of all CDBG-DR funds benefit low- and moderate-income populations.
Lasting Manatee is currently accepting suggestions for potential projects from county partners, social service organizations, nonprofits, community groups and business organizations.
“CDBG-DR funds focus on restoring and rebuilding infrastructure, housing and community facilities. Examples include new construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation of housing; public facilities and improvements; economic revitalization; hazard mitigation and resilience projects; and public services (limited to 15% of allocation),” according to the Lasting Manatee website.
Interested individuals may sign up for email notifications and check for updates at the Lasting Manatee website.
For accessibility questions or to request a reasonable accommodation to attend the meeting, contact Carmine DeMilo, ADA compliance coordinator at 941-748-4501 ext. 6016 or carmine.demilo@mymanatee.org at least three business days before the meeting.
ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Six months ago this week, the Island was emerging from Hurricane Helene’s flooding a week earlier, and was a week away from being hit by Hurricane Milton.
Helene’s storm surge on Sept. 26 created 4 feet of flooding in many places in the three Island cities, with many Bradenton Beach homes destroyed and homes and businesses throughout the Island suffering significant flood damage or destruction. On Oct. 9, Milton added wind damage to the flooding. Since then, most Island businesses have reopened, but some remain closed as repairs continue. Some businesses will not reopen.
Hurricane Helene collapsed this Bradenton Beach home. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The Anna Maria Island Moose Lodge in Bradenton Beach suffered severe storm surge damage and has not reopened yet but the repairs are underway and the lodge’s bar area and social quarters are expected to reopen at some point soon.
The AMI Moose Lodge in Bradenton Beach was among the first structures to be hit by Hurricane Helene’s storm surge. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Many mobile home residents in the Pines Trailer Park in Bradenton Beach remain displaced, and on March 28, the Pines Trailer Park Homeowners Association Inc. filed a lawsuit against the Pines Park Investors LLC park ownership group headed by Shawn Kaleta.
Island-wide, hundreds of vacation rental homes and other lodging accommodations were badly damaged but many have been repaired and reopened and are once again providing lodging for the tourists and visitors that drive the Island’s tourism-reliant economy.
The storm surge and flooding also damaged and destroyed many automobiles, golf carts, scooters and other forms of transportation.
This vehicle came to rest atop an air conditioning unit in Bradenton Beach. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Hurricane Helene’s storm surge left many Island roadways covered with displaced sand that had to be removed before those roadways became usable again. Helene also produced massive amounts of household and landscaping debris that required the large-scale debris removal undertakings that continued in all three Island cities for several weeks after Hurricane Milton created more debris piles.
Holmes Beach
When asked about the recovery process at the six-month mark, Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth said, “The response and recovery of Hurricane Helene was the most challenging catastrophe to have hit the Island cities. Since becoming mayor, one of my main objectives was to improve our emergency operations response and recovery plan and to have required emergency training for all staff so that in the event we were to be hit by a catastrophic hurricane, we would be able to be successful in our response and recovery efforts.”
Sand deposited by Hurricane Helene’s storm surge had to be removed from this Holmes Beach street. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“We were tested this past year and I couldn’t be more proud of our city staff and our citizens in how much has been accomplished in the past six months. The public works department, building department, code compliance department and the police department all faced tremendous challenges and were successful in carrying out their missions.
“The majority of our businesses are back open, many of our residents are back in their homes and our vacationers have returned. I thank the Manatee County Emergency Operations Center team for their assistance as well as our county, state and federal leaders,” Titsworth said.
On March 25, Holmes Beach Director of Development Services Chad Minor said the city has issued more than 2,000 post-hurricane building permits and 44 demolition permits and most of those permits are hurricane-related.
Anna Maria
Hurricanes Helene and Milton damaged homes, businesses and city assets throughout the city of Anna Maria. The combined forces of the two hurricanes destroyed the privately-owned Rod & Reel Pier and washed away a significant portion of the city-owned Anna Maria City Pier walkway.
Hurricane Helene weakened the City Pier support structure and Hurricane Milton then removed a large segment of the pier walkway. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Rod & Reel Pier owner Oliver Lemke hopes to the rebuild the iconic pier and pier restaurant he bought in November, 2023.
Hurricane Helene inflicted heavy damage on the Rod & Reel Pier, above, and Hurricane Milton later wiped out most of what remained. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The engineering process for the construction of a new City Pier walkway is well underway but no timetable has been provided as to when the construction of the new walkway will begin.
The displaced Anna Maria Post Office continues to operate inside a large trailer at City Pier Park while the repairs continue at the nearby building space leased to the U.S. Postal Service.
Six months into the ongoing recovery process, Anna Maria Mayor Mark Short said, “After six months, I am proud to say that almost every business that decided to reopen is open, the significant repair work in the city is complete, except for City Pier, and now we are focused on a number of smaller items.
“Property owners continue to be challenged with getting their repair and renovation work completed, but every day we see progress and I look forward to the day that Helene and Milton are part of a ‘do you remember’ conversation,” Short said.
Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie did not respond to The Sun’s request for comments.
The historic Annie’s Bait and Tackle Shop in Cortez, a victim of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, is slated for demolition within 30 days. - Leslie Lake | Sun
Annie's Bait and Tackle is part of the Seafood Shack property now owned by the county. - Leslie Lake | Sun
HOLMES BEACH – A new financial option may be available to residents and business owners affected by recent hurricanes.
Anna Nunez appeared before commissioners on Dec. 17 to discuss the U.S. Small Business Administration loans that are available to assist disaster victims. She said the loans are open to businesses, property owners and renters for physical and economic injury loans.
Business physical damage loans are available for up to $2 million to help owners recover from physical and financial losses related to the hurricanes.
Home disaster loans for up to $500,000 are available to help cover damage to a primary resi dence damaged by the hurricanes. Up to $100,000 loans are available to homeowners and renters to cover hurricane-damaged personal items, including furniture, cars and clothing.
Economic injury disaster loans for up to $2 million are available to small businesses and nonprofits to help meet ordinary financial obligations, such as payroll, rent and utilities. These are also known as working capital loans and are designed to help keep small businesses and nonprofits in business while they weather the financial implications related to a disaster.
Nunez said that some of the benefits of SBA loans include a low fixed interest rate, no payments for up to 12 months, no interest for up to 12 months, repayment terms of up to 30 years and no need to wait for insurance to apply. There is no application fee.
Mitigation loans are also available to help people and businesses build back better to help mitigate the effects of future storms.
All information and applications can be found online at www.sba.gov/disaster or by calling 1-800-659-2955.
Nunez encouraged everyone who is eligible to apply. She said there is no obligation to accept a loan if offered and applicants have 60 days to accept the loan once offered.
The deadline to apply for physical damage loans due to Hurricane Helene or Hurricane Milton is Tuesday, Jan. 7.
The deadline to apply for economic injury disaster loans related to the hurricanes is Saturday, July 11.
When applying for an SBA loan, applicants may see a notice that approvals are on hold due to funding. Nunez said this should not deter anyone from applying for one of the loans and that loans are expected to be fully funded by Congress.
To apply for a loan, homeowners, renters and business owners need to provide email addresses and other contact information, a Social Security number, financial information including income and monthly expenses, a copy of the most recent federal income tax return and any insurance information, if available.
BRADENTON BEACH – The city celebrated its hurricane recovery and the reopening of businesses following the hurricanes at Christmas on Bridge Street on Dec. 7.
Bridge Street was closed to vehicular traffic from 2-11 p.m. as attendees enjoyed music, food and retail offerings at newly-reopened shops.
The first retailer to reopen, Rejane Monetti, who owns Monetti Apparel and Lourdes Boutique, designed a shirt logo to celebrate the city’s recovery. She is donating all proceeds from the sales of the shirts to hurricane recovery efforts in Bradenton Beach.
“I have gratitude, and I created art, and I am donating whatever we sell to a fund that the city is starting for the recovery,” Monetti said. “This is an outline of Noah’s Ark with our island inside because I feel we were protected.”
The logo says, ‘Bridge Street Strong’ because Monetti said there is a very strong sense of community in the city’s shopping district.
“I’m very grateful to be part of this community,” she said.
Monetti had reached out to Bradenton Beach City Attorney Ricinda Perry with her idea to create a product to benefit the community.
“I went to her (Perry) and I said I want to create art and I don’t want the money,” Monetti said. “It can be for the merchant’s association; it can be for the city’s recovery, but that money is going to go in a fund she created.”
The logo’s sunset-colored background has significance to Monetti.
“The reason for the sunset is because no matter what happens, we have the best sunset in the world,” she said.
BRADENTON BEACH – In a large-scale beach restoration project to put back sand pushed across Gulf Drive during recent hurricanes, tons of sand are being cleaned and returned to the beaches at the Coquina Beach processing site.
Sand is picked up daily along Gulf Drive and carried to the site by dump trucks. There, it is put through sifters to remove debris before being placed back on local beaches.
“Clean sand is being delivered to both Cortez and Coquina public beaches and shaped to mimic low-level dune formations along the landward side of the beaches there,” Charlie Hunsicker, Manatee County Director of Natural Resources, wrote in a Nov.18 email.
Sand recovered from roadways is sorted, sifted, tested, and returned to the beach under Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and Florida Department of Health requirements.
Sand removal from private property is the owner’s responsibility. Sand deposited on private property cannot be returned to the beach due to concerns about nails, debris, or household contaminants like oil, bleach, fertilizers, etc.
“Any dumping of sand from private properties on the beach is a direct violation of FDEP regulations. It is very important that the sand from private property not be mixed with the sand currently piled up on the roadsides. Residents with any remaining sandbags are encouraged to keep them through the end of storm season (Nov. 30),” according to the Manatee County website.
The sand being processed at the screening site is separated into two grades: beach-quality sand and construction-grade darker sand such as is found in parking lots.
As of Nov. 15, 19,000 cubic yards of beach-quality sand has been sifted and returned to Anna Maria Island beaches. The county website estimates that amount to be enough to fill six Olympic-size swimming pools.
Construction-grade sand is being processed differently.
“Last week’s figures showed 27,000 cubic yards was transported to the Hidden Harbor staging site along Ft. Hamer Road in the eastern part of the county for future use in road building and infrastructure projects,” Manatee County spokesperson Bill Logan wrote in a Nov. 18 email to The Sun.
According to Logan, “With fill dirt costing between $5 to 15 per cubic yard, the county has already realized average savings of over a quarter million dollars. By the time all the debris sand is repurposed, the county will save well over a million dollars. That does not even calculate the cost of taking sand that could be repurposed to a landfill – which would be substantial.”
Piles of sand remain to be processed. Logan said it is difficult to pinpoint exactly how much remains as FDOT and the three Island cities are still bringing sand to the processing site.
He said the cost of the project has not yet been determined, but Manatee County will be reimbursed from FEMA debris funds.
“The FEMA deadline for total reimbursement is Jan. 11 (2025). Every effort is being made to wrap up sand screening operations by this date,” Logan stated.
Logan stated that each day tons of sand is screened and re-applied or shipped to the staging site at Hidden Harbor.
“While the sand screening is only a part of the overall debris effort, you can always follow along on the overall progress at mymanatee.org/debris. As of today, there has been more than 1.5 million cubic yards of debris collected county-wide,” Logan wrote.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton took a toll on Anna Maria Island businesses, which are showing their resilience in working together to rebuild and reopen to serve their clientele.
AMI Outfitters and Anna Maria Island Dolphin Tours are prime examples. In the words of Jennifer and Dave Hagey of AMI Outfitters, “As business owners on the Island, we plan for hurricane season, but no one could anticipate months of closure – or a complete rebuild for some. Our store took on up to 23 inches of water with Hurricane Helene and lost valuable inventory, yet we feel fortunate compared to other small business owners who faced even greater devastation.
Repairs are underway at AMI Outfitters and other local retailers. – Rusty Chinnis | Sun
“Now, we focus on recovery,” Dave Hagey continued. “It’s inspiring to see The Center of Anna Maria Island coordinating volunteers and donations, with Ben Sato at Grub and other local restaurants providing free meals to first responders, residents and volunteers. The support from our loyal customers and businesses like Issa Homes has been incredible. Issa Homes matched our (along with nine other Island businesses) online gift card sales for nearly two weeks. This generosity was completely unexpected and made a huge impact. Our online presence has been critical during this time, helping us stay connected with customers and allowing them to show their support in place of a GoFundMe account. We’re also joining several local pop-up events and plan to donate a portion of our sales to The Center. Now is the time to give back, shop local, and support small businesses.”
“Dave and I see this as an opportunity, not an obstacle, to expand our offerings,” Jennifer Hagey said. “We’ll be adding more women’s and children’s apparel to our traditionally menswear-focused shop. When you visit us next, you can expect a complimentary beer and an enhanced shopping experience.
“To our family and customers who feel like family, your encouragement and belief in our little shop on Pine Avenue mean so much. Your generosity is making a real difference, not only for AMI Outfitters but for the entire community,” she said.
Ben Webb, owner of Anna Maria Island Dolphin Tours and a big supporter of The Center, was on the scene right after the storms passed to assess the damage and prepare to help fellow Islanders rebuild. According to Webb, “Our first priority was to help friends and neighbors with cleanup and to work closely with Chris Culhane at The Center of Anna Maria Island. I have been assisting with providing the dump trailers and roll-off dumpsters residents and businesses need to start the cleanup and recovery process.”
“I’ve also been doing interviews on our Facebook page of different business owners and people giving their take on the storm and their struggles. It’s a chance to share everyone’s personal story,” he said.
The Center of Anna Maria Island has been at the forefront of hurricane relief efforts and their website has valuable information for residents and business owners. “In the aftermath of the storm, we understand many in our community may need assistance with clean-up and recovery. We are offering volunteer support for packing and light clean-up tasks,” The Center’s website states.
Please be aware of the following limitations for volunteer assistance:
• Volunteers cannot remove drywall, cut down trees, or handle heavy demolition tasks;
• For safety reasons, if your home has mold or hazardous conditions, volunteers will not be able to enter or assist inside the house.;
• Volunteers can help with organizing and packing personal items, cleaning up debris from yards (such as leaves, and branches), and minor outdoor clean-up tasks;
• Please ensure all areas where volunteers will work are safe and accessible.
If you are interested in volunteer assistance, please call The Center at 941-778-1908.
Another way to help the community is to attend the Bradenton Gulf Islands Hurricane Relief Concert Rock ‘N’ Support featuring Lynyrd Skynyrd and special guest Marcus King. All proceeds from the Friday, Nov. 15 concert at the Bradenton Area Convention Center go to benefit local hospitality workers affected by the hurricanes.
Supplies also are still available for pick-up at The Center, and anglers who need to order tackle and supplies (fishing reports have been very positive) can shop AMI Outfitters online store.
Now is a great time to make an effort to support all Island businesses as they work to reopen and serve the residents of Anna Maria Island.
