ANNA MARIA – As hurricane recovery efforts continue, the city’s focus shifts to debris removal efforts that began on Monday morning.
“Our top priority now is to get household goods out to the right of way and picked up,” Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said. “This is a long process and it will continue until it’s complete.”
Murphy said the first priority is removing the mattresses, furniture and other household goods and the two contracted debris removal companies will send trucks though most areas two or three times per week. There are also dumpsters located at Bayfront Park and debris can be taken there. For now, the removal of trees, palm fronds and other natural debris is a secondary concern.
The previously enacted re-entry checkpoint was suspended Sunday and the previously-enacted curfew was lifted Monday.
Damage assessment
Murphy and his wife, Barb, evacuated their Anna Maria home before Hurricane Helene arrived and he returned Friday morning to assess the damage and lead the recovery efforts.
“The city is severely damaged,” he said. “Almost every home, except the new and higher ones, likely had some water intrusion. My wife’s car went underwater and is destroyed. The homes along South Bay took on 2-3 feet of water, some maybe more. Most of the businesses, residences and the historical museum on Pine Avenue had water intrusion on the ground floor. In our city annex building, we had 6 inches of water but no extensive damage.”
A visit to the museum on Saturday revealed a brown line on the side door that indicated where the floodwaters rose to approximately 3 feet.
The rising floodwaters at the Anna Maria Island Historical Museum left a mark on the outside wall. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
As of Monday morning, water and sewage service was restored, electrical service was mostly restored and the city streets were clear and accessible with one exception: “Sycamore Avenue’s washed out. It’s destroyed,” Murphy said.
The sun set on Anna Maria Saturday evening after a long and trying day. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“The beaches are eroded and dangerous,” Murphy said.
The City Pier reopened Monday morning despite some minor damage to the landing area used by the Gulf Island Ferry service. The City Pier Grill and Mote Marine outreach center didn’t open Monday.
Ginny’s and Jane E’s Café in Anna Maria is expected to reopen in a few weeks.
Anna Maria General Store and City Pier Grill owner/operator Brian Seymour said he hoped to open his general store on Pine Avenue on Tuesday and the City Pier Grill soon. Ginny’s and Jane E’s Café owner Paul Foster anticipates reopening in a few weeks.
Murphy suspects the Waterfront and Sandbar restaurants sustained significant water damage.
The Rod & Reel Pier walkway was shredded by the storm. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Hurricane Helene inflicted major damage on the privately-owned Rod & Reel Pier. Most of the pier planks are gone, the utility lines are exposed and the restaurant building is damaged. A sign on the gate says, “Pier closed until further notice.”
The Rod & Reel Pier restaurant now sits at the end of a storm-damaged pier. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Unlike previous storms, the city used its City of Anna Maria Facebook page to provide real-time updates and information before, during and after the hurricane.
Vacation rentals
Hurricane Helene’s impact on the vacation rental community will be significant. On Sunday, Duncan Real Estate owner Darcie Duncan said all their guests evacuated before the hurricane hit and were given refunds or used travel insurance to offset lost lodging days.
“We cancelled our guests through October and we’ll keep our November guests informed as we assess our properties. We just don’t know yet,” Duncan said. “I know we’re resilient and we’ll get back up but with the extensive damage to the restaurants and stores those people will need some time to recover; and our guests need something to do when they’re here.”
Duncan said those impacted by cancellations are being offered refunds or credits for future stays and many are opting for future stays.
“Most of our guests have been extremely accommodating,” she said.
“I would say 90-95% of the ground-level structures we handle are flooded and we do have some total losses. With the elevated rentals, it’s pool damage and other ground-level damage. Now that the power’s coming back on, we’re being very cautious with the houses that flooded. There was a house on fire on Oak Avenue about an hour ago,” Duncan said.
Duncan Real Estate is doing damage assessments for rental owners who don’t live in the area and will help their clients secure the services of contractors and other restoration professionals.
“Because we’ve had such mass damage, how hard will it be to get materials? The resources are going to be spread thin. There’s only so many contractors and there’s so much to rebuild. I think we’re in for a really long haul,” Duncan said.
The Rod & Reel Pier and restaurant remains closed until further notice. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
A Spectrum work crew worked well into Saturday evening as part of their service restoration efforts. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
The city of Anna Maria’s re-entry check point was established Saturday morning and Sunday. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
A generator powered city hall after the electrical service failed. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
BRADENTON BEACH – In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the recovery and restoration efforts on Anna Maria Island have begun.
On Friday, return access to the Island was limited to first responders and recovery personnel.
Saturday morning, the Holmes Beach Police Department shared the following return-related information: “The chief and mayor have met and the mayor has asked to let residents and business owners to be allowed to enter the city to start their cleanup efforts. Starting at 10 a.m., property owners and business owners of Holmes Beach and the city of Anna Maria will be allowed to come onto the Island to assess their damages. You must have a reentry tag. There is still no power or water and the roads still have standing water and debris. Drive slowly and safely.
“You can only access the Island by Manatee Avenue. The roads in Bradenton Beach are still impassable. There will be barricades at the city line of Holmes Beach/Bradenton Beach so no one can enter Bradenton Beach through Holmes Beach. Once you enter Holmes Beach, you will be handed a flyer with instructions on where to place your trash and debris,” the statement says.
When contacted by phone at 10:00 Saturday morning, Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said he and Mayor Judy Titsworth were at the entrance to the city handing out information sheets to returning motorists.
By noon, there was a 90-minute wait along Manatee Avenue to enter Holmes Beach.
Access to Bradenton Beach via the Cortez Bridge and the Longboat Pass Bridge remains restricted to essential personnel only. Some residents and business owners managed to access the Island by boat before the bridge access restrictions were partially lifted.
Access to the Cortez Bridge remains restricted until further notice.
As of Saturday morning, there was no water and electricity service on the Island and cell service remained hit-and-miss. The loss of water service was a decision made by Manatee County officials to protect the county’s water and sewage system prior to the storm surge inundating the Island. Hurricane Helene inflicted the loss of electricity and cell service. The water damage to homes, businesses, automobiles and personal belongings is expected to be immense, painful and, in some cases, life-altering.
Bradenton Beach
Friday morning Bradenton Beach Police Chief John Cosby allowed The Sun to take a self-guided tour of the damage sustained within walking distance of the Cortez Bridge. Due to the bridge access restrictions, The Sun could not get to Holmes Beach or Anna Maria.
Police Chief and Public Works Director John Cosby leads Bradenton Beach’s recovery efforts. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Cosby also serves as the city’s emergency operations manager and public works director. At 8 a.m., he stood at the sand-covered intersection of Cortez Road and Gulf Drive with limited cell phone service trying to communicate with city, county and state personnel as the locally unprecedented damage assessment, recovery and restoration efforts ensued.
“Gulf Drive is under about three feet of sand for the entire length of the city,” he said. “The road underneath the sand has buckled so there are areas where there is no road. We also have sinkholes. The dunes and the beach are gone. We have structural damage to properties, houses that shifted on their foundations, and a lot of flooding. The pier is fine. There’s a boat stuck under the floating dock and finger docks are messed up.”
A cabin cruiser became wedged under the floating dock next to the Bradenton Beach Pier.
Cosby’s not aware of any hurricane-related fatalities or serious injuries.
As the morning unfolded, heavy equipment operators and other recovery personnel began arriving, staging and taking action at the west end of the Cortez Bridge. At 10:30 a.m., the operator of a front-end loader began digging down into the Gulf Drive/Cortez Road intersection to determine how much sand sat atop Gulf Drive.
A front-loader was used to gauge the depth of the sand atop Gulf Drive.
When contacted by phone later in the day, Cosby noted the entire stretch of Gulf Drive in Bradenton Beach is a state road (SR 789) and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has to clear the sand and construct a temporary road before motorists are allowed to return. Cosby stressed the need for residents and business owners to remain patient, as difficult as that is.
“No one is getting out here. The people that are here didn’t evacuate,” he said. “I’ve got about 60 pieces of FDOT equipment moving sand off Gulf Drive. I cannot have people getting in their way. Somebody is going to get hit. I also have businesses and homes that are not secure. I cannot have people wandering around and pillaging because there are no doors and windows. This is not a sightseeing tour and people need to understand that. DOT told me they would be working all weekend but it could take them at a least a week to get all this sand out of here and then they have to lay down a temporary road. Then I’ve got to get my contractor in here to get all the sand off our roads. Nobody’s driving around this city until we have the sand off every road.”
This home along Gulf Drive North sustained damage. – Joe Hendricks – SunHurricane Helene damaged this ground-level home on Gulf Drive North
South of the Cortez Bridge the damage is visible in all directions, with the structures along Gulf Drive appearing to be the hardest hit. Two old ground-level homes and a small two-story duplex near the Gulf Drive/Cortez Road intersection are badly damaged.
The garage at another nearby ground-level home collapsed and the metal roof sits atop a pile of rubble next to the house that’s still standing. A displaced storage shed sat on the sand-covered road near the BeachHouse restaurant.
The garage toppled but the house withstood the storm.A storage shed and patio chairs wound up on Gulf Drive.
The Anna Maria Island Moose Lodge sustained major damage including missing waterfront windows and interior furnishings left in haphazard piles by the incoming and outgoing floodwaters and the sand intrusion.
The AMI Moose Lodge lost several gulf-front windows.Water and sand intrusion damaged the Moose lodge.
The front doors at Oma’s Pizza are open and askew with the glass missing. The restaurant’s side door is gone and uprooted furniture is piled up inside.
The hurricane forced open the front doors at Oma’s Pizza.The hurricane made a mess of Oma’s Pizza.
Similar damage occurred at Wilder’s Pizza, the Island Scoops ice cream shop and the One Stop Shell Shop along the 100 block of Gulf Drive North.
Wilder’s Pizza suffered significant water intrusion.Equipment was strewn about inside Island ScoopsThe One Stop Shell Shop’s exterior was compromised.
Sand was piled up against the front doors of city hall with possible water damage inside. A city-owned work truck sat in a water-filled hole in front of the public works building as Building Official Darin Cushing walked the area conducting door-to-door assessments of the structural damage visible from outside.
A city work truck wound up in a water-filled hole.
Church Avenue was partially flooded with sand piled above the water in some areas. The mobile homes in the Pines Trailer Park appeared to be mostly undamaged on the outside, but the water damage inside is expected to be significant. Pines resident Joe Klingler stayed during the storm and watched the floodwaters inside his mobile home and along Bridge Street rise to approximately four feet.
The Bradenton Beach Pier was littered with toppled benches and debris but appears in good condition. A cabin cruiser that broke free during the hurricane lodged under the floating dock and most of the finger docks are sitting at angles, rather than 90 degrees, to the floating dock they’re connected to.
The finger docks sustained storm damage.
Aside from the unknown flood damage inside, the bars, restaurants and retail shops along Bridge Street appear to be structurally intact; and only one of the city’s recently-planted coconut palm trees toppled over.
A recently-planted coconut palm tree fell during the storm.
North of Gulf Drive, a gulf-front window at the Wicked Cantina is smashed, the interior contents are jostled about and the elevated outdoor deck appears to be at ground level because of all the relocated sand.
The hurricane damaged the Wicked Cantina’s front window.Displaced sand sits as high as the Wicked Cantina’s front dock.This vehicle came to rest atop an air-conditioning unit in the condominium complex next to the Wicked Cantina.
Across the street, the Gulf Drive Café also suffered hurricane damage.
The Gulf-side of the Gulf Drive Café sustained damage.A tiki-table toppled at the Gulf Drive Café.
Anna Maria
When evaluating the city’s recent response to Tropical Storm Debby, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said the city would begin utilizing Facebook to provide real-time information before, during and after the next major storm. He made good on that promise.
Friday afternoon, city staff posted the following Facebook message: “The city of Anna Maria has declared a curfew from sunset to sunrise. All people must remain off street during those hours until further notice. The purpose of this action is to prevent looting during the time when there is no electricity and no cellular service.”
The curfew imposed via Murphy’s emergency powers will remain in place until further notice.
Earlier that day, the city posted this message: “At this time, the Island is without power and water. First-in teams are present doing damage and safety assessments. When it is safe to return, reentry tags will be required to gain access.”
When returning to Anna Maria, motorists will encounter a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office checkpoint at the entrance to the city, near CrossPointe Fellowship Church, and be required to present a reentry tag or some other proof of residence or business interest to enter the city. The checkpoint is meant to discourage unwelcome sightseers.
Murphy and his wife, Barb, evacuated their home before the storm but he returned Friday morning to assess the damage and lead the city’s recovery efforts. Speaking by phone Friday afternoon, Murphy said Hurricane Helene produced very little structural damage but significant flood damage. He was told the storm surge was approximately 6 feet high at high tide late Thursday evening and early Friday morning.
“We’ve still got some stuff that’s underwater. The north end, from the Rod & Reel Pier around North Shore is in some serious trouble. I left that area an hour and half ago and I still couldn’t get back in there. It’s not good,” Murphy said.
“Almost every home, except the new and higher ones, likely had some water intrusion,” Murphy said. “The homes along South Bay took on two to three feet of water, some maybe more, from Pine Avenue to Galati’s. Downstairs at my home, my wife’s car went underwater and is destroyed.”
Murphy said the Waterfront and Sandbar restaurants appear to have sustained significant water damage and the privately-owned Rod & Reel Pier is missing some planks.
“I guess we’re in better shape than the other two cities,” Murphy said. “Our roads that run along the Gulf, and even the ones a block from the Gulf, took on a lot of sand but our contractors and staff got the debris and sand pretty much cleaned up,” Murphy said.
Regarding the city’s main business district, Murphy said, “Pine Avenue’s in good shape. We got it cleared early this morning. In our city annex, we had six inches of water but not extensive damage. Most of the businesses, residences and the historical museum on Pine Avenue had water intrusion on the ground floor.”
Murphy said the City Pier weathered the storm but there’s some damage to the pier’s Gulf Island Ferry landing area and there was some water intrusion into the city-owned spaces leased to the City Pier Grill and the Mote Marine Science Education & Outreach Center.
Murphy is not aware of any storm-related injuries or fatalities.
Recovery personnel gathered at the west end of the Cortez Bridge Friday morning
Recovery personnel toured the city assessing the damage.
A large, water-filled hole formed in the middle of Gulf Drive.
The hurricane reshaped the Bradenton Beach shoreline. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
The beach eroded in front of the Gulf Drive Café.
The beach in front of the AMI Moose lodge suffered storm erosion.
Displaced sand covered the Bridge Street/Gulf Drive roundabout.
Bridge Street flooded during the hurricane and water intruded many businesses.
The Gulf Drive Café suffered storm damage.
Many mobile homes in the Pines Trailer Park sustained water damage. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
Church Avenue was still flooded Friday morning.
Sand and water intruded the One Stop Shell Shop. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
The Moose lodge sustained significant damage.
Island Scoops lost some of their front windows.
Hurricane Helene compromised the door and windows at Wilder’s Pizza
Many air conditioners were damaged during the storm.
