0:51. He evacuated for Hurricane Irma in 2017 but decided not to leave for Ian. And the Barnacles so much worse than I thought.. A month after Hurricane Ian ravaged Fort Myers Beach, Fla., rubble and fallen trees line the roads. Its important to verify that the spectrum specifications of the bulb indicate 560 nm or greater. The bill for that passed unanimously in the Statehouse, its making its way to the Florida Senate. Sea turtle nesting season officially starts on Fort Myers Beach this Monday. While Southwest Florida continues recovering from Hurricane Ian, this years hurricane season is a month away. Some people dont understand the extremes of the risks sometimes and whats possible.. likely sparing Tampa and St. Petersburg their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921. The berm is being built to protect properties from storm surge associated with tropical weather or hurricanes. Yost went to check on Pacyna first and discovered his house had been destroyed. Nicole's winds had knocked out power to about 330,000 electricity customers and miles of beach erosion. If we ring the alarm bell too loud every time, what happens is the public starts losing the sense of urgency or threat, Judge said. It slowed over Volusia County, dumping nearly 21 inches of rain in some areas and bringing gusts of up to 96 mph that battered coastal zones with near king tides, he said. In this CBS Miami special report, we take a look at a whole host of hurricane season topics from above average activity to complacency concerns. Six months after Hurricane Ian stormed across Southwest Florida, people in many areas are still struggling to rebuild. There were 109 loggerhead sea turtle nests recorded on Fort Myers Beach last year, up from 30 when Turtle Time first began tracking the nests. Hurricane Ian killed at least 148 people in Florida, most of them in coastal communities where the danger of storm surge is well documented but not widely understood. Theres a huge lesson for all of us in public health response and emergency management to learn from what weve seen here and ramp up our outreach efforts, she said. The education is out there. The forecasters were comparing Ian to Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm that hit the area in 2004. 1:31 On the morning of Sept. 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Cayo Costa, Florida, a barrier island west of Fort Myers in Lee County. As a Category 4 hurricane, Irma caused more than $64 billion in Norberg said many homeowners should contact their agents about possibly adjusting the replacement costs of their homes on policies. After its all said and done, the only thing that I hope is that she wasnt mad at me.. Collson, who lived on a finger of land 5 miles from the island where the hurricane made landfall, texted Jim as conditions worsened. Ian had also wrecked 97% of Fort Myers Beach's other buildings, including businesses and homes. A tornado touched down in Charlotte County, smashing and destroying anything in its way. It seemed like in this one, it was like, OK, tomorrow you gotta get out of here, Yost said. 0:04. Fort Myers News-Press. The season wound up near normaldespite forecasts for above-average activity, but itwas notablefor the death and destruction wrought by Hurricanes Fiona, Ian and Nicole. On Fort Myers Beach, Jim believes it will be at least a decade before the island community is rebuilt. Loss of buildings, vegetation could impact turtles, This year will be a challenge because of the missing buildings and vegetation that once blocked light from reaching the beach, Haverfield said. CSU said there's more uncertainty than normal this year due to El Nio. It was Ian's storm surge that did the damage. Florida Gov. 2023 www.news-press.com. At 7 a.m., Lee County officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for the countys highest-risk areas. Social media posts are capturing the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Ian, which made landfall near Cayo Costa on Sept. 28, The damage includes flooding, destruction to homes, businesses, vehicles and infrastructure, and possibly loss of live. Those at the National Weather Service want you to have things figured out so youre ready if or when a hurricane hits. Still, county officials said they made the right call. Some boat strikes, others, no definitive cause of death.. Smile and enjoy your day.. Haverfield said 16 nests didnt hatch due to storms which washed out the nests. Theresa Conway and Daymon Utterback on the day Utterback proposed. She encountered Hurricane Ian debris that still remains on the beach in nesting habitat at her first attempt to nest. Got married five times. Beginning Monday from 9 p.m. to dawn each day through October, outdoor lighting is prohibited facing the beach except for shielded amber lights, and blinds must be closed. Lighting compliance is not in place yet, far from it, Haverfield said. Last year, Turtle Time reported that some sea turtle hatchlings were found under condos and houses because the propertys lights disoriented them. Former Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum is on trial in federal court on charges of corruption and lying to the FBI. His body was found two days after the storm in a canal near his home. This storm showed us that we dont, said Jeannine Joy, the president and CEO of United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades counties. There wasnt much time to get out. Homeless advocates have nowhere to put them. Sea turtle nesting season officially begins this Monday on Fort Myers Beach, with regulations in place to protect the threatened species. One of the cheapest FWC certified wildlife lighting options that staff has found available online is the FEIT A19 Red Bulb that screws into classic Edison fixtures. Plenty of people who stayed in the danger zone did so knowingly and willingly and some refused offers of help. The water is rising, she told him. One official who flew over the community estimates that 80% of the structures will have to be rebuilt. He was sick of the grind of bureaucracy, tired of living on land. Protected nationally since 1978 by the Endangered Species Act, loggerhead sea turtles were once much rarer on Fort Myers Beach. The weather is expected to worsen beginning Wednesday morning and intensify in the afternoon and evening, Superintendent Mike Burke said the decision was made out of an abundance of caution, Peak impacts for South Florida will likely take place Wednesday, Subtropical Storm Nicole is now expected to become a hurricane over the Bahamas before hitting Florida's east coast. Blinds must be shut from 9 p.m. to dawn to protect inside light from being visible from the beach in order to protect nesting sea turtles from disorientations, as well as their hatchlings. The elevation of the $7.8 million berm will be more than 6 feet and will cover most of the beachside of the island. As each day passes since Hurricane Ian slammed Southwest Florida on Sept. 28, 2022, progress with various recovery efforts continues to be made. They are giving out teddy bears to every child who rides with them, aiming to ease ambulance tensions. 4 min read. Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. But in 2012, Tropical Storm Debby dumped his sailboat onto Gulfport Beach, where he stayed on the wrecked Promise for almost a month. hide caption. There, his new home sits on a slip of gravel. Hurricane Ian killed nearly 150 people in southwest Florida in September and left at least 5,000 without housing. Ten years ago today, one of the most catastrophic storm events to hit Southwest Florida impacted Fort Myers Beach and those who lived or worked on it. Anjali Nair / Nigel Chiwaya; Thomas Simonetti; NBC News. We try to educate people on those worst-case scenarios and their vulnerability, said Cody Fritz, a storm surge specialist at the National Hurricane Center. Capt. Ian also illustrated the challenge of protecting densely populated waterfront communities from extreme weather worsened by climate change; thousands of coastal residents chose not to evacuate. Hurricane Hurricane Ian hit Cat 5 in Gulf, was Floridas most expensive storm. Jay has no idea where his neighbors went. As wind and water battered her tiny home in the island community of Matlacha, Peggy Collson texted her brother in a panic. An emergency sand berm is built on Fort Myers Beach on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. Haverfield said she is concerned about the sea turtles encountering dangerous objects on the beaches left over from Hurricane Ian. This was the seventh hurricane seasonin a row to produce a deadly landfalling hurricane on the U.S mainland. In this CBS Miami special report, we take a look at a whole host of hurricane season topics from above average activity to complacency If passed, Hurricane Tax Relief Week would be May 27. They survived, and their house wasnt seriously damaged. The surge picked up everything in the house: furniture, heavy appliances, a golf cart, "and books," Susan says, "all my books.". Others underestimated their risks, particularly after Hurricane Irma in 2017, when many residents evacuated but returned to untouched homes, which clouded some peoples understanding of whether they had been in real peril. There is no one to blame. Among them:fear, poverty and stubbornness. Michael Yost finds a chair amid the rubble of the destroyed home of his friend Mitch Pacyna. After a winter of searching for crabs, mollusks and whelks, adult female turtles begin mating this time of year and searching for coastal habitats like Fort Myers Beach to lay their eggs. Town officials threatened to break up the vessel, so a crowd showed up and shoved it back into Boca Ciega Bay. The deputies from the Sheriffs Office will help us in the event of a disoriented turtle on the street, she said. Turtle Time has had to deal with a higher number of sea turtle deaths this year than normal, some of which are from boats, others which could be due to several red tide waves and impacts to the water from Hurricane Ian. Theres just me having to find peace with the fact that she has passed away and going through all those emotions and dealing with the phone call, DeMoss said. Amber LED light is bright, but it has a wavelength that is long which sea turtles and other nocturnal species, including migratory birds, dont react to. But guess what, a higher power came in and said, 'Go ahead, press that button one more time and see if she can take it.' There has been this assumption that everybody should be able to read these guides and get this information, but its not that simple, said Lindsay Peterson, a research assistant professor at the University of South Floridas School of Aging Studies. CBS4's News meteorologist Dave Warren and Jennifer Correa bring you the latest weather outlook for South Florida. Beginning May 1, some people with higher credit scores may actually end up paying a higher fee. Many residents, especially those who were new to the area, didnt know that they lived in storm surge danger zones, relatives and survivors said. ", Susan Helton has experienced trauma before. Chustz will patrol the beach at night to monitor light pollution on sea turtle nesting habitat. But the storm shifted east and weakened, and it arrived at low tide. Jim and Susan Helton sit int he back of a car outside a hotel in Fort Myers, Fla. Their home in Fort Myers beach was destroyed by Hurricane Ian. Each nesting sea turtle can return to the beach to nest up to three times in a season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It wasnt supposed to be hitting us, Conway said. Every hurricane is different, and slight changes to its path or strength can dramatically change the level of surging water. Providing visuals of their vulnerability speaks louder than saying it out loud.. 0:51. 0:04. Families of the missing are caught in limbo over their loved ones fate. Landscaping. Each spring without fail, female loggerhead sea turtles make their way back to Fort Myers Beach after months of swimming hundreds, if not thousands of miles out in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Elizabeth Chuck is a reporter for NBC News who focuses on health and mental health, particularly issues that affect women and children. After his daughter was grown, he sold his house near Lake City and moved onto his first sailboat in 2006. Or climb the 52-foot mast to check the rigging. That, Jim Helton says, and the boat he found in the middle of his house. South Florida Sports Headlines Newsletter. So that makes the need to prepare for hurricane season even more essential. Both Utterback, 54, and Pacyna, 74, had drowned. But Hurricane Ians toll on vulnerable residents showed the gaps in those efforts. Further direct disturbances of sea turtles and their nestings could result in federal or state prosecution. Rent vouchers dont help. They were now on their own. There is no one to be mad at. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Everything from traffic crashes to moving vulnerable populations can result in deaths, he said. Hed written his plea for all to see: I need help finding a 47-foot sailboat. Then a guy he knows told him about this 38-footer in Placida, about an hours drive north. ", Jim says he's also thought about God, the challenge he's been given and whether he's still up to it. And if you are installing new windows, choose a NFRC light transmittance specification of 30% or less., Its important to verify that the spectrum specifications of the bulb indicate 560 nm or greater. Sea turtle nesting season has begun in Southwest Florida. "I got over there today and there was a note by the coffee machine, 'Call the sales lady.' Authorities urge patience. This appears to contradict their own emergency management plan, which calls for evacuations of highest-risk areas with forecasts of 3 to 6 feet of storm surge. This morning, our Jim asks Basabe about the investigation, as well as his stance on LGBTQ+ rights and abortion. A House plan to eliminate the business-recruitment agency Enterprise Florida and relocate tourism-marketing efforts also would lead to a change in the name of the state Department of Economic Opportunity. As Florida approaches the start of hurricane season this summer, insurance experts say there are some things homeowners should be checking. Life without purpose is meaningless! he typed beneath a sunrise photo he sent to friends April 8. Scores of people on Floridas southwest coast and others in flood-prone inland areas stayed to face the Category 4 storm or tried to run only when the water began to deluge roads and homes. Conway described Utterback, who loved to bring people a smile by dressing up as a pirate, as the kindest, sweetest, big-hearted big kid.. The bridge to the island was damaged in the storm and has now been closed. Over the weekend, a female sea turtle visited Bonita Beach checking out the nesting sites, Haverfield said. Usually, theres a Hurricane Tax Relief Week ahead of hurricane season. Yost, the Fort Myers Beach man whod also decided to stay, said he learned that he was in the most dangerous surge zone only the night before Ian made landfall, when a radio broadcast informed him that his home was at risk of storm surge of more than 9 feet in a Category 4 hurricane. Seven people died, three of them in high-risk surge zones. The 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season officially ended Wednesday. NBC News has identified 148 deaths related to Hurricane Ian in Florida, based on public records obtained from local and state authorities (see the full methodology below). I would have gone and picked him up.. All rights reserved. That upset her. NWS One of the places severely damaged by Hurricane Ian was Fort Myers Beach, and seven months later, theres still more to do, but theyve come a long way. Over the previous 24 hours, the expected landfall had shifted about 80 miles south, according to the National Hurricane Center. Some have diagnosed cognitive decline that makes it hard for them to plan ahead or make decisions about whether to evacuate. They walk the beach at dawn each morning looking for the tracks of turtles who have nested. Jay scaling a five-story pole. Fort Myers Beach ahead of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. If theres anything good that comes of this, its driving home that, you know, that these things really can kill people, said Bob Lee, a former Naples city manager. We are redoing []. Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo on Monday took the stand in his own defense during a civil trial. But people dont realize that for older adults who are isolated in their homes and are trying to fly under the radar its extremely difficult to leave, Rothhaar said. The berm is being built to protect When a young dolphin named Fergie found himself in a life-threatening situation, the dolphin explorer answered the call. At the second try, she was not pleased with the presence of a palm tree., just the right spot somewhere, hopefully on one of the beaches that we monitor.. But, its what you need once the winds die down thats extra important. Any death, whether its a car accident or storm surge, is tragic. Yost moved to Florida 13 years ago from Indiana, and in that time he heard predictions of hurricanes bringing deadly storm surges that didnt come true, Hurricane Irma included. We are banging our heads against the wall, because it keeps happening.. A vehicle in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., with a sign that carries the number of hurricane victims. Local and county officials in southwest Florida, one of the fastest-growing regions of the country, are well aware of the danger. But a local councilman didnt want tents on the beach. The surge snapped Yosts mailbox, rising from about 3 feet to about 10 feet in 10 minutes. About 10% of the homeless had lived on boats that were destroyed. Jay had given up on getting any storm compensation money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. April 28, 2023 Don't Miss Hatchlings from two nests on Big Hickory Island were also disorientated by lights from Fort Myers Beach, Haverfield said. Between May 1 and July 31 of last year, the town issued 220 warnings for lighting violations. He said the first thing to check is the deductibles on your policy. Elizabeth Dunn, who leads a Hillsborough County community emergency response team that knocks on doors to spread awareness of storm surge threats, said many residents, particularly older ones, still dont fully understand the danger of not evacuating high-risk areas. Damaged mobile homes lie scattered after the passage of Hurricane Ian, in the San Carlos area of Fort Myers Beach, They had notice. He wound up spending his next Social Security check to stay at the boatyard through April. Photo provided courtesy of Turtle Time. The Bay to Beach condo complex is at 740 Estero Boulevard, about a quarter mile north of the Fort Myers Beach pier where the rooftop fire with copious smoke was reported around 12:30 p.m. An estimated 34,000 people stayed in emergency shelters. FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, many businesses along Fort Myers Beach have put in the work to get their operations back up. Starting Monday after 9 p.m., outdoor lights must be turned off outside on Fort Myers Beach properties facing the beach each night, except for shielded amber lights that are downward directed, until dawn. Craig Fugate, a former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a former director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said ordering evacuations carries its own risks. "It's critical to check on that property insurance right now," Robert Norberg of Arden Insurance in Lantana said. I like solitude, he said. How to make the most of your Orlando trip, How a gay bar made downtown Dunedins business culture bloom, Rays go from being no-hit to blowing out the White Sox, Struggling Florida high school seniors may get graduation reprieve, Beneath a Fort Myers bridge, a captain longs to return to sea. Locals were seen standing in streets with water covering their legs while pushing jammed cars and buses. They want $800 for me to stay another month, Capt. In recent years, a growing number of older people with impairments have been given the resources health aides, medical equipment, meal deliveries, paid caregivers to remain at home instead of spend the rest of their days in nursing homes or assisted living centers. The home Michael Yost was renting in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. Michael Yost in the bedroom of the damaged home he was renting in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. A downed palm tree in a canal in Matlacha, Fla., on Oct. 31. Capt. Before the storm season starts, get the supplies you need to board up your home, know your evacuation zone, and plan for the worst. Florida's unemployment rate remained at 2.6 percent in March, as service-related jobs continued to lead in new hiring and construction jobs fell for a third consecutive month. Experts said the decision about when to order an evacuation is hard to get right. Loggerhead sea turtles are protected by the Endangered Species Act, Floridas Marine Turtle Protection Act, and The Town of Fort Myers Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Code. Destruction caused by Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers Beach is viewed from the air on Oct. 1, 2022. But the shelter didnt have any beds available, just a wheelchair. And if you are installing new windows, choose a NFRC light transmittance specification of 30% or less., The Sea Turtle Conservancy recommends Frontier Lighting & Synergy Lighting for lighting fixtures that protect sea turtles, Chustz said. This doesnt need to happen.. When it comes to windows and glass slider doors, FWC sea turtle biologists have advised that , with 45% light transmittance may not be sufficient to adequately reduce light visibility to nesting and hatchling sea turtles. Jon Schuppe is an enterprise reporter for NBC News, based in New York. The nesting season lasts through October. Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher and two 8-member teams from FEMA went door-to-door Monday in some of the areas hardest hit by last month's flooding. "Sometimes that can be a savings, as well if the company has overstated your replacement costs," Norberg said. That decision was partly based on initial forecasts for a hurricane that had weakened into a tropical storm, as well as Ians westward and inland approach into the county, said Jim Judge, Volusia Countys emergency management director. The late September storm exposed shortcomings in how local governments communicate the risk posed by hurricanes, decide when to order evacuations and identify and help the most vulnerable residents. Destroyed houses and buildings are visible in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., on Friday. But hurry -- these way hot deals are selling way fast. He anchored offshore, rowed a dinghy to town when he needed cigarettes. The boats owner had been hurt in a fire, or something Capt. The Town considers disorientations of sea turtle hatchlings from man-made lights as an irreparable and irreversible violation with a fine of up to $5,000.

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