Hurricane Helen’s storm surge flooded the Siesta Key neighborhood, leaving businesses and residents in a situation most people have never experienced in the picture-perfect barrier island resort.
Sarasota County officials said at least 6 feet of Gulf of Mexico water, pushed outward by Helen Island’s vast and powerful wind fields, crashed onto Siesta Key, causing widespread damage, according to a news conference on the island Friday afternoon. announced that it had been delivered.
“We’ve been focusing on all of the barrier island and intercostal waterway residents,” Sarasota County Fire Chief Assistant Chief Tim Dorsey said.
Dorsey said at a news conference that fire department personnel had been working through the night dealing with rising water from the building fire and residents who were trapped trying to evacuate.
“There are many like that all over the barrier islands,” he said. “As predicted by meteorologists, we had 4 to 7 feet (storm surge).
“They were serious.”
Rescue crews continued to work Friday, and Sarasota officials warned area residents to be on the lookout for downed power lines.
More: Anna Maria Island destroyed by Helen, Manatee County reports major damage
Sarasota County Commissioner Mark Smith was evacuated from his Siesta Key home during the storm, but returned Friday morning. He was lucky.
Water did not enter their home, but they were only a few centimeters away from flooding.
Smith said his business in Siesta Village wasn’t so lucky, ending up with 2.5 feet of water inside.
“There’s a lot of property damage,” Smith said. “…Siesta Village is currently wiped out and it will be a while before it returns.”
The popular shopping and tourist attraction had 3 feet of water throughout its commercial area, with picnic tables floating from the center of the village to Trust Bank on Ocean Boulevard, Smith said.
Siesta Key is a major driver of tourism in Sarasota County
From 2020 to 2022, Siesta Key generated more than $24.5 million in bed tax revenue and accounted for 27% of Sarasota County’s total tourism development taxes.
The island’s white sand beaches are a thriving tourist destination, and so far it has largely avoided devastating hurricanes.
The main signs of storm surge were seen Friday during the siesta. The 7-Eleven on Midnight Pass Road had a water mark about 3 feet high. Sidewalks and side streets remained flooded throughout the day.
Across the island from Stickney Point Bridge, Tana and Sean Anderson arrived at their business, Crescent Beach Market, at 6:30 a.m.
They placed sandbags at the entrance, hoping to prevent water from entering the store, but when Sean Anderson opened the front door, water rushed out.
With sand and dirt caked on the floor, the Andersons got to work.
She said the business currently employs 17 people and was concerned about how quickly it would be able to reopen. Tana also expressed concern that it could take time for Siesta Key’s overall tourist-based economy to return to normal.
“My main concern is my business,” she said. “It will take some time.”
Swamps everywhere after Hurricane Helen
Lourdes Ramirez, a community activist and longtime Siesta Key resident, said the storm surge flooded her area with as much as 3 feet of water, more than at any time since she started living there in 1999.
She said she thought she had avoided the worst of the storm with only some rain and gusty winds by Thursday evening, but by about 9 p.m. she had ankle-deep water in her backyard. Ta.
“The water was already ankle deep and it wasn’t raining so we knew this was high water,” she said.
Ramirez lives near Siesta Key Village, is not near a canal or particularly near the Gulf of Mexico, and her property is 9 feet above flood elevation, she said.
Rameliz said water is coming in through several entry points, and many of her neighbors are likely affected by the storm surge.
Among them is Michael Holderness, owner of vacation rentals and the 55-room Siesta Key Beach Resort and Suites.
Holderness, a lifelong Sarasota County resident and Siesta Key business owner, said storm surge flooded his business and “hundreds” of rental properties, and the recovery process for his property management business on the barrier island will take a long time. He said it would cost him a lot of money. He said it could be months before he can start running at full speed again.
“It’s never been this bad in the history of Siesta,” he said of the storm surge.
Water is infiltrating everything above ground, with Jamaica Royal and Casa Mar areas particularly affected.
“Mud is everywhere,” he said. “Think of your first step as starting to pressure wash.”
