Hurricane Ian was Tropical Storm Ian was Tropical Depression 09

[cardude01]

Sanibel causeway damage. Can’t imagine what the houses look like around there if the water was strong enough to do this.

 

[cardude01]

Legacy Harbor in Fort Myers. Hope no TF members were here!

Before

After

 

[DegoRed]

damn that's sad, those boats up against wall at bottom of pic looked like they are happy with their slip assignment.

 

[markpj23]

Twin Dolphin Marina Bradenton

Staff just reported essentially no damage. A coupe of boats with gelcoat rub against the dock and one lost a canvas top that was left up.
We dodged a big bullet with this one.....!

 

[cardude01]

Staff just reported essentially no damage. A coupe of boats with gelcoat rub against the dock and one lost a canvas top that was left up.
We dodged a big bullet with this one.....!

Woo hoo! Big bullet dodged indeed. Larry is trying to get back onto LBK to check on Bucky.

 

[OldDan1943]

Greetings,
Mr. DC. Are the water level numbers in feet or meters?

In the US, unless noted, it will be in feet and inches.

 

[rslifkin]

Legacy Harbor in Fort Myers. Hope no TF members were here!

Ouch. From everything I've heard, it seems like Legacy Harbor got thoroughly trashed. That "after" photo does seem to show most of the piled up boats as still floating and relatively intact though. Only a few look to have gotten really trashed. Hopefully most are just a bit banged up and the owners won't be losing their boats.

 

[Adopo]

Oh man, looks like a 70 plus foot Lazzara and a couple of big Marlows in that pile for perspective. I guess everyones insurance just took a big future jump although they do try to spread the risk. Stock on repair yards just went up. Pale thought in the light of potential loss of life.

 

[Adopo]

Hi Ted:

Native Floridian here. I've lived through a few hurricanes. But even I had to have the craziest part of hurricane storm surge explained to me by a meteorologist.

You probably saw several accounts of Sarasota bay and Tampa Bay "emptying out" today. Anyone can look at the counterclockwise rotation of hurricane winds imposed over a map, and see how the water from the NORTH side of the storm was pushed by the wind, around the storm, and then deposited on the land areas on the SOUTH side of the storm, i.e. the Ft. Myers area.


But that's not all there is to storm surge. There is a most interesting phenomenon associated with hurricanes:

Inside the eye, the barometric pressure is the lowest. The water rises up inside the eye as the hurricane approaches the coast.

Depending upon several variables, the water inside the eye of a Cat 4 can be as much as 30 feet higher than the water outside the eye (before the eye hits a land mass).


So when the eye of a storm passes over land, it brings the "higher eye water" along with it.


Once the eye breaches land, the eye wall begins to break down because the eye no longer has water beneath it (this is simplifying things, but I don't need to discuss all the physics). The "higher eye water" starts to "leak" out.


I was watching an unmanned camera on Sanibel Island today that was mounted high up on the second floor balcony of a condo.


When the camera became submerged, I knew then that the eye wall had hit Sanibel.


And you are correct that once the water is released from within the eye, it will naturally "level out." Like when you spill a glass of liquid on your countertop, it moves immediately to the lowest edge and runs on to the floor.


This "higher water inside the eye" is the reason why tide gauges can measure a storm surge of 13 feet in one location, yet a gauge location only, say, ten miles north of the first one, measures just 4 feet of storm surge.


Both gauges are accurate. The northern gauge wasn't located in a place where the eye passed over it, or the eye wall had already started to break down by then.


This is why Sanibel can be hit with a 20 ft storm surge, but Cape Coral may only experience a 5 ft storm surge minutes later.



This is why barrier islands like Sanibel act as "barriers" to storm surge. (In fact, it's why they are called "barrier islands.") A hurricane's eye begins to break down when it passes over a barrier island, and the water contained within the eye starts to "leak out."


There are several other factors that can contribute to storm surge, such as the shallower water close to the coast, but you get the idea.


Photos from Sanibel Island when the sun comes up will certainly be interesting.


Warm Regards,
Mrs. Trombley


Here are a couple of photos of boats aground in hurricane holes on Tampa Bay that I found on the twitter:

Oh wow I wonder if the is the Great Harbor that is for sale on TF.

 

[High Wire]

If anyone is in the area of Placida/South Gulf Cove please send me a PM. My boat is in CHBS at the corner of Gaspirilla Rd and Appleton Rd.

 

[wkearney99]

Latest reports show it heading back inland at Charleston, late Friday night?

We're up in Annapolis and the consensus seems to be it'll be clocking winds out of the north in toward us, with a lot of rain. So maybe not a big problem (for us, anyway).

Tragic seeing the mess it's made for marinas in Florida, yikes!

 

[Larry M]

Ian is expected to back to hurricane strength in a few hours heading for South Carolina.

 

[psneeld]

Ian is expected to back to hurricane strength in a few hours heading for South Carolina.

Great...then its headed for me leaf peeping /RVing in Western Virginia..

Not worried about wind, but the RV park is on the bend of a river....

 

[Kuncicky]

Maybe I am too sensitive, but it sure seems as if the media is taking a particular delight in showing damaged boats in their news photos. No swamped cars, no homeless people, no damaged homes -- just boats, boats, more boats. Just saying.

 

[Larry M]

I think houses may have fared better other than flooding and roof damage which is terrible but not as dramatic. The exception may be the houses on the barrier islands.

 

[Adopo]

Here's one

 

[Larry M]

A couple of very sobering videos of Fort Myers Beach.

https://youtu.be/L92AY2RArHI

https://youtu.be/gZC7SrofUJQ

 

[cardude01]

Damn

 

[markpj23]

A couple very of sobering videos of Fort Myers Beach.

https://youtu.be/L92AY2RArHI

https://youtu.be/gZC7SrofUJQ

Wow... any word on how the boats in the city mooring field made out?

 

[TF_BG]

We are back onboard at Twin Dolphin, no damage…………..got very lucky here.

 

[Group9]

San Carlos Island, and Salty Sam marina got trashed. Looks like a lot of boats broke loose from the Fort Myers Beach mooring field, too.

 

[Group9]

City of Fort Myers Marina. Pretty bad.

 

[Miz Trom]

" in my experience, most people pass along a incorrect technical info, even if their lifetime of hurricane survival skills are pretty good.

"most people pass along a incorrect technical info"

Definitely an accurate statement.

psneeld and smitty477:


The study and collection of scientific data regarding hurricanes is constantly evolving.

I stand by my statements regarding storm surge, as explained to me and others by Paul Delgado, chief meteorologist at WTVT.

Thank you for sharing your negative opinions of my post.

As we say here in the South, Bless your little hearts,
Mrs. Trombley

 

[wkearney99]

City of Sanibel press report:

Yikes. They're saying that while Hurricane Charley took weeks to recover, this is going to take MONTHS.

 

[cardude01]

Finally heard from Healhustler (Larry) today on the status of Bucky and their home on Longboat Key. He was able to get there today, and while he said there was tree damage and debris around, his house and his beloved Bucky seemed to have survived unscathed!



Emily Dickinson

 

[smitty477]

psneeld and smitty477:


The study and collection of scientific data regarding hurricanes is constantly evolving.

I stand by my statements regarding storm surge, as explained to me and others by Paul Delgado, chief meteorologist at WTVT.

Thank you for sharing your negative opinions of my post.

As we say here in the South, Bless your little hearts,
Mrs. Trombley

My statement was not negatively aimed at your post at all.
You misread and/or it was not as clearly made as intended.
My link was intended to reinforce what you just now posted as best I could.

 

[wkearney99]

Holy crap, indeed.

 

[BruceK]

FWIW,(not much I guess) my sincere sympathies for the truly awful situation, for people, property, boats, etc all at great risk from this terrible hurricane. A relief to hear some are coming through unscathed, a sadness others are not. Go well, go safely.

 

[Group9]

FWIW,(not much I guess) my sincere sympathies for the truly awful situation, for people, property, boats, etc all at great risk from this terrible hurricane. A relief to hear some are coming through unscathed, a sadness others are not. Go well, go safely.

It's sad, but one thing we all learned, going through Katrina, is that if you're alive when it's all over, it's just stuff, and you can buy more stuff.

 

[sbu22]

It's sad, but one thing we all learned, going through Katrina, is that if you're alive when it's all over, it's just stuff, and you can buy more stuff.

And Ida. Well said.