Marco Island: Flirting with disaster
NICHOLAS AZZARA
Herald Staff
Writer
MARCO ISLAND-Marco Island had flirted with disaster in the past.
On Friday the 13th of August 2004, Hurricane Charley passed 67 miles
west of the island.
Hurricane Katrina didn't miss Marco by much more than that, lashing 70
miles south.
Prior to Thursday, a hurricane had not directly threatened Marco Island
since 1960, when Hurricane Donna slammed southwest Florida. Marco Island
was largely unpopulated at the time.
Over the past 14 months, Marco city officials had repeatedly implemented
their emergency plan despite past good fortune. They were prepared for a
direct hit, and on Monday, they received one.
Fewer than 2,000 people of the 20,000 living on the island stayed for
the storm, according to Marco Island fire Chief Mike Murphy.
"We saw a large portion of the population leave early on,"
Murphy said. "We attribute that to Hurricane Katrina, the local media
and the Code Red system, which delivered 23,000 calls to 9,865 homes on
Thursday."
Between 2,000 and 3,000 homes sustained damage. Murphy said two of the
city's 14 bridges were being inspected for damage to embankments. No one
was reported injured.
At 4:10 a.m. Monday, the entire island lost power. It was not restored
by Monday afternoon, and the island's water supply was interrupted for a
short time as well. Monday afternoon, residents were still under an alert
to boil water.
Roads on the southern end of the island stood under two feet of water
for a short period of time, Murphy said.
The city's two main bridges remained open throughout Hurricane Wilma.
However, National Guardsmen and the Florida Highway Patrol limited traffic
entering the island after the storm to residents, business owners and
business contractors.
Marco Island resident Lynette LaCava and her husband were among those
who remained on the island. They spent the night in an empty home they are
buying near the southeast corner of the island. Dave Purcell and his wife
stayed with them, since the home is on a higher elevation.
At 6 a.m. Monday they watched and waited as the eye of the storm slowly
crawled over Marco Island.
"The eye was really kind of spooky," Purcell said. "The
wind stopped, there was just a light breeze and you could see the
silhouette of the moon as the clouds cleared."
FOR THE COMPLETE STORY ON THIS AND
OTHER EFFECTS OF WILMA, SEE THE HERALD ON TUESDAY.
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