Still standing

Residents return after hurricane to find island battered but not broken

By ROGER LALONDE, Staff Writer
October 26, 2005

Like many Marco Islanders, City Manager Bill Moss talked with his wife over the phone Oct. 25 about having to cut up four trees in their yard, one blocking the front-door entrance.

He was sitting in a chair in a welcoming area on the second floor near his office, still in casual work clothes — blue cotton shirt, blue jeans and sneakers — as he and most city staff had been on the run since Hurricane Wilma came through Marco Island on Oct. 24.

He spoke of the city's early preparation for Wilma and its attention to details both during the storm and after it left Marco in a state that the island had never seen before.

"I think our pre-hurricane preparation helped citizens to respond well," he said. "I'd say about 90 percent of the community evacuated because of all the early notifications."

The city used a "code red" telephone messaging system to warn of the impending hurricane and advise residents to log on to the city's Web site.

"We were able to reach another 700 to 800 people by cell phones," Moss said. "In the third message we said that they needed to take personal responsibility for their own safety, that police and fire rescue couldn't respond to emergencies during the height of the storm."

The city's Emergency Operations Center staff went out to assess early damage when the eye of the storm was right over Marco.

"Despite everything that had happened, the city looked reasonably well," Moss said. "When the back side of Wilma came over the island, it was much worse than what they had seen earlier.

"We were ready with a lot of construction equipment to clear off the streets so that people could get back to the island."

He also spoke of how they made the decision to get residents back on the island quickly.

"We actually made the decision yesterday morning (Oct. 24, when Wilma struck)," Moss said. "We wanted to bring residents back as soon as possible. We knew how important it was for our residents to get back and see what had happened. There may have been some risks to the decision, but no injuries have been reported from the hurricane."

Moss said the only negative comments came when the Collier County Emergency Management Department announced it was supplying ice and water at Palm Plaza.

The city hadn't taken part in the plan, but got many calls when the supplies did not arrive as scheduled.

A National Guard unit from Bradenton came to distribute the supplies that didn't come.

Staff Sgt. Alphonso Rutledge of the 3rd Unit of the 265th Air Defense Artillery had a group of 15 soldiers at the plaza to give out water and ice.

"We got here at (7 a.m.) to do a humanitarian service," he said. "We thought we would start getting supplies by 9 a.m. and start serving at noon."

That was at 1:30 p.m. At 3 p.m. supplies had not arrived. A call to the emergency management office about the supplies was not returned.

"We were asked to clear the area for them; I wouldn't have asked for their help," Moss said. "I think being prepared starts with the individual, then the city, then the county and state. People should have had water on hand — the individual needs to be responsible. Winn-Dixie and Publix were already open for people to get water and ice."

Marco police Lt. Dave Baer was at the scene directing traffic. He said Winn-Dixie and Publix opened around 7 a.m. Oct. 25.

Baer told of a man, in the middle of the hurricane, calling the police to pick him up.

"It was in the middle of the storm, during the second wind event, and this guy calls us from an ATM near Beall's," Baer said. "He had ridden there on a bicycle. He could have easily been killed."

Beall's itself was considerably damaged.

"I have been in three earthquakes; this was my first real hurricane," said Rony Joel, the city's public works director. "Last year was a teaser. It was kind of eerie, (being) cooped up in a hotel as Mother Nature rages around you."

The city staff, made up of police, fire and key personnel, stayed at the Marco Island Marriott Resort.

Joel said the staff broke into 16 segments to assess storm damage for bridges and neighborhoods. Based on the assessments, a plan was put together for the city's infrastructure.

"The star of this was Mike Daniels," Joel said. "He single-handedly cleared many of the roads for public safety with a front-end loader, clearing debris from the streets so that people could come back and get around the island."

Fort Myers and Punta Gorda brought down generators for water distribution. Punta Gorda sent three men to relieve some of the city staff. David Emmel, Travis Opsohl and Neil Peters came to help after Marco staff went there in 2004.

Marco's fire and rescue personnel went out on a fire call, and they expected there to be more.

They were called out to the Apollo Condominium. Peggy Elkins of Peggy's Cleaning called when she was cleaning room 808 and steam started coming out of an electrical outlet.

Fire Chief Mike Murphy said that as power goes back on in condo units and homes, any water inside the outlets smokes.

Fire Lt. Donnie Jones said that in the case of the Apollo unit, the water came under the sliding doors into the nearby outlets, causing heavy smoke. Firefighters then checked vacant units, or units where the owners had left because of Wilma.

Jack Patterson, senior warden at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, said lunches will be served in the church hall beginning Thursday, Oct. 27.

"We'll be serving lunches until we feel things are back to normal," he said.