Our hearts go out to Scott, the folks of Sanibel, Ft. Meyers, and the whole of FL. Anything we can do to help, let us know...I think I speak for all of us here.
Hurrican Ian
- Thread starter dang
- Start date
Proof of life. This has been an insane and very stressful experience. But we are very very lucky compared to a lot of people who lost everything. This is the view out my front door now. Those black things you see on the steps are the original felt carpet from my CSL and I also have the original headliner drying in the sun. When the car was restored I saved all the stuff in a box and out it in the lower level storage in the house. The headliner is what I used to make a template for SMS auto fabrics to make a reproduction of the CSL headliner fabric. You guys might remember that from five or 10 years ago.
Anyway this will be a long post. I’m dictating it so there will be some mistakes. So we evacuated to a hotel in Fort Myers where we were safe during the storm. It was the Crowne Plaza Hotel which was a four-story concrete building. Luckily the roof stayed on. I think the winds there were probably 120 miles an hour. There was no storm surge there thank God. I was staying with the City of Sanibel group. I am one of five people on our volunteer city Council. My term started 18 months ago and ends in another 2 1/2 years, and I am counting the days! I am a strict believer in term limits now
Anyway we rode out the storm in the hotel, and the power was out and there was no running water and no Internet or anything like that. We had to get buckets of water from the pool and carry it up to flights to our room in order to flush the toilet. But we were safe and secure in that building. It is absolutely stunning that out of the 6000 people who live on Sanibel at least 1000 and stayed on the island during the storm. I just can’t believe it. Four of them died. And there might be other bodies who turn up. I mean when you live on a barrier island and a hurricane is coming you just need to leave and go to higher ground. Five homes burned down during the storm or in the day after the storm. Most likely they were from malfunctioning automatic generators. So if you have one of those be careful. When salt water reaches their control panels, they can go haywire spark and blow up your house.
You all have probably seen the body count from Fort Myers Beach, and it is in the dozens. Fort Myers Beach is right next to Sanibel.
So anyway after the storm Council was frantically working with all the city staff. Most of them live in Fort Myers so their homes were ok, and they were working 24 seven to get the city up and running. The first few days though was just search and rescue. We had people calling in looking for people and asking for welfare checks at various addresses. My wife, who has nothing to do with the City of Sanibel, jumped in and just helped out to take messages and compile the information in a big spreadsheet for everybody to look at. Once people were rescued we could cross off the names. It’s a small town so you knew a lot of the people they were inquiring about. Luckily the people who died were not anyone who was familiar to me personally. But I know many elderly people who were in one story homes in water up to the ceiling breathing in an air pocket. And yet somehow they survived. Other people ran across the street to a neighbors who had a higher home. If they were in a condo they just went upstairs and started banging on doors to get higher. Some just broke down the door of the upstairs condo.
Sanibel has an excellent city manager who is just amazing. After the first few days everyone was accounted for, and then city Council went back to the island with the city manager, police chief and others. We toured the devastation. It was completely freaky. There was absolutely no one outside. All these fire alarms were going off everywhere. And the amount of debris scattered across the island is just staggering. The good news is that all the wind mitigation efforts completely work. If the house was built in the last 20 or 30 years and has a metal roof and hardie plank siding and hurricane windows, all that stuff held. The upper two floors of my house are completely intact.
The flipside is that we have a large finished garage under the house on each side. And we have a large recreation room in the center downstairs. And we also have a storage room,. The downstairs is basically our attic. We’ve lived there for 14 years and raised three kids there so we have accumulated so much stuff. All the pictures of our kids, model trains, camping gear, wetsuits and surfing gear, snorkeling gear, sewing machine, craft supplies, all the stuff our kids made at school, tons of books, CDs, Christmas, Halloween, and Easter decorations and all the rest of the stuff you might find in an attic. My older two were actors and singers and our life was theater when they were at home with us. My some had been in 25 different productions by the time he finished eighth grade for example. We had saved every single program from every single show that the kids are in. They were saved in plastic hoppers on shelves a pie in our storage room on the lower level. After the storm, All those programs and Momentos were still in the plastic hoppers on the shelf, but the plastic hoppers were all full of dirty water. Our wedding album was underwater. Hundreds and hundreds of family photos were underwater. Two drawings my stepfather had made in the 1930s when he was a young student traveling in Europe were underwater and ruined. It’s all that kind of stuff that hurts. It’s just stuff, but it’s stuff that has significance.
Oh yes and all our old 401(k) statements, tax bills, and other bills. And tax returns.
But there were some bright spots. We are big into bicycling and have a whole bunch of interesting bikes so I brought those up to the living room. I also had a brand new generator in the box that I had never used and I brought that upstairs. And I brought up all our luggage for some reason. So that all survived.
So after the storm the critical thing was to get back to the house and start removing all the wet objects and wet drywall and everything from downstairs. We were allowed to return to the island on Wednesday, and I am writing now on Sunday night. We were allowed to go out for the day from 7 AM to 7 PM. Luckily we knew someone in Cape Coral through my cousin who had a boat that was already in the water. Because there was no electricity all these boats that were on boatlifts could not be lowered into the water! And all the boat ramps to launch a boat were being used by the Coast Guard, police, fish and wildlife, FEMA etc. so even if you had a boat, if it was on a lift or on a trailer it was completely useless. So my wife and I, along with her cousin, her cousins friend, my wife’s brother and his girlfriend, and other friends have been over at our house and my wife’s cousins house for the past five days during the day when it was allowed. We have been pulling all the wet stuff outside and putting it at the curb. We have used sledge hammers and chisels and other tools to completely demolish all the drywall that’s in the lower level. We also had to remove all the foam insulation. There was one spot in the stairwell that leads from the garage to the upstairs where the knucklehead contractor who built the house sprayed open cell foam all the way down to the ground. Behind the drywall. I’m sure he didn’t realize his guys were doing it. But that open cell foam insulation is like a giant sponge. I had to scoop it out with my hands.
This is all in an effort to get moisture out of the house and Prevent mold, which is often not covered by insurance unless you buy a separate expensive rider. I didn’t buy that rider. And most people don’t.We have all the doors and windows open on the second and third floor now. We have the stairwell from the garage to the house locked, but the rest of the basement and garage is are all wide open. Since the storm we’ve had eight or nine days with very low humidity, a lot of breeze, and lots of sunshine and no rain. So that’s been a huge bonus for getting things dried out.
And did I mention the mud? Every single home on the entire island has anywhere from a half inch to 4 inches of the slipperiest mud you’ve ever seen in your life. In our case it is on the basement level. It is all over the garage. And it is all over that recreation room. We’ve had to shovel it out with a flat shovel and load it into wheelbarrows and dump it outside. It reeks. Once we got it low enough it would actually start to dry out and then we could sweep it up. When we first came back to the island the mud was just so wet everywhere and so slippery if you tried to walk down the street it was like walking on ice. The PD had to engage 4WD at times to stay on the road.
It’s much drier now thank goodness.
Today we were wrapping up clean up for the most part, although we can’t pressure wash any of the surfaces so there is still this layer of dusty crud all over everything in the lower level. When the island has water electricity and sewer, we will move back. But for right now we are living in Fort Myers. And when we have all these things we can take a pressure washer and pressure wash all the garage floors and the entire lower level/basement area.
PART 2
We found a great little rental in Fort Meyers through friends, and it is lovely. We are so blessed. There are so many older people who lived in manufactured homes in our area who lost absolutely everything. Those things are just not insurable. These are working class people who are retired on very fixed incomes. They are the typical demographic of my patient population.I think a lot of them are basically destitute and will have to move in with their children back up north or wherever they came from. There is an absolutely fantastic couple in our church in their 80s who were so kind to our children over the years it just makes me cry to think of their fate. They were teachers and such up north. They are alive and well, but evacuated to their daughters home in Texas and now they have nothing to come back to and we may never see them again. Poof. Just like that. And that applies to so many people. They lived on Sanibel in the magical periwinkle Park trailer park. And I’m not kidding. That place was awesome. It was family owned and has been in the same family since back in the 50s or 60s. One of the current owners (son of founder) who is now in his 70s, was an animal lover. He had a mini zoo there with monkeys and lemurs and every kind of exotic bird you could think of. Our kids used to walk through there when they were young and say hi to all the animals. It was basically just a free little zoo on Sanibel that anyone could come visit. And in the winter there was a lady who lived in the park who was really into birds to and she would give a little bird show and talk and introduce birds to the kids. Now the entire park is destroyed. And a lot of the animals drowned in the flood. Every home was in 6 to 8 feet of water. And any manufactured home that has more than 12 inches of water intrusion is considered destroyed. So they’re gonna have to haul away hundreds of trailers off the island and scrap them all. There are other places on the west end of the island like the Santiva general store and the castaways cottages that are just gone into the ocean. And there are smaller cottages and resorts on W. Golf Dr. like the Shalimar that have met a similar fate. The original parts of the old island inn and are now gone. I really love the slightly tacky and slightly shabby old Florida vibe. To me it’s way better than the big Mediterranean homes with tile roofs and Beverly Hills looking palm trees. Unfortunately we are losing that old Florida feel. And the storm really did a number on old Florida.
My two older kids are safely away in college. They were really freaking out and feeling helpless. After the storm we sent my youngest son who is in 10th grade up north to be with his cousins for a while. One of his uncles came and picked him up. He also picked up our 12-year-old lab who has severe arthritis, and we could not devote any attention to the old dog while we were trying to salvage our house and prevent the mold intrusion.
Tomorrow is my first day back at our medical practice. I think it’s gonna be very slow for a while. Luckily my wife’s pediatric practice is insanely busy right now, so she can work as much as she wants. So maybe I’ll become the house husband.
And onto the car stuff. I have a storage unit in Fort Myers. And it was just far enough inland and just high enough that it avoided any flooding whatsoever. I was incredibly lucky. And I still love cars, but after all this they are going to take a back burner for a while.
We only lost one car to the storm. You can see it in the picture. It’s my Tesla with 130,000 miles on it. It used to be my wife’s daily driver when it was new, but then I started driving in a couple of years ago when she bought a new model Y. I really liked the way it drove. It’s a wonderfully engineered car. However, it was starting to have some warning lights on the dash and the range had diminished over time. So we took her Tesla and a minivan when we escaped the storm. But that Tesla we lost was just a transportation appliance. So I’ll be driving a 2012 Chrysler minivan for a while. Or my daughter’s Subaru.
Lastly, you guys will find this amusing, and my wife will never look at this forum. But today we were cleaning out the garages. And she and her friend just had it in mind that they were just going to get rid of everything from the garages and carry it to the curb. So they were trying to throw away aluminum E9 trim parts (the horror), Fishing Lures, a garden hose, Perfectly good nylon ropes,Handtools like screwdrivers and hammers, open ended wrenches etc etc so I had to go rescue all this stuff from the piles out by the street!
We found a great little rental in Fort Meyers through friends, and it is lovely. We are so blessed. There are so many older people who lived in manufactured homes in our area who lost absolutely everything. Those things are just not insurable. These are working class people who are retired on very fixed incomes. They are the typical demographic of my patient population.I think a lot of them are basically destitute and will have to move in with their children back up north or wherever they came from. There is an absolutely fantastic couple in our church in their 80s who were so kind to our children over the years it just makes me cry to think of their fate. They were teachers and such up north. They are alive and well, but evacuated to their daughters home in Texas and now they have nothing to come back to and we may never see them again. Poof. Just like that. And that applies to so many people. They lived on Sanibel in the magical periwinkle Park trailer park. And I’m not kidding. That place was awesome. It was family owned and has been in the same family since back in the 50s or 60s. One of the current owners (son of founder) who is now in his 70s, was an animal lover. He had a mini zoo there with monkeys and lemurs and every kind of exotic bird you could think of. Our kids used to walk through there when they were young and say hi to all the animals. It was basically just a free little zoo on Sanibel that anyone could come visit. And in the winter there was a lady who lived in the park who was really into birds to and she would give a little bird show and talk and introduce birds to the kids. Now the entire park is destroyed. And a lot of the animals drowned in the flood. Every home was in 6 to 8 feet of water. And any manufactured home that has more than 12 inches of water intrusion is considered destroyed. So they’re gonna have to haul away hundreds of trailers off the island and scrap them all. There are other places on the west end of the island like the Santiva general store and the castaways cottages that are just gone into the ocean. And there are smaller cottages and resorts on W. Golf Dr. like the Shalimar that have met a similar fate. The original parts of the old island inn and are now gone. I really love the slightly tacky and slightly shabby old Florida vibe. To me it’s way better than the big Mediterranean homes with tile roofs and Beverly Hills looking palm trees. Unfortunately we are losing that old Florida feel. And the storm really did a number on old Florida.
My two older kids are safely away in college. They were really freaking out and feeling helpless. After the storm we sent my youngest son who is in 10th grade up north to be with his cousins for a while. One of his uncles came and picked him up. He also picked up our 12-year-old lab who has severe arthritis, and we could not devote any attention to the old dog while we were trying to salvage our house and prevent the mold intrusion.
Tomorrow is my first day back at our medical practice. I think it’s gonna be very slow for a while. Luckily my wife’s pediatric practice is insanely busy right now, so she can work as much as she wants. So maybe I’ll become the house husband.
And onto the car stuff. I have a storage unit in Fort Myers. And it was just far enough inland and just high enough that it avoided any flooding whatsoever. I was incredibly lucky. And I still love cars, but after all this they are going to take a back burner for a while.
We only lost one car to the storm. You can see it in the picture. It’s my Tesla with 130,000 miles on it. It used to be my wife’s daily driver when it was new, but then I started driving in a couple of years ago when she bought a new model Y. I really liked the way it drove. It’s a wonderfully engineered car. However, it was starting to have some warning lights on the dash and the range had diminished over time. So we took her Tesla and a minivan when we escaped the storm. But that Tesla we lost was just a transportation appliance. So I’ll be driving a 2012 Chrysler minivan for a while. Or my daughter’s Subaru.
Lastly, you guys will find this amusing, and my wife will never look at this forum. But today we were cleaning out the garages. And she and her friend just had it in mind that they were just going to get rid of everything from the garages and carry it to the curb. So they were trying to throw away aluminum E9 trim parts (the horror), Fishing Lures, a garden hose, Perfectly good nylon ropes,Handtools like screwdrivers and hammers, open ended wrenches etc etc so I had to go rescue all this stuff from the piles out by the street!
Check my personal Facebook page for lots of pics and videos.
—Scott Crater
—Scott Crater
And if you watched 60 minutes tonight, our good friends John and Milissa Sprecher were on it. Our grew up together since preschool and we go to the same church. She was a very successful Wedding and family photographer on the island. But now her business is shot. His business was the advertising and marketing for a resort on Captiva, and that resort will remain closed until there is power water and sewer. They don’t have heaps of money, so they’re really not sure if they’re gonna be able to rebuild. The roof is torn open in numerous places. If you watch the 60 Minutes episode you can see. You can watch it on the CBS news app I think or in about a week it’ll show up on YouTube.
And if u didn’t see on the news, the storm surge ranged from 12 feet above sea level to about 15 feet above sea level. The East End was a little lower and the west end was a little higher. There was one neighborhood on the far west end called the sanctuary that is a little more elevated than the rest of the island and that was basically OK. But 95% of the island was completely underwater for several hours during the storm. And almost everyone parks their car under their house in their garage, logically. So all the people who were foolish enough to stay lost all their vehicles. And people who evacuated and left a vehicle or two behind like we did lost their car as well. It’s gonna take a long time to drag thousands of cars off Sanibel Island.
The good news is that the causeway is being rebuilt at lightning speed. there’s an election in early November, and the governor is using this as one way to drum up interest and votes. I mean I don’t mean to be cynical but this is basically true. The residents of sanibel are just fortunate that there’s an election coming up in early November and therefore the state officials want to look good. But we sure do appreciate the effort of all the young men and women who are working for the Florida department of transportation. They are absolutely amazing. The causeway was breached at least five places and already they’ve got three of those five places patched up. Of course it will be a temporary rough gravel road, but it’s key to getting enough equipment and people over to rebuild the island. We’ve got 500 electric lineman either on the island or on the way. I am far more optimistic about the future than I was a few days ago. I was thinking we would not be on the island for at least a year. But now it’s probably looking more like 3 to 6 months. Once there’s a temp Causeway and we have water, sewer, and electricity, the island will be habitable again. And I think within six months all that will occur. And then we’ll be able to drive back-and-forth to work from home on the island rather than from our rental in Fort Myers.
The good news is that the causeway is being rebuilt at lightning speed. there’s an election in early November, and the governor is using this as one way to drum up interest and votes. I mean I don’t mean to be cynical but this is basically true. The residents of sanibel are just fortunate that there’s an election coming up in early November and therefore the state officials want to look good. But we sure do appreciate the effort of all the young men and women who are working for the Florida department of transportation. They are absolutely amazing. The causeway was breached at least five places and already they’ve got three of those five places patched up. Of course it will be a temporary rough gravel road, but it’s key to getting enough equipment and people over to rebuild the island. We’ve got 500 electric lineman either on the island or on the way. I am far more optimistic about the future than I was a few days ago. I was thinking we would not be on the island for at least a year. But now it’s probably looking more like 3 to 6 months. Once there’s a temp Causeway and we have water, sewer, and electricity, the island will be habitable again. And I think within six months all that will occur. And then we’ll be able to drive back-and-forth to work from home on the island rather than from our rental in Fort Myers.
Yay for you Scott- you have a great attitude and you will certainly find your way home.
Thanks for the update Scott, we've all been waiting for it. You're alive.
Can you post a link to your facebook page?
Can you post a link to your facebook page?
What an incredible saga! Thank you very much for taking the time to describe it all for us. It is so fascinating to get a direct first hand account from what is likely a life-changing event for a great many people.
Very relieved that you and yours are OK and did the smart thing by evacuating on time.
Very best of luck for the rebuilding phase to you and those around you, Scott
Very relieved that you and yours are OK and did the smart thing by evacuating on time.
Very best of luck for the rebuilding phase to you and those around you, Scott
Wow, the impact to the lives of the residents on Sanibel and the surrounding areas is so hard to watch. As others have said we have been waiting to hear how you fared and are glad to know you and your family are safe!
Thanks for the update Scott, we've all been waiting for it. You're alive.
Can you post a link to your facebook page?
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Incredible human stories Scott. I am impressed you and others have the strength to rebuild. I always fear I would not have it.
Do let us know if we can be of any help.
I guess the storm brought closure to your Tesla S battery dilemma.
Do let us know if we can be of any help.
I guess the storm brought closure to your Tesla S battery dilemma
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Scott-Thanks for the report. I have lived in South Florida since 1974 and have visited Sanibel/Captiva to see the old Florida. You are correct about that the way of living and life will never be the same on any of those barrier islands. Really glad that your family survived along with your home and businesses. Drew
Hi Scott - thanks for the update. I'm glad you and your family are ok. I have family in Naples, (shaken, but ok), and have visited your little island several times. It is a beautiful place. Knowing Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach, when the storm hit my initial thoughts went to the elderly working class fixed income retirees you mentioned and how hard this would be on them. I hadn't even thought about the loss of people who were part of the fabric of your daily life who evacuated, never to return. And it hurts to see elements of old Florida just wiped away.
I saw a video of a news conference your City council conducted a few days ago, in which you spoke briefly. A very impressive group. Sanibel is lucky to have you to pitch in and help. Your efforts are making a huge difference in thousands of lives.
I saw a video of a news conference your City council conducted a few days ago, in which you spoke briefly. A very impressive group. Sanibel is lucky to have you to pitch in and help. Your efforts are making a huge difference in thousands of lives.
hey Scott ... yes, Sanibel is lucky to have you and your fellow government. it has been a while since i've been there, but always was such an idyllic spot. years ago i looked at the (now) Marriott Sanibel Harbour Resort for a renovation ... while i was there i took a drive over to Sanibel. i remember Gulfport / Biloxi, MS after hurricane Camille in 69 and then Katrina in 05 (hopefully i got the years right) as my grandmother, uncle and cousins lived there (and went thru it). my father and i chartered a small plane after Camille and went to go help my grandparents - the devastation from the air as well as from the ground was horrific. so i know what you are seeing / experiencing. i know we all hope the best for you and your family. not sure that there is anything we can do ... but if there is, please ask.
Scott, thanks for your update. That is the most comprehensive in-person report I have seen or read since Ian struck. I felt like I was there. Thanks. Not much we can do, but this is generous community. Please reach out to us for anything.
Steve
Steve
If it wasn't for the water level sticker on the window of the 850 how would one know? Is that the true water level? Can't find one for the turbo.
Thanks, Marcos for moving the rest...
Today we were helping friends get the wet stuff out of their house and demo ing the first floor. He saved his 2011 Boxter S but this 2000 325i manual sport (sub 100k miles) was a casualty of Ian.
This is triggering Katrina memories. Does it smell of rotting vegetation, wildlife, and garbage mixed together? I'll never forget that odor, lasted for months. Hopefully being on the water will help.