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Thought you guys would be interested in the damage. I went with a friend Saturday morning to look at his business on Captiva and did a tour of all the island before the National Guard and FWC shut boat access down. I also got to fly it all on Sunday for a double perspective. Much worse from the water view.
Starting at the south end of Sanibel, the damage is minor. Mostly roofs and down trees. By mid island the mangroves are bad, at least the first 100' ft from the open water is shredded. From there in they were more protected. Blind Pass is open, but barely. Clam Bayuo is open. The homes on Roosevelt Channel are torn up, but not destroyed. Tween took a hit, but will require only some re-roof. Jensen's Marina is gone, gas pumps and all, and the whole bay has lots of destroyed docks and sunken boats. However, the cottages at Jensens are amazingly healthy, thank god. I love that place. Most of Andy Rosse Lane's buildings are okay, but lots of roof parts are a few lots over from their former buildings. South Seas took a huge hit. Trusses are showing everywhere. Roofs are demolished and glass is out of lots of windows. The main thing on Captiva though, is the trees. The whole old growth canopy is gone. Most coconut palms survived, but the exotics and native large trees are crushed. You can see houses I never even knew existed. You can even see the Gulf front homes from the Sound in most spots. It sucks.
Most of the wind that did the damage came from the sound out of the SE, the Gulf side is better off. Friends who stayed on Andy Rossee Lane reported that the gulf never even came over the island, but the bay side was insane. They were surprisingly chipper Saturday morning. And still drinking beer.
The houses on the end of North Cap are damaged, some very badly. Again, major tree damage. The docks behind are damaged or gone. The new pass where Smith Bank used to be is wide and shallow. It won't stay open too long. Safety Harbor's docks are torn up, and Barnacle Phil's lost its upstairs gift shop, the tiki hut, and its docks. The downstairs is very repairable. I will be expecting some rice and beans soon. The point house is blown through but kept most of its roof, also repairable. It is now on an island. Davis's shack at the entrance to Safety Harbor lost 20% of it's roof and its cistern, but is okay. It is one of very few left. The houses on Captiva pass are all damaged and some destroyed. Many inland housed are destroyed as well and almost all are damaged. Again, the trees will break your heart.
Cayo Costa is not too bad, but there isn't that much to damage on that island. In this whole report keep in mind that your favorite snook fishing dock is more likely gone than in tact. Cabbage Key is good. The Inn is okay as are most of the cottages and homes. The rental house to the west of the marina has no second story and the Phyllis (Well's transfer boat) is on its side on one of the remaining docks. The marina took major damage, if Terry hadn't retired he would probably cry. But, like I wrote, the bar is okay so we will live to have Creepers another day.
On north to Boca Grande, Miller's lost 1/3 of its roof. Boca Grande is much better than areas south. My local knowledge ends at Cayo Costa, so my place names will be wrong if I write much more north.
Across the sound, Pineland Marina is decimated. Tarpon Lodge lost its dock and the weigh in houses on the end, royal bummer. The Lodge lost some roof and has some pretty bad damage, but I'm sure the Wells will repair all. The fish shacks are toast, save for the Goodyear shack (the red one). The gray shack has walls but no roof, may be salvaged. The rest are just floor or just piling. I'm certain the enviro-nazis will not allow rebuilds of those. Further south, the fisherman's coop is damaged. The Keisel's shack is destroyed. Just piles.
The mangroves everywhere look like the mangroves in the Shark River, Andrew's carnage. St. James is okay, just roofs and docks. The Waterfront is about to do some dock replacement, their scope of work just increased.
I'd say the eye crossed at Redfish, if damage is any indication.
Hope that helped out.
Kevin C. Shimp, PE
Thomas Marine Construction
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