Newsletter 136

NEWS FROM THE SUNCOAST …..

REBUILDING AFTER IAN

Chrissy Coffey and her family bought their home on Fort Myers Beach nine months ago. After Hurricane Ian hit, all that was left standing were pieces of the turquoise walls. She was at a loss for words.”I don’t know if there’s any rebuilding to be done but this is home. We’re not leaving,” she said. Coffey is one of tens of thousands facing a level of destruction that is expected to go down in history as Florida’s costliest hurricane, and the deadliest since 1935. The death count has topped 100 and is still climbing. Property damage from the storm tore a path of destruction and misery across the entire peninsula could reach $80 billion, including both private insurance and National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims. In Lee County alone where Ian made landfall, more than 5,000 homes were destroyed, while nearly 42,500 others were damaged or affected in some way. A preliminary damage assessment used stark language to describe the loss: “only foundation remains” and “house is gone, some of it across the street.” And yet the word on everyone’s lips from President Joe Biden to Gov. Ron DeSantis: Rebuild. “The key here is building back better and stronger to withstand the next storm,” said Biden as he and DeSantis surveyed the remnants of Fort Myers Beach’s Fisherman’s Wharf a week and a day after Ian made landfall on Sept. 28. It’s a response driven by emotions, economics and habit. And it’s part of a costly, and potentially dangerous cycle that shows no signs of ending: In Florida, we rebuild only to do it all over again after the next hurricane hits. Four years ago, it was Michael. Now, Ian. Sunshine State residents know it’s when, not if, the next one will strike. “This hurricane certainly wasn’t unexpected. For anyone to think Florida wouldn’t be hit by a hurricane, it’s magical thinking,” said Professor Dennis Smith, planner-in-residence at Florida State University’s department of urban and regional planning. Can this cycle of misery ever be broken? Experts say it’s possible, but only if lessons learned from Ian result in meaningful changes. Their recommendations include encouraging development farther away from the coasts, requiring higher elevations for foundations, and restoring more natural defenses against storm surges and flooding, such as the planting of mangrove trees and providing more green space as opposed to paved lots. For more on this story, courtesy of Insurance Newsnet, please click here: Rebuilding After Ian

IAN LIKELY TO CAUSE MORE INSURANCE FAILURES

Florida’s insurance market was in meltdown mode for two years before Hurricane Ian swamped Southwest Florida as a catastrophic Category 4 storm with 155-mph winds and record storm surge. Fraudulent roof replacement schemes and rampant litigation were the source of this scourge, industry analysts say, depleting insurance companies of their capital and causing them to raise rates, drop policies or fold altogether. Six insurers have been declared insolvent so far this year, even with three relatively calm hurricane seasons. Annual insurance rates in the Sunshine State are three times the national average at $4,231, said Mark Friedlander, spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute (III). Which raises the question: What now? In Ian’s aftermath — as parts of the Gulf Coast including Naples, Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel were underwater before the storm’s eyewall reached the peninsula — industry analysts say more companies are expected to falter. In July, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation placed 27 companies on a watch list over concerns they were not financially stable. “It’s very possible that some of these insurers could fail because of Hurricane Ian,” Friedlander said. A former state insurance official adds that September’s catastrophic storm may well cost everyone a lot more to properly insure their properties going forward. “In Florida, for a variety of reasons, our rates have not matched the risk,” said Lisa Miller, a former Florida deputy insurance commissioner. “This storm is going to expose that mismatch.” Ian is predicted to become among the costliest storms to make landfall in the U.S. By comparison, Hurricane Katrina caused the most insured damage with $89.7 billion in 2021 dollars; Ida left $36 billion in damage; Superstorm Sandy caused $35.1 billion in losses; and both Harvey and Irma left $33 billion in insured losses, according to data from the III. A major Wall Street firm, Fitch Ratings, said Hurricane Ian-related losses, which will mostly be tallied in Florida, will land somewhere between $25 billion and $40 billion. How much of that bill will be paid by Floridians is not clear yet. To read more on this story, courtesy of the Palm Beach Post, please click here: Ian To Cause Insurance Failures

IAN TAKES HEAVY TOLL ON CITRUS

In addition to the widespread destruction Hurricane Ian left in its wake, the devastating effects of wind and rain also wreaked havoc on Florida’s citrus industry. Ray Royce, executive director of the Highlands Citrus Growers Association, has heard from more than a dozen citrus growers across the citrus growing region who are reporting between 15% to 80% of their fruit has fallen. In some pockets, those losses could be even higher as flood waters are stubborn to return to lakes and streams and threaten to kill trees. The groves hit hardest by hurricane Ian appear to be in southern Polk, Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands and Manatee counties, he said based on his communications with growers. “I think what is important to say about the citrus is that damage will continue to show itself for months and years,” Royce said. “We’ve seen a lot of fruit hit the ground in recent days and more will hit the ground in the coming week and the stress on those trees will be felt for years.” In terms of flooding, the east side of the storm was pretty much dry especially along the Highland Ridge, Royce said. 

“But when you get into western Highlands County and Hardee and DeSoto counties, there is tremendous flooding in the Myakka River Valley,” he said. “It is my understanding a lot of groves in that area have been in deep water for five or six days now.” Matt Joyner, executive vice president and CEO of Citrus Mutual in Bartow said the winds in southern Polk County resulted in a 20% to 50% fruit drop. However, standing water is having a major impact in groves across Florida and it was too deep or dangerous for some growers to access their groves to perform damage assessments, especially in the orchards beyond the banks of the Arcadia River and elsewhere. “This has been as much of a water event as it has been a wind event,” Joyner said. He added orange trees can sustain damage after being submerged in flood waters for more than 72 hours as some are experiencing beyond the banks of the Peace River. Please click here to read more, courtesy of The Ledger: Citrus Toll

SNOOK HAVEN FUTURE UNCLEAR

Sarasota County Parks and recreation staff found the site around Snook Haven too flooded and cluttered by debris during an assessment last week, and said it’s too soon to think about a timetable to reopen the popular riverfront restaurant and entertainment site beside the Myakka River. The restaurant site at 5000 E. Venice Avenue was flooded by the Myakka by rains from Hurricane Ian. “Though the Myakka River has receded, some of the site remains flooded,” Sarasota County spokeswoman Brianne Grant said in an email last week. “Due to the amount of debris on the ground, damaged trees, damaged structures, and the need for additional assessments to occur, the site is not yet safe for public use at this time.”

She added that county staff will continue to monitor Snook Haven and begin initial debris cleanup. “Throughout this process the public is discouraged from entering the park as debris management operations will be underway and not all safety concerns can be addressed immediately,” Grant wrote. Snook Haven has served as everything from a movie set to bootlegger outpost in the 1930s, before opening as a fish camp in 1948. Venice Pier Group, the vendor hired by the county to operate concessions at the park – including food sales and canoe and kayak rentals – has less than 10 months left on its 10-year contract to operate the restaurant, which was built in 1958. After the lease expires at the end of July, 2023, Sarasota County had plans to replace the existing restaurant with a new 1,500-square-foot food concession building and an open-air pavilion designed to maximize views of the Myakka River. Interested in reading more, then click here, courtesy of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Snook Haven Closed Indefinitely

DAIRY COWS LOST TO IAN

The Dakin Dairy has produced milk for decades, but on Thursday September 29th morning in Hurricane Ian’s wake, Florida’s Farmer of the Year, Jerry Dakin, woke up to find that more than 250 of his cows had died from shock during the storm.

Dakin is among many east Manatee County residents who continue to endure floodwaters, a lack of electrical power, low fuel, the loss of crops and farm animals, and other challenges in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. “Down my driveway, they were all dead along the fence line,” Dakin said. “They were just laying down in cow fashion style. They didn’t drown or anything, it was stress and they went into shock. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.” Dakin’s family has farmed in Manatee County since the mid-1960s and has operated on the outskirts of Myakka City since 2001. He and his staff produce and distribute about 15,000 gallons of milk per day. During Ian, Dakin said he did what he has done during other storms and put his 3,000 cows in pastures — away from farm buildings, equipment, and debris that could hurt or kill the animals under a collapse. “You feel hurt, you feel bad,” Dakin said. “At first, I was sitting here thinking, ‘My God, how could I let this happen?’ And I had to remind myself it was out of my hands.” “The eye was so close to us that it just beat us down,” he said. “I’ve never had more than 10 animals die from a hurricane, but this was just so strong, the cattle, they all went into shock. My brother, he’s down the road about 8 miles, he’s lost over 300.” There’s more on this story here: Dairy Cows Lost To Ian

ARRAY OF BEACH, COASTAL WILDLIFE IMPACTED

Florida is known for its phenomenal wildlife, for the birds and beasts that comb our swamps and roam our beautiful shores. Sometimes the beauty gets disrupted, like it did last month when Hurricane Ian plowed into Southwest Florida as a near Category-5 storm. This region has arguably the most vast array of wildlife, ranging from the endangered Florida panther to the invasive Burmese python. But now the tree canapes and plants (the name Florida is based on the word flora) are all brown and twisted, torn and ripped. So what exactly happened to all the beautiful and bountiful animals? Some animals, such as sharks, may have left the area altogether before Ian made landfall. Others, such as manatees, may have been stranded as Ian pulled water from the rivers and bays. The good news is that these critters have evolved to deal with the impacts of tropical storms and hurricanes over the course of thousands of years, scientists say. Some species produce offspring several times a year. That way if a storm hits, there will still be another cycle of young during that same year. Tagged sharks from Sarasota south to San Carlos Bay left the Southwest Florida coast about 24 hours before Hurricane Charley made landfall in 2004. The data showed that the same sharks returned about 24 hours after Charley hit. They had tagged sharks of several species in Pine Island Sound, Matlacha Pass and San Carlos Bay and they were able to look at the data after it passed, and the sharks left just before the storm hit and then came back just after,” said Jim Beever, a former state fish and wildlife biologist. Research from the University of Miami shows a similar response in sharks. Beever said dolphins tend to avoid the storm as it comes in and then quickly move back into the bays and rivers. The West Indian manatee, or sea cow, also face challenges from tropical storms and hurricanes. Thousands of these gentle and threatened herbivores ply Florida’s shallow waters, but they can get stuck during strong storms. “We have not had strandings related to the storm in the Sarasota area, and in the Fort Myers area the focus is still on the people aspect rather than the animal aspect,” said Stephanie Kettle, spokeswoman for Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota. “A thing that happened with Irma, Tampa Bay emptied out and sometimes manatees get left out like that. But I don’t know if there are any strandings in your area.” Various species of sea turtle can be hit hard by large hurricanes as the storms can send 15 feet or more of storm surge over the barrier islands on which the turtles nest. That floods the nests and destroys any would-be hatchlings buried under sand. Please follow the jump for more on this story: Wildlife Impacted By Ian

HOW WILL IAN AFFECT REAL ESTATE MARKET?

Sarasota-Manatee’s real estate market had already begun to turn before Hurricane Ian whipped the area with screaming winds and heavy rain, disrupting life and damaging or destroying property. Still, the area was spared the worst of Ian’s perils and — according to local real estate experts — could prompt displaced residents of Lee and Collier counties to seek properties here while their homes are rebuilt. Also, people who were seeking to buy real estate in Fort Myers and Naples may now instead look to Sarasota and Bradenton, strengthening sales here, although experts doubt the market will bear steep price increases, since interest rates earlier this year started cooling the red-hot market. Demand for housing could also rise from workers pursuing jobs in construction as the region rebuilds from Ian. The combined pressures are likely to lead to higher rental rates for the Sarasota-Manatee market, according to building industry experts, a local economist, affordable housing advocates and real estate professionals. Compounding affordability issues in the Sarasota-Manatee area is that the worst damage in Sarasota and Charlotte counties from Ian occurred where much the remaining affordable housing options existed in the region. Local service workers and moderate income residents have been on the ropes since rent prices skyrocketed in the area last year, but Ian could be the punch that knocks them to the canvas. “Ian is the knockout blow” to affordable housing, said Gulf Coast Community Foundation senior vice president Jon Thaxton. Thaxton said the damage inflicted in the North Port and Port Charlotte area will have ripple effects throughout the Sarasota-Manatee real estate market at an already tough time for some of the most vulnerable residents in the area. From the job losses during the COVID-19 pandemic to drastic rent hikes experienced in 2021 and into this year, the area’s more moderate income residents have found it increasingly difficult to live along this stretch of the Gulf coast. He said that the market-driven housing developments that have sprung up for the past 25 years in Sarasota have not provided places to live for the service workers needed for Sarasota-Manatee’s tourist-driven economy. Thaxton said that most of the affordable housing options still available were located in south Sarasota County or Charlotte County, both among the hardest hit areas in the state by Ian. There’s more on this story here: How Will Ian Affect Our Real Estate Market?

TOURISM EFFORTS RESUME

As Southwest Florida begins the long recovery process from Hurricane Ian, tourism officials in Sarasota and Manatee counties are working to make sure visitors know the area is open for business. Although most of the region’s major tourist attractions were spared from Ian’s devastation — with a few notable exceptions, like the Venice Theatre — it’s tough to explain that to potential visitors, who see images of a wrecked Fort Myers Beach on their television screens and social media feeds. When tourists see headlines about a hurricane hitting Southwest Florida, they tend to lump the entire region together. “People don’t have a good sense of geography. The most famous example I have is during the BP oil spill: someone was wondering if Orlando was okay. Well, it’s not on the beach,” Virginia Haley, president of Visit Sarasota County, said. “So we’re just making sure people know the truth of what it’s like on the ground.” Statewide tourism promoter Visit Florida will soon begin its post-hurricane marketing campaign, which emphasizes areas people can visit. In Manatee County, beachside businesses and downtown Bradenton attractions were spared much impact, said Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. But still, a perception survey from Research Data Services of Tampa found that 22% of the Bradenton area’s tourism marketplace thinks it was significantly impacted by the storm. “Once you know that, you can start adjusting the perception in a sensitive manner,” Falcione said. After hitting pause on tourism marketing before and after Ian, both Sarasota and Manatee counties have resumed advertising and public relations efforts geared toward visitors. At the same time, both counties’ tourism organizations are doing so cognizant of those who were completely devastated in Lee and Collier counties, where the rebuilding process could take years. “In my mind, the worst-case scenario for Sarasota is that we would lose one of our islands. But can you imagine if you lost all of them?” Haley said. “It’s mind-boggling.” Part of the marketing, Haley said, is just letting people know what’s open. Statewide tourism promoter Visit Florida will soon begin its post-hurricane marketing campaign, Haley said, which emphasizes areas people can visit. Haley said she recommends that businesses post fresh photos and videos to their websites with dates, so potential visitors can see what things look like post-storm. Businesses should also post their current hours online with an “as of” date, and they should also record a phone message with current hours for anyone calling for that specific reason. The northern parts of Sarasota County, including downtown, were mostly fine, Haley said. There was debris, some signs and fencing destroyed and power took some time to return to the hotels closer to Interstate 75. But the beaches fared well, and other major assets like the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art did fine.  Please click on the link for more: Tourism Efforts Resume

VENICE CHALK FESTIVAL MOVES

Hurricane Ian’s impact on the Venice Municipal Airport has forced the cancellation of the 15th Chalk Festival in Venice and left organizer Denise Kowal scrambling to find smaller alternative sites in Sarasota for 3-D pavement artists to create art over several days at the end of October. “We really are working with lots of different locations downtown and we’re planning on a community event,” Kowal said. The 15th annual Chalk Festival had been planned to run from Oct. 28-31 at the airport, with a theme of “Spirited.” “We’ve been working two years on this specific event,” Kowal said. “This was an event we wanted to do in 2021 and we had to hold back because of the pandemic then.” Following the hurricane-induced cancellation, Kowal and her nonprofit, Avenida de Colores, concentrated on bringing 3-D pavement art event to Sarasota. “We’re going to look at doing installations throughout the city of Sarasota to support our organization as far as the fortitude that we have moving forward through diversity and the strengths of our community,” she added. The current plan calls for assembling 20 pavement artists to create their illusions between Oct. 20 and Oct. 31 at individual sites in Sarasota. Kowal is still working on securing private locations and would have to apply for permits to use city property. Given the spread of artwork, there will be no admission charge this year and as locations are confirmed, they will be posted on the festival’s web site: https://chalkfestival.org. Kowal said there will be one public component, with 3-D chalk artist Kurt Wenner overseeing one project that multiple artists will help create. The date, location and theme of that piece – like much of the festival – are still being planned. While the October event will only showcase 3-D art, Kowal envisions a separate event in the spring that will showcase both 2-D artwork and the flower-based art of “Infiorata” and “Rangoli,” that was expected to highlight this year’s show. There’s more on this story here: Venice Chalk Festival Moves

POPULATION GROWTH A TOP ISSUE

For the third year in a row, an annual county survey ranked population growth and new development as the most important issue facing Sarasota County. In a survey of 1,250 Sarasota County residents, 31.4% of respondents said it was the most important issue. That percentage is up from last year, when 23.2% of surveyed county residents said “population growth/new development.” This year, the second most popular answer was “there are no serious problems” (13% of respondents) and “affordable housing” was the third (5.8%). The University of South Florida and marketing consulting firm HCP Associates conducted the Sarasota County Citizen Opinion Survey, and the margin of error for the county at-large was ±2.77%. Residents were interviewed between July 20 and Aug. 28. Click here for more: Population Growth A Top Issue

ELECTRIC FRENZY

Tesla will expand its presence in Sarasota with a massive new location in the University Town Center area. The electric vehicle company, currently under the helm of magnate, investor and onetime “Saturday Night Live” host Elon Musk, will open a 55,000-square-foot location in the southwest corner of Interstate 75 and University Parkway, according to a lease recorded with Sarasota County Sept. 13. The company currently operates a small showroom inside the Mall at University Town Center, on the lower level near Saks Fifth Avenue. It also has a service center at 5231 McIntosh Road. But the lease shows the company wants to bank big on the Sarasota area with a major expansion. Benderson Development Co., the developer of University Town Center, did not respond to a request for more information on Tuesday, and neither did Tesla. But Nick Howe, president of the nonprofit, Tesla-affiliated membership group Tesla Owners Florida, said Florida is the second-largest state for the company, outside of California. Tesla Owners Florida has about 1,000 members in Florida, from Key West to the Panhandle, Howe said. A new 55,000-square-foot location, he said, sounds like it could be big enough to be a service center with a possible showroom component. Showrooms are typically small enough to fit inside a shopping mall, like the one at UTC, he said. Florida is a strong market for electric vehicles. As of December, 95,640 electric cars were registered in the Sunshine State, making Florida second in the nation only to California’s 563,070. Texas comes in third, with 80,900 electric vehicles registered by the end of 2021, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy. In the U.S., electric vehicle registrations increased by 60.4% in the first three months of 2022 compared to the same period last year, according to a quarterly analysis of registrations from Experian. That is not a surprise, the credit reporting agency said, as manufacturers continue to release more options as alternatives to gas-powered cars. When it comes to selling vehicles, Tesla does things a little differently than other car makers. Rather than selling through a third-party dealership, the company generally goes directly to customers through its website and company-owned retail locations. This decision has caused some difficulty for the company in states that either ban or limit direct manufacturer auto sales, but Tesla maintains that it’s the only way to properly educate consumers about their vehicles. Click here for more: Tesla Plans Big Expansion

ANNUAL SELBY GARDENS ORCHID SHOW OPENS

As the community recovers from the destruction of Hurricane Ian, Selby Botanical Gardens is providing visitors something beautiful to look at with the opening of “The Orchid Show 2022: Capturing the Perfect Shot.” This year’s Orchid Show continues the Gardens’ “Year of Photography” at its downtown Sarasota campus. The event, which runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 4, is built around an extensive collection of photos taken by volunteers who help Selby scientists document the organization’s living research collection. Those photographs will inspire some horticultural vignettes created in the Tropical Conservatory and photos will be on display in the Museum of Botany and the Arts. The photos “capture the glorious essence of rare orchids in our collection,” Jennifer Rominiecki, President & CEO, said in a statement. “This photography is critical to the documentation of our world-renowned collection for research purposes. But visitors will immediately see that these photos can stand as fine art in their own right.” David Berry, Selby’s vice president for visitor engagement and chief museum curator, said the photos will tell two stories – one is about the dedicated volunteers who have captured images of Selby’s living collections and the other is about the artistic sensibility the artists bring to their work. “Compositionally, the photographs are quite stunning,” Berry said in a statement. “They aren’t only pictures of pretty plants. They are works of of art.” The exhibition in the Museum of Botany & the Arts will feature 15 large-format prints and highlight six volunteer photographers, who are among many who have helped Selby build a collection of more than 100,000 digital images. Some volunteers will be available in the museum to answer visitor questions during operating hours. There’s more to read here: Selby Garden Orchid Show Opens

BEACH SMOKING BAN OKAYED

The sight of cigarette butts and the smell of cigarette smoke could become things of the past on Lido Beach if a new city of Sarasota ordinance is successful as expected. City commissioners gave initial approval recently to an ordinance that bans smoking on public beaches. They also OK’d an ordinance banning smoking in the city’s public parks. In both cases, there is an exception for unfiltered cigar smoking. The two ordinances will need to be approved again at a future meeting for them to take effect. The city is taking action now because the Florida Legislature passed a bill earlier this year giving local governments the authority to regulate smoking at their beaches. The law took effect on July 1. In 2003, a Florida law created smoke-free restaurants and workplaces. It also gave the state all authority to regulate smoking. Even so, some local governments passed ordinances to control smoking on public beaches or parks in subsequent years. Sarasota County banned smoking on its beaches in 2007, and the city of Sarasota opted into the county’s ban. The city then prohibited smoking in public parks in 2011. But, in 2012, a Sarasota County judge ruled that the city’s park ordinance was unenforceable, and that regulating smoking is a task left solely to the Legislature. That decision essentially invalidated local public smoking bans. This year, the Legislature handed some power back to cities and counties. They are now able to ban all forms of smoking – except from unfiltered cigars – at public beaches and parks. There’s more on this story here: Beach Smoking Ban Okayed

AREA LEADS IN GUN SUICIDES

Sarasota and Bradenton lead the nation in gun-suicide deaths among cities with a population over 50,000, according to a report fromNew York University. The report was released in September as part of a suicide prevention awareness month. Researchers examined gun homicide data from cities with populations over 50,000 from 2014 to 2020, finding nearly four out of 10 gun-related deaths in U.S. cities are attributed to suicide, an 11% increase since 2014, according to the report. Bradenton was listed as having the highest rate of gun suicides of all cities with available data in 2020 with 34.5 suicides per 100,000 people. Sarasota was ranked in the top five cities with the highest rates for 2020 with 7.3 suicides per 100,000 of the population. “To address gun violence in our cities, we need to acknowledge the growing — and too often unspoken— role that gun suicide plays in the human toll of this epidemic,” Meg O’Toole, deputy director of research at Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a press release. “This analysis unveils the scope of people who die by suicide and highlights the need to broaden the concept of city gun violence to recognize, prevent, and solve this pressing public health concern.” If you’re interested in reading more, then click here: Area Leads In Gun Suicides