Hurricane Ian 09.28.2022

[Barry]

7 hours ago, WestCoastGal said:

The Washington Post had a good illustrative article with maps of storm damaged areas. Including Cape Coral. Meg said she was uphill 15ft above so I’m picturing her in the area not shown in blue. Looks like a good part of Cape Coral might fall in that area. Wind damage would be the biggest concern followed by water intrusion from damaged roofs, windows etc. Hope her roof integrity held up and they are doing okay. I know she’s posted about palms in the past being diseased and needing to be removed and likely now more but small potatoes IMO to house damage.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/30/hurricane-ian-damage-photos-videos/

Very sad to see photos/videos of the extent of damage and hear about the growing loss of life. Trying to house all those displaced as well as accounting for their lost or damaged businesses/employment is going to be monumental for Florida. I can’t help but wonder if people’s insurance coverage won’t be able to pay out as the company goes under from the extensive claims. I know Florida already has a homeowner insurance coverage problem and insurance companies are leaving the State. Our niece recently was talking to us about buying something on the east coast there and given projections for rising sea levels and tidal flooding in some cities now I thought she should look elsewhere. Rent, okay, but I’d be hard pressed to own. The damage from Ian may change her mind.

Meg stated she was on a freshwater canal, so not on the outer areas of the cape, more interior, and had a metal roof. The most durable in storms, I just had my metal roof installed last year, on the roof today, no damage!

[Barry]

Aaron,

Thank you for the offer of help, we are good. Well prepared, but if you need anything as well. We are here, I sent you a message.

Hopefully  Shelby, Corey and family are fine. Going to be a long road to recovery.

[Barry]

Good morning,

starting another day of cleanup. Here are some pictures from my yard and Ft Myers.

[Barry]

This is the debris we have already removed to the street.

[ahosey01]

2 hours ago, Barry said:

Good morning,

starting another day of cleanup. Here are some pictures from my yard and Ft Myers.

There is a small mess on your property... 😐

[Palmaceae]

I have obtained a picture and a short grainy video from my neighbor in Cape Coral of my old yard. It shows the damage from Ian.

 

[Walt]

On 9/28/2022 at 9:42 PM, Jimbean said:

@Walt

The storm is almost on top of where he is now.  Not too much rain but probably windy. 

I just got back power today. The eye came right over my property. The front side ravaged much of my property. Lost a prized hybrid livistona palm along with numerous other palms. Palms not blown down were tore up by the wind.  I had no idea the eye would be coming over my property. After a savage gusts of wind for hours it got eerily quite. I went outside to see what was going on. I got on my golf cart and drove around the property (where I could due to all the debris) to discover two trees blocking my driveway near the entry gate.  Ian was bad but not quite as bad as Hurricane Irma. Maybe that's because I lost so many trees and palm to Irma there wasn't as much to get blown down by Ian.

My Livistona hybrid was a terrible loss for me. This palm had 30 feet of trunk (my estimation). I bought it in March of 2003 as a 3 gallon size. It was a rocket ship for the first 10 years of growing, blowing past any other livistona species I'm growing, before slowing down. The palm trunk snapped at a point where it got slightly bent by Hurricane Irma in 2017. You can discern that point in the second photo.

[GottmitAlex]

17 minutes ago, Walt said:

I just got back power today. The eye came right over my property. The front side ravaged much of my property. Lost a prized hybrid livistona palm along with numerous other palms. Palms not blown down were tore up by the wind.  I had no idea the eye would be coming over my property. After a savage gusts of wind for hours it got eerily quite. I went outside to see what was going on. I got on my golf cart and drove around the property (where I could due to all the debris) to discover two trees blocking my driveway near the entry gate.  Ian was bad but not quite as bad as Hurricane Irma. Maybe that's because I lost so many trees and palm to Irma there wasn't as much to get blown down by Ian.

My Livistona hybrid was a terrible loss for me. This palm had 30 feet of trunk (my estimation). I bought it in March of 2003 as a 3 gallon size. It was a rocket ship for the first 10 years of growing, blowing past any other livistona species I'm growing, before slowing down. The palm trunk snapped at a point where it got slightly bent by Hurricane Irma in 2017. You can discern that point in the second photo.

I'm sorry to hear that Walt. Hope you folks are doing OK. 

 

How did the coconuts fare? 

 

 

[Tyrone]

My thoughts are with you guys dealing with this terrible situation. The pictures are just painful to look at. On the ground it must be very intense. I wish you all the very best. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

14 hours ago, Walt said:

I just got back power today. The eye came right over my property. The front side ravaged much of my property. Lost a prized hybrid livistona palm along with numerous other palms. Palms not blown down were tore up by the wind.  I had no idea the eye would be coming over my property. After a savage gusts of wind for hours it got eerily quite. I went outside to see what was going on. I got on my golf cart and drove around the property (where I could due to all the debris) to discover two trees blocking my driveway near the entry gate.  Ian was bad but not quite as bad as Hurricane Irma. Maybe that's because I lost so many trees and palm to Irma there wasn't as much to get blown down by Ian.

My Livistona hybrid was a terrible loss for me. This palm had 30 feet of trunk (my estimation). I bought it in March of 2003 as a 3 gallon size. It was a rocket ship for the first 10 years of growing, blowing past any other livistona species I'm growing, before slowing down. The palm trunk snapped at a point where it got slightly bent by Hurricane Irma in 2017. You can discern that point in the second photo.

Glad you're ok! It definitely went further south than expected.  I wondered how you would fare when I saw the eye approaching Sebring. In the Orlando area, I too thought Irma was worse with the winds but obviously worse with the rains and flooding. 

[Merlyn]

@Walt that happened to me with Charley...the wind was going East-to-West pretty furiously...then died off to dead still for a few minutes...then furiously West-to-East!  It was really weird, and yes I went around outside for a few minutes to take a look around too.  I could hear the other side of the eye wall approaching from a distance, so I booked it back in from the neighbor's yard just in time!  Hopefully nothing but the Livistona was severely damaged or killed.  I think you are right on Irma, I cut down all of my remaining 70' tall pines and water oaks and had very little palm damage or debris to clean up.

[Walt]

On 10/2/2022 at 7:05 PM, GottmitAlex said:

I'm sorry to hear that Walt. Hope you folks are doing OK. 

 

How did the coconuts fare? 

 

 

My large coconut and all my small ones were unfazed by Iam.

[Walt]

10 hours ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Glad you're ok! It definitely went further south than expected.  I wondered how you would fare when I saw the eye approaching Sebring. In the Orlando area, I too thought Irma was worse with the winds but obviously worse with the rains and flooding. 

The eye was 30 miles in diameter. I saw the plotted track of Iam, and the center crossed roughly the intersection of US 27 and US 98. I'm about 8.5 miles as the crow flies from that point. My brother lives in Sebring and he's about 7.5 miles from that point.  We both stayed in the eye for 20 minutes or so.

[Walt]

6 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@Walt that happened to me with Charley...the wind was going East-to-West pretty furiously...then died off to dead still for a few minutes...then furiously West-to-East!  It was really weird, and yes I went around outside for a few minutes to take a look around too.  I could hear the other side of the eye wall approaching from a distance, so I booked it back in from the neighbor's yard just in time!  Hopefully nothing but the Livistona was severely damaged or killed.  I think you are right on Irma, I cut down all of my remaining 70' tall pines and water oaks and had very little palm damage or debris to clean up.

I lost many mature Archontophenix cunninghamia and some alexandria. Also lost three (from three separate clumps) of fruiting Caryota mitis. No loss there as they would be dying shortly anyway. My big Ficus altissima 'variegata' was broken and smashed on its east side. My African oil palm was battered as well as my Sabal maurittiformis. Most of my trees and bamboo clumps were stripped of leaves. My property is a general mess. I still haven't discovered all of the damage. Oh, and all of my travellers palm clumps are broken all to hell -- not to even mention bananas.

[RedRabbit]

NOAA released satellite imagery of Lee County after the storm and I confirmed some of our missing palmtalk friends are okay (or their houses appear to be.)

https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/ian/index.html

[bubba]

FEMA will pay 100% for all debris removal over the next 30 days for damage in Hurricane Ian. Move quickly!

 

[NOT A TA]

11 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

NOAA released satellite imagery of Lee County after the storm and I confirmed some of our missing palmtalk friends are okay (or their houses appear to be.)

https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/ian/index.html

Pretty sure I found Megs house and it looks intact.

[Cindy Adair]

9 minutes ago, NOT A TA said:

Pretty sure I found Megs house and it looks intact.

I sure hope that’s true!

At least when she does check in she will see how much she means to the forum.

[Stevetoad]

1 hour ago, NOT A TA said:

Pretty sure I found Megs house and it looks intact.

I found her house as well. from the images on the map it looks like she might have gotten lucky. I see some downed trees near by but her lot and house look to be ok.  I hope she can confirm that this is the case soon.  perhaps her "palm tree wind block" theory has proved itself valid.   

[DoomsDave]

21 hours ago, Walt said:

My large coconut and all my small ones were unfazed by Iam.

All palms are not equal in the eye of a mighty hurricane. That's obvious.

Keep us apprised of your progress.

Glad to hear you're okay.

[Joe The Palm]

According to their Facebook page, the Edison and Ford estates are in 'great condition' and their Banyan and Mysore fig trees also survived the storm.  they plan to re-open as soon as debris is cleared, and power is back on.  

Edited October 5, 2022 by Joe The Palm
.

[Tyrone]

I just watched some drone footage on YouTube of the destruction by Hurricane Ian in Florida. It’s like the place was hit by a 15m tsunami. Lots of sand and debris everywhere. Mostly Sabal, Coconuts and the odd Golden Canes left. A few Royals mostly stripped with a few trunks on the ground. It’s a miracle anybody survived it. It would have been pure terror to experience it I reckon. 

[WestCoastGal]

Had hoped we might have heard from Meg by now. Hope everyone and home were okay. I came across this person’s YT video who filmed prior to things getting bad and the aftermath around her neighborhood and town and dock areas. She said she lives in Cape Coral and their house is 12 feet above sea level with fresh water canal access off back yard. Sounds very similar to how Meg described her area. This person’s house however had a shingle roof. They came very close to canal flooding their home. 
 

 

[JohnAndSancho]

I hope @PalmatierMegis ok. As someone who lived through Ivan, Harvey, Katrina, and a bunch of other storms...... My thoughts are with everyone affected. 

[SouthFLA]

I don't see many Bismarck palms in the disaster photos / videos. They have become very popular in the trade lately. How did they do during the storm?

[Barry]

6 hours ago, SouthFLA said:

I don't see many Bismarck palms in the disaster photos / videos. They have become very popular in the trade lately. How did they do during the storm?

Mine did well, not sure if I have a good picture of it. Also seen more around the area, and they did well, frond damage but no major loss.

[DoomsDave]

Here's a pic by a denizen on another website, who's down in Fort Meyers, and apparently on high enough, if not high, ground.

The royals should regrow as good as new pretty quickly. Note how stout and straight they are.

I've seen some in pictures that aren't, which makes anyone squeamish.

[Barry]

This is what some of the survivors look like after trimming by Ian.