Reports of a Hurricane…
Watching the storm loosely the week before, it first tracked to hit further north, closer to Tampa. People who have lived through these said it almost doesn’t matter until you see what it looks like a day before and shiiiiit a day before it shifted and was slowly barreling at our lovely corner of the world.
The day leading up to the actual hit it was raining and windy. I could pop onto our exterior property cams and see the rain draining from our deck but our precious blue cottage was doing okay. Until I looked at about 1pm and saw the message the cameras were off. I knew it would happen but had hoped it wouldn’t and somehow I could still check on my place. We received an email that our internet provider was taking equipment down so I don’t know if it was that or the weather but it was down. One of many times my heart sank… I thought be gentle with yourself, stay busy in soft and comforting ways. I worked out alot and then some more, went on walks, made my family dinner, did some art and thought about my island and house.
For the hours during and following the hurricane we watched the weather channel, our island has a homeowners group and we followed that as we could. About 30 hardy souls stayed on our island of North Captiva. I saw a few left last minute as captains reached out to say I will come get you, specifically I remember a message that a resident wrote on our homeowners page she was praying as to what to do and Captain Chris reached out he would come get her and she went. But the change in direction left some people stranded with not enough time and backed up traffic kept them from being able to get out even if at the last minute they considered wanting to do differently and yet others were staying because that was their plan.
We watched with anxiety, we saw pictures and videos of wind ripping signs off, of wind and water tearing homes and building apart and feeling crushed about what it meant for our small island of 400 homes - not big enough for a weather crew to post up or even reliable with power, cell or even backup services but a place that would be one of the first of the US landfall for hurricane Ian. When the eye of the storm stood directly over our island a few posts came across the homeowners page- one a small video showing wind whipping in every direction, trees bending one direction and a second later 180 degrees the exact opposite. Water flowing down the lanes. A picture of a man who went out during the eye of the storm with scuba goggles on so debris didn’t blow in his face. In the pictures people and homes were there, damage was happening but they were there. Then the back side hit and that was then the end of us hearing from the few who were able to post during the eye. Then more horrified terror watching the TV screen as the backside of the eye hit our island and it was pummeled a second time. Twelve hours of wind, water running through and across and winds that reached high levels with gusts of 176 miles per hour. I had moments where I thought, is this it, will my house blow and break into pieces, who will be able to survive this, will the island be buried and ripped up, what will be left? I saw videos on Fort Myers Beach and Matlacha, the worst of the destruction, where in hours it dismantled buildings, homes and lives.
One hundred years ago when another hurricane hit our area it created our island of North Captiva - accessible by boat or plane only, before that hurricane we were attached to Captiva. We are the last on the line of help from Lee County. Even the power grid that starts in Pine Island goes from there to Sanibel to Captiva to North Captiva. We know we are last, I think of our island as a group of beauty loving, resourceful rebels. My son when he was little and just starting to put sentences together would say “I do it myself” so the hours and days after those that stayed did it themselves. They brought out the heavy equipment accessible to them and chainsaws and started to clear paths and lanes. They lived only by generators, water and food they had. Once they could communicate with cell or starlink the homeowners' site popped up with messages of “Go to my house if you need…” food, water, fill in the blank of basic supplies. We waited on pins and needles for more information, while the national guard locked down the airspace a few brave plane and helicopter pilots went out in the days following and quickly video-ed the island (before being told to get out of the airspace) and posted on our group page. I would eagle eye watch and saw homes standing and search and search for mine….I SAW IT, I wept and rewatched and clung on to it…it was standing. I could not tell if our roof was okay as the videos were shaky but I could see my house. Emotion washed over me, the kind there is no control over, I had the kind of sigh of relief with such emotion that when you take that first inhale in, you almost cackle and then cry in heaves on the exhale and just try to gulp breath in from there. I am so thankful for those pilots, it put hope in my breaking heart that our precious blue was standing and while our island looked rough it was there.
I follow up with this last part, it took us all of and a little more than a year and a lot of tenacity to navigate fixing our home. It came with trial and frustration but through grace we were connected to a few people who kindly looked after our home and some who stayed at our home to repair and make it better than ever. I am grateful for them, the serene beauty of the island and our precious blue cottage.
*I do not know who took the images attached to this as one is a screen shot of a post on social media and the other a screen shot of the weather app as I watched the storm and the aftermath.
