What did Manatee County learn after close call with Hurricane Ian? Changes are happening

Hurricane Ian may have spared Manatee County from widespread devastation, but Bradenton-area officials say the infamous storm highlighted areas for improvement.

The Category 5 storm made landfall near Fort Myers before heading north and causing over $85 million in Manatee property damage last September. Eight months later, the close call is being used to inspire a stronger and more cohesive hurricane response effort.

“I think a lot of the takeout of the hurricane was that we learn from everything. Prepare, prepare, prepare,” said Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown. “If you don’t prepare and something does happen, you’re really in trouble.”

Hurricane season began Thursday and runs through Nov. 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a “near-normal” season with up to 17 named storms and as many as four major hurricanes.

Hurricane Ian was Bradenton’s first major hurricane scare in at least five years. At one point, the storm was expected to make landfall on Coquina Beach.

“That was a moment in our town, and Manatee County, that made it a little bit more surreal to us,” Brown said.

Manatee updates hurricane prep after Ian

While Manatee County was largely spared from the level of destruction seen 90 miles south, public safety officials say the storm has given them new ways to think about hurricane preparedness.

After seeing how the hurricane destroyed a bridge, leaving Sanibel Island unreachable, Manatee County has secured a barge contract that would allow firetrucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles to access to Anna Maria Island in the event of a similar bridge failure.

In Holmes Beach, city officials purchased satellite phones to resolve communication issues and purchased a backup generator for the Public Works building, Mayor Judy Titsworth said.

“Being able to communicate was one of our biggest challenges,” she recalled.

The command structure at the Emergency Operations Center also has been updated to add a team dedicated to water rescue.

“It’s not so much lessons learned, but there are improvements that we have done,” said Steve Litschauer, the county’s emergency management chief.

In the months leading up to hurricane season, emergency operations staff have worked closely with outside partners, such as law enforcement agencies, local hospitals and charity organizations, to run practice scenarios based on a storm recovery situation.

Florida Power & Light is also working to improve hurricane resilience. Since 2020, the area’s largest electricity provider has converted nearly 1,000 households to underground lines, which are less likely to lose power during a storm.

“When we talk about hardening, we’re hardening everything,” said Devaney Iglesias, an external affairs manager at FPL.

The company has laid out a framework to continue moving neighborhoods to underground power lines over the next few decades, FPL representatives said in a recent presentation to local officials.

Brown said the city of Bradenton also has worked with FPL to find new locations for power outage response crews to stage. Ahead of Ian, the crews staged in Arcadia, but downed trees and severe flooding along State Road 70 blocked their entry into Manatee County, delaying repairs.

Information outreach efforts are also expanding, according to Litschauer, who said the demand for community preparedness presentations has significantly increased.

What should residents do differently?

Litschauer also stressed the importance of being prepared — for first responders and for residents.

“If you talk to any doctor or someone in the military, they tell you that under stress, you revert back to your training,” Litschauer said. “What have you been trained in? Are you fresh on that training? We want all our partners to be trained and reviewed so we’re better prepared for those needs.”

This year, emergency safety officials are urging residents to heed evacuation orders and other hurricane-planning advice. At the height of Hurricane Ian, local shelters held about 5,000 people, which fell far short of the 20,000 who took advantage of county shelters during Hurricane Irma in 2017.

“Please take us seriously,” Litschauer said. “We’re the subject matter experts.”

In an interview with the Bradenton Herald, Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant encouraged residents to sign up for emergency alerts by visiting www.MyManatee.org/AlertManatee.

“Pay attention and listen to what is said,” Bryant said. “These alerts come from the people who never let their guard down.”

On Thursday, Kevin Guthrie, executive director of Florida’s State Emergency Response Team, visited Manatee County to speak with local leaders about the importance of hurricane preparation.

Guthrie stressed the importance of clear messaging that explains why it’s important for residents to evacuate the area when a hurricane is approaching, said Titsworth, who attended the presentation along with county commissioners and other local officials.

“Hopefully, we won’t get the bad one this time, but each year we’re getting more and more prepared to handle it,” said Titsworth.