Relief efforts continue in North Port; 5 dead since Ian, links to storm not yet established

Five people have died in North Port since Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, though officials said Monday they were not officially linked to the Category 4 storm that brought record flooding to Sarasota County’s largest city.

“They’re still being investigated for the causes,” North Port Police spokesman Josh Taylor said shortly after a news conference at San Pedro Catholic Church, where city residents could drive by to receive food, water and ice.

Taylor added that only the state medical examiner’s office could link the deaths to the storm. More than 800 people stranded in their homes have been rescued by first responders from North Port and other agencies.

Rains prompted historic flooding of the Myakka River drainage basin, including the Myakkahatchee Creek, which flows through the city.

The Myakka River at Myakka River State Park crested at 12.73 feet Friday, and by Monday afternoon, the level was down to 11.71 feet. While that’s down a foot, it's also more than 4.7 feet above the normal flood stage of 7 feet.

“This is historic,” North Port Emergency Services Director Mike Ryan said. “We thought (Tropical Storm ) Elsa was quite the event last year; this surpassed Elsa. We’ve seen flooded areas that we’ve never seen before. This was a catastrophic, historic event for the city.”

While flood waters have started to recede and city water service has been restored, only about 60% of residents have electrical power.

“We still know that we have a lot of work to do; there’s a lot of hardship out there in our community,” North Port City Manager Jerome Fletcher said. “We want you to know that we’re still evacuating people as necessary."

Ryan said immediately after the storm there was a backlog of more than 500 calls for aid that have since been cleared.

As flood waters continue to recede, efforts have moved on to debris clearing – with regular pickups of trash and yard waste resuming Wednesday – and assessing the condition of 33,000 to 35,000 structures in the city to determine whether they're safe to be in.

Many flooded areas – notably North Port Estates in the northeastern part of the city – have yet to be surveyed, since they are accessible by boat for evacuation but not by vehicles for inspection.

Ryan noted that people have called the city asking for supply deliveries. That's not possible, he said.

“We ask them to contact us, and we will evacuate them. We don’t have the capability to deliver supplies to them on a regular basis,” Ryan said. “We will evacuate them so they can have access to get their supplies.”

Ryan said North Port police, the National Guard and other law enforcement agencies from across the state have stepped up patrols – even in the flooded areas – to deter looting, so people should feel secure in their decisions to evacuate.

The city is under a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., with the only exception made for those traveling to and from work.

SMH-Venice receives patients from Ian

People injured during and after Hurricane Ian were being evacuated to the new Sarasota Memorial Hospital Venice campus for either treatment or triage for transport to the Sarasota campus or other hospitals as far away as Orlando.

“The big challenge right now is we’re a 110-bed hospital, and we just can’t admit all the people that need to be admitted,” Sarasota Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Kim Savage said. “We're sending some to Sarasota but even beyond that, some to Orlando.”

On Sunday, the staff in Venice got a boost when a Disaster Medical Assistance Team set up a 30-bed tent facility just outside the hospital’s ambulance bay.

The federal team of 37 doctors, nurses, physician assistants, paramedics and pharmacists will provide patient surge support for at least a week.

During Ian, more than 2,150 SMH staff and physicians cared for and sheltered more than 700 patients at the Sarasota and Venice hospitals, as well as the North Port Emergency Room.

The non-clinical staff cared for about 140 children and about 25 pets of hospital staff who had no other care options.

Neither hospital had significant storm damage, but the SMH North Port ER had severe damage and flooding. It closed early last Thursday as about eight patients and 50 staff were moved to a safe location in the building and relocated when the roads were safe to travel.

After the storm passed, the hospital handled a surge of patients arriving both by private vehicles and ambulances.

The Venice hospital ER saw 244 patients last Thursday, while Sarasota’s ER treated nearly 300.

On Friday, after the closures of HCA’s Fawcett and Englewood hospital and several Lee Health hospitals, SMH-Sarasota and SMH-Venice are among the few hospitals fully operational and able to serve patients from throughout the southwest region.

Working with the county's Emergency Operations Center, SMH leaders requested an ambulance team to help transport patients stabilized in the ER who needed to be admitted to a hospital.

Sarasota and the state responded with 20 ambulances that can transport patients from Venice to the Sarasota campus and, if needed, to other facilities in counties north of Sarasota.

The Sarasota campus cared for more than 800 patients on Sunday, with 324 patients coming through the ER, while SMH-Venice cared for 141 patients, with 180 patients coming through the ER.

The federal DMAT facility treated an additional 55 patients.

Currently, the SMH-Sarasota campus is caring for about 850 patients in the hospital, while SMH-Venice has about 185 patients, with transfers pending.

With the Venice hospital at full capacity and the Sarasota campus nearing capacity, the Venice team has been stabilizing and transferring dozens of non-critical patients to Sarasota, Tampa and Orlando, by ground and by air.

All of the SMH Urgent Care Centers remain open as well.

North Port infrastructure repairs continue

North Port continues to work on its infrastructure, including increasing water pressure in the utility system.

Ryan noted that users may lose pressure during the process and short-term shutdowns could occur as leaks are discovered and fixed.

Residents should boil water until further notice.

With water levels receding, inspectors can now visit structures in the city, Ryan said, though there is also an app available on the city’s website through https://www.northportfl.gov/alerts and can be accessed at https://bit.ly/IanDamage.

Ryan said all traffic lights should be operational by the end of the week.

The city has been posting a map daily, detailing safe or, at least, passable roads.

Price Boulevard between Sumter Boulevard and Toledo Blade Boulevard is not one of them. The roadway along Price Boulevard was caved in at multiple locations, Taylor said.

Fletcher said that since the city plans to widen that stretch of road, the best case in the short term will be temporary fixes.

“It’s now part of a bigger solution than before the storm occurred,” he added.

The Salvation Army of Sarasota County has set up canteens with Southern Baptists to help the community.

Hot meals and water are available at Wal-Mart, 19100 Murdock Circle in Port Charlotte, and Atwater Elementary School, 4701 Huntsville Ave. in North Port. Meals are served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Ryan noted that people wanting to donate to the relief effort should do so through the United Way of South Sarasota County, which can be reached through https://www.uwssc.org.

The Gulf Coast Community Foundation and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County also are taking donations for affected residents.

The United Way of South Sarasota County also is accepting donations of goods to distribute locally. Dry goods and non-perishable food items are appreciated.

The North Port Fire Rescue Department is not accepting donations.

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: 5 dead in North Port since Hurricane Ian; SMH-Venice treating victims