"8 Days in Bokeelia"
Remembering Hurricane Ian
Jim Griffiths
April 2024
When I tell people I rode out the storm in Bokeelia they look at me surprised I’m alive. I was actually far from danger, 10 miles to be exact.
24 hours prior, when I saw it was going to be bad, is when I decided to stay. My home is in Pineland on a ridge recently surveyed to be between 13-14’ above sea level. My construction build-up is another two feet, then my floor is another two feet above that. If water got that high it would sheer across the island before entering my home. But then again….. 11 hours of 150mph winds pushing water has never been seen.
A recent wind inspection on my home had the guy asking if I custom built this house myself. He was surprised at how everything was doubled-up. He said the roof was bolted to a slab and a house was built in between.
The builder of my house built over a hundred houses out here on the island then built this one to retire in. He soon got bored and started collecting cars and needed more room, so he built the same house a few blocks away with an 18-car garage. Mine is only 6. I don’t mean a Cape Coral 6, I mean a true full sized 6-car garage.
I LOVE my garage. It’s a typical “guy” room that can only fit one car because of all my stuff. One of the garage’s features is that the builder converted a bay into an elevated poured concrete safe-room. My wife made this her office because it’s soundproof and she can focus on work she does at home. We put this room to the test by spending 11 hours in it during Hurricane Ian.
I knew water and fuel could be used whether the storm came in or not, so I started loading up on supplies several days out. I had about 400 gallons of water in containers in the garage, 10 cases of drinking water, 3 cans of propane for the grill, I froze several buckets of ice, plus I filled fuel cans with 40 gallons of gas. We spent the day prior securing outdoor items the best we could, put items of priority in the safe-room, and waited for Ian’s landfall.
I’ve taken a lot of chances and risks over the years. I’ve bet on things that could have cost me dearly, and I’ve put a lot of faith into guesses throughout my life, but nothing compared to the feeling I had when the sky got dark, the winds started to howl, and I knew turning back was no longer an option.
My wife and I, plus Hooper, a 120# Doberman, and Cosmo, our parrot, entered the safe-room. I peeked out occasionally and thought it wasn’t as bad as I expected, the storm must have shifted south. About 5 hours into it the winds subsided and the sky turned white. This was the eye. We went outside to re-secure items, check for damage, stretch a bit, walk the dog, etc.
Trees were down and there was some cosmetic damage to the house, but nothing serious. Roads were blocked in every direction and we were confined to less than a block radius because of fallen trees, which I expected. About 45-minutes later the sky got dark and we could hear wind roaring not too far from us, so we headed back into the safe-room for round two. The back half was much worse. The west winds were much stronger and there was a lot of banging outside. We thought for sure the roof was gone, but it was just soffit and tree limbs.
As soon as it was safe to go outside, I went straight for the generator. We spent that evening organizing supplies and running electrical cords. Preserving food was the current priority. Information was what we wanted the most, and it was the one thing we couldn’t get. There was no phone signal, no power, no contact with neighbors, and no radio signal. What a feeling!
I’m quite a “Boy Scout” in times like this. Not only did I have water & fuel but I also store a small portable A/C and lots of battery powered lights, along with several boxes of wine. I had recently taken a trip to Key Largo where I stocked up on lobster tails, plus we were at Costco a couple weeks prior, so we ate pretty good for a while.
The next morning we got dressed early and attempted to drive through our neighborhood to do a damage check and find out what we were up against. At sunup neighbors with trucks were out in full force pulling trees out of the road so at least one car could get by. We couldn’t get out of our neighborhood till day-3 which is when we also got our first cell phone signal. We still had no idea what happened in Matlacha or Ft. Myers Beach. We had no contact at all till that first text message came through on day-3, which was Dr. Jerry Cowan, my eye doctor, who asked what I needed the most.
What we needed the most was still information, which was hard to come by. Text messages only worked for a few minutes a day. No phone service, no photos through text, no email, just an occasional signal strong enough to send and/or receive a text message, then it was gone. I sent Jerry a note about fuel being a priority, and he answered that he was on his way to Clewiston to buy cans and fill them for me, but he didn’t know how he’d get them to me because he heard Matlacha was gone.
“Gone! What do you mean gone?” But the text didn’t go through so I got left hanging on that one.
This was the first I heard about Matlacha, and by day-4 and we were able to leave the neighborhood to go find out more about what we were up against.
Army Chinooks hovered over us with the National Guard and lots of supplies. It was quite a feeling. A camp was set up at the center of town, (roughly 6-7 miles from me,) where people started gathering and we were finally able to get information. Fire trucks went up and down neighborhood streets on loudspeakers telling people we had to evacuate the island by boat. But locals wouldn’t leave. We knew if we left it would take a long time to get back. Robin & I would rather be on our own than live in someone’s spare bedroom with the pets and no vehicle. The Governor quickly came to town put a stop to that nonsense.
By day 5-6ish text was working better. I sent a note to Capt. Gregg McKee and asked if he could get the fuel cans from Jerry and run them out by boat. If the fuel ran out, we had no way to preserve food. I really needed that gas. Gregg got the cans, ran them out to Tim Gleason’s house, (another one of our writers,) where I met him with my empty cans to be refilled and brought out the next day. Gregg and Capt. Alex Moran shared this task every day for a week. Not only for me, but they ran supplies for lots of people. I’m greatly in debt to Gregg, Jerry, Alex and Tim.
The first few days were quiet and a bit boring. Most of our time was spent cleaning up around the yard. We had a daily routine refilling buckets of water, hand-washing clothes, meeting at Tim’s dock at 10am for our daily fuel drop, and doing a daily supply inventory. It was also a great opportunity for things that were due like cleaning out closets and boxes in the garage.
We were on our own for days, especially at night, and there was a lot of looting and robberies. Our Sheriff said there was none “reported,” that’s because we had no phones to report them! Go door-to-door and ask residents and you’ll hear about how much was stolen. There were lots of police out here, but they were all piled up at the center of town making Sheriff Carmine look good for the cameras as opposed to protecting neighborhoods. Officers wanted to do their jobs, apparently they were following orders.
The death toll remains unknown. The guys running my fuel found 5 bodies in the mangroves between N. Cape and Bokeelia. Reported numbers say around 127, but insiders say more than 2,000. The same happened in Hurricane Andrew. They actually had no way of knowing how many died, but the reported numbers were a fraction of reality.
We had no power or running water for about two weeks, and that first shower where I didn’t have to use a cup of cold water felt GREAT! Internet was out for almost a month, but Verizon set up hot-spots around town so I could work from a laptop and return home with downloaded files. With everything else that was going on, going out to find a WiFi signal was actually a break from the situation.
I was very impressed with private non-profit groups who offered help. Multiple unknown organizations had food every day and even locals set up smokers and BBQ grills on street corners for free. Cases of waters were scattered all over the island and I heard “Do you need anything” more times than I could ever count.
The big question has been, “Would you ride out another?” In my house where it is, yes.
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HIGHLIGHTS
A product called “The Bug Juice” came in handy. It’s by far the best insect repellent you can buy. The company is based in Ft. Pierce and they ran cases over to give away on the island to whoever needed it.
Island residents impressed me beyond words. The first morning it was still stormy outside but dozens of locals were out pulling trees from the roads and knocking on doors to check on people. This was priceless to see since we had no police or emergency services available for the first 8-10 days.
Robin & I witnessed a car who caught a downed power line that flipped her into a ditch full of water. I jumped out and realized she was underwater and caught on her seat-belt and would be dead in less than a minute. I was trying to reach into the car underwater and I heard “Get back!” It was a local with a truck who showed up out of nowhere and latched a strap onto her axle, then pulled the car back onto its tires. It all happened so fast I never even saw where that guy came from. She got out, had 3 dogs with her, shook herself off and asked for a ride home. She was in shock, but her and all 3 dogs were alive and OK. I had a red towel in the car and hung it on the downed wire hoping the next car passing by would see the hazard.
Misinformation was a problem for the first few days, but we’re Americans, it was nothing new.
The President made an appearance, but he thought he was in South Carolina.
Williamson Brothers ran a barge across the pass daily with 1,000 gallons of fuel and let everyone fill one can per day for free. We had our own fuel coming daily and didn’t want to take away from those who were so desperate, but we filled cans for neighbors.
Insurance continues to be a hassle for most but mine settled pretty quickly. I didn’t get the damage so many others did, plus my wind insurance is through Citizens, which is government operated so they don’t have the option to file bankruptcy to get out of claims.
Bald eagles were actually the first on scene. The day after, right at dawn, you could hear them, and as it started to get light out you could see them flying around with branches rebuilding their homes.
Hurricane Charley didn’t “Hit” us, but it was the closest comparison within the past 50 years. Charley went through in a couple hours. Ian was 11-12 hours. Charley was quick and powerful, yet small. It could actually fit into the eye of Ian. Photo below.
Lots of people were credited for the “Building of the road,” dozens of dump trucks which filled the 100-yard gap in Matlacha. The two top responsible parties were Governor DeSantis and Bokeelia resident Steve Honc. Steve paced with his phone for two days negotiating and pulling details together, while the Governor approved everything. What was learned from this led to Sanibel and Flagler Beach also getting their roads fixed so fast.
Government assistance was an unorganized JOKE! World Central Kitchen, WCK.org, was VERY impressive. They were on scene before emergency services flying helicopters back & forth from Ft. Myers to the center of Pine Island with hundreds of hot meals from sunrise to sunset every day for the first 8-10 days. That one group was more useful than FEMA and any other government agency.
Publix and a Mobile gas station were protested a while back. Locals who want no growth, (except for their house…) didn’t want any more stores out here. Publix came through in a big way to help storm victims. Prior to the bridge opening, the staff at Publix ran carts of food out into their parking lot, everything was free. Their trucks were the first to enter when the road opened with 8 big-rigs at which time the store was open for business. The new Mobile gas station did the same, plus they had 4 tankers on-site to keep the station full. Meanwhile, the Winn Dixie and Circle-K which have been here for years didn’t open for weeks.
Chuck, owner of Chuck’s Auto on Pine Island, lost his dog. He got scared and ran away the night prior to the storm. Chuck thought for sure he became prey to our coyote population. Well, they both got an early Christmas Miracle. A local was evacuating the night prior to the storm and saw a small dog on the side of the road. They grabbed it, put him in the back seat, and dropped him off at the Cape Coral Animal Shelter on their way out of town. Three days later the shelter was getting caught up on lost animals and scanned the dog, and sure enough, there was a chip, and they were reunited. Photo above.
Our Sheriff really showed his true colors. While the officers of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office are outstanding, the Sheriff himself is a disgrace to the uniform. He had officers parading for the cameras as opposed to protecting homes. It’s time to shop for a new sheriff!
Costco ran a 18-wheeler flat-bed loaded with pallets of free waters and dropped a pallet off on the side of the road every mile up and down the island. Pretty classy!
A special thank-you to Pine Island Water. They sent staff out to open the storage tanks so people could fill containers for drinking water plus worked around the clock to patch holes and leaks so we could get water back into homes asap.
WINK News had great radio coverage, while NBC was useless.
We made history, and SW Florida will never be the same. Some will be worse, and some will be better. As you deal with rebuilding and fight with your insurance companies, please consider the many who lost their lives. You can always make more money and rebuild a house.
Jim Griffiths
Publisher, Nautical Mile