Siesta Key is hit by Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene’s storm surge flooded neighborhoods on Siesta Key, leaving businesses and residents in conditions unlike anything most had ever experienced on the picturesque barrier island resort.

According to a news conference on the island Friday afternoon, Sarasota County officials said at least two meters of seawater from the Gulf of Mexico, pushed outward by Helene’s extensive and strong wind field, crashed over Siesta Key, causing extensive damage.

“Our entire focus has been on the barrier islands and all residents of the Intracostal Waterway,” said Sarasota County Deputy Fire Chief Tim Dorsey.

Dorsey said at the news conference that firefighters worked throughout the night battling structure fires, rising water and trapped residents seeking evacuation.

“A whole bunch of them on all the barrier islands,” he said. “We had a storm surge of four to seven feet, just as forecasters had predicted.

“They were absolutely convinced.”

Rescue workers continued their work on Friday. Sarasota officials warned anyone in the area to be wary of downed power lines.

More: Anna Maria Island devastated by Helene, Manatee County reports extensive damage

Sarasota County Commissioner Mark Smith evacuated his Siesta Key home during the storm but returned Friday morning. He was lucky.

The water did not enter his home, although he said it was only inches away.

A business he runs in Siesta Village wasn’t so lucky and ended up two and a half feet under water, Smith said.

“There’s a lot of property damage,” Smith said. “…Siesta Village is wiped out right now and it will be a while before we get back.”

Smith said the entire commercial area of the popular shopping and tourist destination was under three feet of water, with picnic tables floating from the center of the village to Truist Bank on Ocean Boulevard.

Siesta Key is a major tourism driver for Sarasota County

From 2020 to 2022, Siesta Key brought in more than $24.5 million in bed tax revenue, representing 27% of tourism development tax dollars across Sarasota County.

The island’s white-sand beaches have resulted in a thriving tourism destination that has largely been spared from catastrophic hurricanes.

Major signs of storm surge were visible throughout the siesta on Friday. A 7-Eleven on Midnight Pass Road had a water mark about three feet high. Sidewalks and side streets remained flooded well into the day.

Just over the Stickney Point Bridge on the island, Tana and Sean Anderson arrived at their business – Crescent Beach Market – at 6:30 a.m

They had sandbagged the entrances in hopes of preventing water from entering the store, but when Sean Anderson opened the front door, water poured out.

Sand and dirt covered the ground and the Andersons got to work.

She said she was worried about how quickly they could get back up and running since the company now employs 17 people. Tana also expressed concern that it could take some time for Siesta Key’s overall tourism economy to return to normal.

“My main concern is my business,” she said. “It’s just going to take some time.”

Mud everywhere after Hurricane Helene

Longtime Siesta Key resident and community activist Lourdes Ramirez experienced up to three feet of water ingress from the storm surge, more than at any time since she began living there in 1999.

She said she thought they had avoided the worst of the storm as there was only some rain and gusts of wind Thursday evening, but by around 9 p.m. the water was ankle deep in her backyard.

“The water was already up to our ankles and there was no rain. So we knew it was a storm,” she said.

Ramirez lives near Siesta Key Village, not near a canal and not particularly on the Gulf of Mexico, and her property is 9 feet above flood elevation, she said.

Rameriz said water came in from multiple entry points and that many of her neighbors likely also suffered storm surge damage.

That includes Michael Holderness, owner of vacation rentals and the 55-room Siesta Key Beach Resort and Suites.

Holderness, a lifelong Sarasota County resident and Siesta Key business owner, said the storm surge flooded his business and “hundreds” of rental properties and caused a long recovery process for his property management business on the barrier island. He said it could take months to get back up to speed.

“It’s never been this bad in the history of Siesta,” he said of the storm surge.

Anything at ground level is susceptible to water ingress, with the Jamaica Royale and Casa Mar neighborhoods particularly hard hit, he said.

“Mud is everywhere,” he said. “I think the first step is to start pressure washing.”

Siesta Key is hit by Hurricane Helene

ByJasper

Siesta Key is a major tourism driver for Sarasota County

Mud everywhere after Hurricane Helene

By Jasper

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