Anna Maria Island and Cortez saw minor damage from rain and high winds Jan. 17, especially in view of the tornado that struck a mobile home in its path in the rural community of Duette, 45 miles east of the beach.
Bradenton Beach Police Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz said the storm event on the island was “pretty crazy.”
Diaz reported a patio roof coming off a home on First Street North, a boat washing up near shore on Cortez Beach and John Maguire’s boat sinking in Sarasota Bay near the Historic Bridge Street Pier’s floating dock.
Maguire’s bait boat and shrimp tank sank after wind gusts knocked it against the dock, tearing holes around the perimeter of the boat hull.
Water overrode the pumps and “off it went,” Maguire said.
In Holmes Beach, “much of the art fair got blown apart and into Marina Drive,” said Holmes Beach Police Detective Sgt. Brian Hall.
Holmes Beach dispatchers reported no damage — only alarms and road closures due to street flooding. The city public works department put out all of its “high water” warning signs.
According to Manatee County Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Davis, who heads the Anna Maria substation, there were no damage reports in Anna Maria — only localized flooding.
The Rod & Reel Pier, 875 N. Shore Drive, Anna Maria, closed to fishing and diners Jan. 17 to repair a broken pier piling and drainage pipes. It reopened Jan. 20.
Jed Lippincott, chief operating officer of Cortez’s Seafood Shack, 4110 127th St. W., reported gusts at the waterfront marina-restaurant broke a chair, cracked a piling in half and blew over a 60-pound deck heater, cracking a gas cylinder, but “no severe damage.”
West Manatee Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Rich Jasinski said his shift responded to a 3 a.m. Jan. 17 call resulting in significant property damage in the 1100 block of 66th Street in northwest Bradenton.
WMFR and city of Bradenton building inspector deemed it safe for the occupants to remain in the undamaged portions of the home after a tree weighing 1,500-2,000 pounds crashed through the roof and into the kitchen and living room.
Other than the northwest Bradenton emergency, WMFR saw only minor issues from the storm, including false alarms and calls for lines down, typically handled by cordoning off areas and calling the power company, according to Jasinski.
Take heed to emergency warnings
The message after the Jan. 17 early morning storms is to stay tuned.
And dig in.
Taking warnings seriously is the No. 1 way to prepare for an emergency.
“The biggest thing is to heed the warnings — for tornadoes, storms and even for hurricanes,” West Manatee Rescue Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Rich Jasinski said.
He suggested people keep an eye and ear on the weather forecasts on TV, online and on radio, and use cellphones and other technologies that alert customers to emergencies and heed precautions.
For a tornado in Florida where homes don’t have basements, he recommended staying on the lowest level, in a hardened room, under a mattress, in a bathtub or, if outside, in a ditch or as low as possible.
For a mobile home, Jasinski suggested keeping close track of the weather.
“People hear warnings and what usually happens? Nothing. They get kind of numb to it. But you never know,” he added.
Former islanders, now neighbors of the Jan. 17 Duette tornado victims, Kelly McCormick and Glenn Mareska agreed.
“If I learned one thing, the next time my iPhone says take cover, I’m going to take cover. We woke up at 3:30. I got up and made tea. We did not take it seriously at all,” McCormick said.
Mareska said after waking up, he heard rumbling and believed a tornado might be nearby, but because he couldn’t see anything outdoors in the dark at 3 a.m., he went back to bed.
A week into helping his neighbors recover from the disaster, Mareska believes he’ll respond differently next time.
“It was a pressure situation. It’s a wake-up call. When you get a tornado warning, take it seriously,” he said.
Manatee County’s Emergency Communication Center was kept busy by callers during the height of the storms early Jan. 17, according to Ernie McFarland, technical systems support coordinator.
“We received a lot of calls and they’re saying, ‘there’s a tornado — what do I do?’”
At that time, without any area shelters having been opened, he said 911 operators were telling people to shelter inside.
— Kathy Prucnell
