The city of Anna Maria stayed closed to the public for a day following Hurricane Idalia’s passage through the Gulf of Mexico.
But it didn’t take the municipality long to recover from the storm.
Mayor Dan Murphy wrote in an Aug. 31 email to The Islander that the city experienced minimal damages and no reported injuries despite extensive flooding as a result of Idalia, which made landfall the day before in the Big Bend area as a category 3 storm.
The city closed to the public Aug. 29 ahead of the storm and remained closed to all but residents and business owners the following day, even after the cities of Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach reopened to the public.
The extended closure was due to lingering flooding that made several main roadways and most residential streets impassable throughout the day.
The city lifted its roadblock at CrossPointe Fellowship, 8605 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach, and reopened to the public the morning of Aug. 31.
At the time of reopening, several roadways on the north end of the city remained at least partially flooded, including North Bay Boulevard, North Shore Drive and Gladiolus Street.
While Idalia resulted in flooding for some ground-level homes, there was no major damage to municipal infrastructure, such as city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive, which remained dry.
However, Murphy noted the storm resulted in significant beach erosion. He said more than 50 yards of beachfront had been lost to erosion due to the storm.
Otherwise, he wrote that the storm had resulted in “very little” in terms of damage to trees and power lines within the city.
Murphy added that he was unsure how many of the city’s residents evacuated ahead of the storm but said Manatee County sheriff’s deputies — who remained on patrol throughout — ensured the streets were empty.
Brian Seymour, who owns the Anna Maria General Store and co-owns the City Pier Grill & Bait Shop, told The Islander Aug. 31 that he stayed behind and weathered the storm at his residence in the city.
Seymour said the general store remained open until about 4 p.m. Aug. 29 to feed city staff and provide last-minute supplies to others who remained to wait out the storm.
He said the store, which is raised about three feet above the road level, and the pier grill and bait shop made it through the storm unscathed.
Seymour added that while he experienced some tropical storm-level gusts of wind, he never lost power and got through the night comfortably.
“It was pretty uneventful until late Tuesday night-Wednesday morning. … Honestly, I got a good night’s sleep,” Seymour said. “Don’t get me wrong, I was prepared to leave but the forecast started changing pretty early.”
Noel Burke, a waitress and bartender at the Waterfront Restaurant, 111 S. Bay Blvd., told The Islander Aug. 31 that the business closed Aug. 28 and prepared for the storm by bringing furniture inside, boarding up and placing sandbags outside the doors and windows.
Nevertheless, she said about a foot of standing water made it into Waterfront’s kitchen, resulting in some damage and requiring extensive cleanup.
“For the most part, everything we did secured the building, and it’s minor damages we’re cleaning up right now,” Burke said. “Nothing to the building itself.”
She added that the restaurant counted itself fortunate to be in a position to reopen so soon after such a storm.
“All in all, we’re doing great here,” Burke said. “We’re very lucky. It could have been way worse than what it was, and we’re very grateful we’re able to open back up (Sept. 1).”
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