Hurricane Ian: One Year Later

2023 • HURRICANE IAN: ONE YEAR LATER • 31 2006-2023 Over 30 Years of Providing Quality Electrical Services If you're looking for professional and reliable electricians, you won't go wrong if you choose locally- owned Michael J Looney Inc for all your electrical projects. We offer same-day emergency service. Call us now for your FREE estimate on our services. www.michaeljlooney.com Commercial Electricians Stand By Generators & Service Residential Electrical Work Pole Setting Services Fire Alarm Services Electrical Services Electrical Contractor 150 N. Indiana Ave.•Since 1988 LIC #EC0001536StateCertified adno=3903052-1 A tragedy of PET PROJECTS Jessica Orlando Staff Writer ENGLEWOOD — Furry friends and loyal companions are among the first things people worry about when alerted that a hurricane will be knocking on their door. With Hurricane Ian, animals were separated from their owners - and some were even surrendered. Staff and volunteers at shelters in Sarasota and Charlotte counties worked hard to provide these pets safety and shelter. FANDANGO SANCTUARY Commonly, pets are thought of as dogs and cats, but that definition can expand to farm animals as well, like pigs, cows, mules, chickens and goats. During Ian, farmland was damaged and many of these animals had to be surrendered by their owners. Iris Beaugrand, owner of Fandango Sanctuary in Englewood, received a lot of damage to her sanctuary because of Ian. Around $300,000 in damages were a result of the powerful hurricane last year, she estimates. "A lot of my fences got destroyed," Beaugrand said. "I also lost 150 trees." In the weeks after Ian, Beaugrand received call after call from animal owners who were struggling with severe property damage, and financial frustrations because of insurance claims. "A lot of people wanted to surrender their cows, chickens and horses," she said. "I wanted to take them all — but the sanctuary itself was also struggling with money because of the insurance claims." Taking in more animals, especially these larger species, requires a lot of money set aside for feed, food bins and general upkeep for the animals. On top of damages from Ian, Beaugrand had to be selective. "After a while, I could really only take those that were emergency cases," she said. The nonprofit sanctuary is still struggling with damages and is seeking donations along with volunteers to help with repairs and animal work. To assist, contact Beaugrand at irisbeaugrand@hotmail.com. EARS ANIMAL RESCUE EARS Animal Rescue and Sanctuary's offices are off of State Road 776 at 500 N. Indiana Ave. Their mission is to match up animals that people can no longer care for with foster families and eventually forever homes. Executive Director Todd Zimmerman shared the sanctuary's experience through Ian. Luckily, the building itself received minimal damages besides some soffit loss. "Directly after Ian there didn't seem to be an influx of animals needing to be taken in, but as time went on we noticed more and more animals needing shelter," Zimmerman said. "I think people realized that they were going to be displaced a lot longer than they thought." He said that because of limited capacity, the sanctuary couldn't take in as many animals as they would of liked to. "Pet owners would come in and surrender their animals due to their living situations frequently," Zimmerman said. Closing in on the anniversary of Ian, Zimmerman said that people are still calling in and wanting to surrender their pets, but he thinks that's partially due to the overall economic situation. "Rent is extremely high, and many landlords do not allow pets anymore," he said. "Regardless, we're still seeing a high number of people wanting to surrender." Missing, or lost animals didn't seem to be as big of a problem as Zimmerman expected. "There were some that would call or come in looking for a missing pet, but not as many as I would of thought," he said. "The real issue was surrendered pets and limited capacity." Another issue animal shelters are facing, especially EARS: Since Ian, adoption rates have been extremely slow. It's likely due to both the financial implications from Ian and the economy current residents face, he said. ANIMAL WELFARE LEAGUE The Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County is still experiencing hardships, even a year after Ian. Like many other shelters the long- term affects of Ian seem to have a widespread reach toward shelters. Executive Director Kris Steffens explained that animal shelters were struggling before Ian, but after hardships seemed to have increased relating to surrendered pets, adoptions and volunteers. "There's been a 39% increase in our pet population over the past two years," Steffens said. "Adding Ian made it even worse." Port Charlotte received heavy damages from Ian's high winds. A large portion of homes were heavily damaged, contributing to displacement. "A lot of the pets we had from Ian were surrendered because of lost homes," she said. "We had trouble taking in animals because of our limited capacity." The league is connected to Charlotte County, meaning it's a top stop for animal control leading to limited space for new pets. "The number of adoptions have kind of remained static," Steffens said. "Financial limitations and high rent could be a cause of this." The shelter did receive several lost or missing pets from Ian, but Steffens said that most owners came and got them after the hurricane. "People knew to come here and look for their pets, since we're connected to the county," she said. The shelter itself received little to no structural damage to the building. Damages were primarily outside such as the ponds and several uprooted trees that damaged paved walkways. "Maybe this is a bit of a miracle, but we have a St. Francis statue under one of the really old trees outside," Steffens said. "The statue and tree it sat under weren't even damaged, but there was other tree limbs and debris around them." Currently, the league is struggling with surrendered pets, loss of volunteers and adoptions. "There's still displaced people from Ian," she said. "Even at FEMA camps, a lot of pet owners had to give up their animals to stay there — It's so disheartening." WILDLIFE CENTER Due to flooding and winds from Hurricane Ian, much of the wildlife around the counties were displaced or injured. Director Pam Defouw of the Wildlife Center of Southwest Florida saw a large influx of these injured animals at her center. "We remained open throughout Ian and used our office as a nursery center," Defouw said. "We received around 178 orphaned mammals." The top two animals being received by the center were squirrels and easter cottontail rabbits. Migratory birds were also high on the list as well. Luckily with the help of volunteers and rescuers, the center was able to help rehabilitate many of these displaced animals. "A lot of people stopped by and offered to help us at the center," she said. "The amount of good samaritans made us really fortunate." The center was subject to intense flooding from the Myakka River, according to Defouw. "The river went through the whole entire center," she said. "We had to kayak to the back parts of our property." A year later, the wildlife center only has some minor repairs to make like soffit damage. Pam Defouw

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