Hurricane Ian: One Year Later

34 • HURRICANE IAN: ONE YEAR LATER • 2023 FWC still helping derelict boats Jessica Orlando Staff Writer ENGLEWOOD — At the peak of Hurricane Ian's landfall in Southwest Florida, boats left at docks or anchored in bays didn't stand a chance against wind speeds clocking in at 150 mph and storm surges around 13.8 feet high in some coastal areas. In the aftermath of the storm, some boats were blown apart by Ian, leaving debris scattered around the bays. Some boats were lost only to be found months later fl oating and abandoned in mangroves. Others wound up on beaches, at the ends of canals, on top of other boats and at the bottom of well- traveled waterways. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission offi cials knew they had a problem on their hands. In the days following the storm, offi cers identifi ed more 4,200 vessels in the state of Florida, according to FWC. In Lee County alone, 708 vessels were left derelict by Ian. With so many boats out of service, and owners concerned about what they can do, the FWC created a program that would allow owners to voluntarily release ownership of a displaced vessel through a waiver process until the end of December, 2022. FWC Senior Capt. Travis Franklin helped handle the derelict boat crisis that began after Hurricane Ian and has continued nearly a year later. "Our top priority before we checked on the boats was to conduct life safety fi rst," Franklin said. "We had to make sure people were safe." From October to Christmas, the FWC worked on derelict boats search and removal. "Early on, aerial fl ights were done to help identify derelict vessels in our waters," Franklin said. "We then deployed our FWC teams to check these boats." These teams consisted of around 90 offi cers for Lee County, which was considered the hardest-hit area. Other areas hit relied on local help and contractors. "The FWC partnered with the division of emergency management which helped us a lot," he said. "They were able to assist with the organizational efforts and hire contractors to help us out." Franklin explained that the strategies they learned from Hurricane Irma in 2017 helped reduce the number of vessels affected by Ian, and the cleanup process was smoother. "Luckily, we didn't have to remove as many as Irma," Franklin said. "Most boat owners and insurance agencies took care of their own derelict boats, rather than having us do it." The FWC and division of emergency management created a hotline after Ian for owners to report vessels that were either lost or derelict. "Shortly after Ian, we created the Vessel Turn In program for at-risk boats," he said. "Owners could turn their boats over to us before they became derelict — at no charge." At-risk vessels are borderline derelict, but do not have all of the contributing factors yet. Namely, they are still intact. "The program has had about 78 applications and 24 boats have been removed," Franklin said in August. "It also has a lot of environmental value to it because we'll remove a vessel before it can deteriorate further or leak fl uids." Franklin said that for the most part derelict vessels from Ian have been removed, aside from a few stragglers. "I'd say we've documented about 90% of them," he said. "There's some that occasionally show up in unpopulated places like the mangroves." Franklin had some tips on how to prevent that from happening to vessels in the occurrence of a powerful storm like Ian. Have a plan before a hurricane hits. We usually know within 48 hours the direction of the storm. Remove your boat from the water and place it somewhere high up and dry. If you have a larger boat, sail it to a different port that is not in the direct path of the storm. If all else fails, properly anchor the vessel into the water as much as you possibly can. Venice Sea Tow's owner Craig Marcum reiterated how hard Lee County was hit by Ian, and how that affected the rest of the counties and their derelict boats. As a vessel tower, he provided a contractors perspective to the issue. "The state is focusing a lot of their efforts on Fort Myers and Charlotte Harbor," Marcum said. "By the time you get up to Englewood and Venice, it almost seems like the state is saying: 'We'll get to those when we get to those, but we got bigger problems in Fort Myers.'" According to Marcum, there are hundreds of derelict boats around Fort Myers, while Englewood and Venice have only a few dozen. "They're moving in the right direction with derelict boats, but the process takes so long that a lot of people feel like it doesn't work," Marcum said. "By the time someone like Sea Tow gets authorization to move the boat, things have changed." Marcum said they're constantly trying work on the program and revise it. Funding for the program comes mostly from taxpayers and from things like boating registration fees along with fi shing license fees. "Just like anything with state and federal government, it can take forever," he said. "The hurricane did not help." SUN PHOTO BY SCOTT LAWSON A beached and partially sunk sailboat on Englewood Beach, hugging the Sarasota and Charlotte county line. By the time you get up to Englewood and Venice, it almost seems like the state is saying: 'We'll get to those when we get to those, but we got bigger problems in Fort Myers.

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