- April 17, 2024
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Most Manatee County residents breathed a sigh of relief after Hurricane Ian passed because of less-than-devastating damage.
But not those in Myakka City and its surrounding area.
The Category 4 hurricane, which relentlessly pounded the area Sept. 28-29, led to swollen rivers that swallowed homes, farms and livestock.
Perhaps the hardest hit was Dakin Dairy Farms, which had approximately 250 cows die in the flooding. That total was expected to climb higher as the days passed and an inventory could be completed. Dakin Dairy also had extensive damage to its barns.
“It’s just the stress of the animals that hurts more than anything,” said owner Jerry Dakin, who also said that he did not know whether rebuilding the business was an option because of inflation.
Some homeowners, ranchers and farmers had to wait for various rescue workers from Manatee County to save them from rising waters.
Waters from the Myakka River flooded Hidden River, just to the south of Myakka in Sarasota County. A levee broke on Oct. 1, leading to a wave of water hitting the residential community.
Hidden River resident Susan Kucia said she noticed rising waters Sept. 29, but everything became dangerous early Oct. 1.
Kucia found refuge on top of her golf cart. She called 911 and anyone she thought might be able to help. She waited as the rising waters set off car alarms and began invading her home.
She said there was eventually 4-5 feet of water in her home, in which her possessions were drifting about.
Kucia said she was grateful for the bravery of the emergency workers, which included firefighters from the Sarasota County Fire Department and the East Manatee Fire Rescue, who swam through the rising waters she said contained alligators, snakes, and even bull sharks, to rescue her dogs and horses. They tied her horses to life preservers and guided them to higher ground.
“They jumped in and swam — unreal — in 7 feet of water with all of that in their way,” she said. “People risked their lives to save my horses.”
One of her dogs is still missing. Kucia’s horses are now being kept on a neighbor’s property, while the seven dogs recovered are now boarded at an animal hospital. She has created a GoFundMe account, which she said is mainly for the care the animals will require.
Manatee County rescue workers converged on the area as soon as heavy winds subsided the morning of Sept. 29, while the county set up rescue operations Oct. 1 at the Myakka City Community Center on Wauchula Road. With nonprofit organizations bringing supplies, residents were given water, food, tarps and other emergency supplies.
The county used drones flown by Airborne International Response Team to assess damage and identify those in dangerous situations.
There wasn’t much the residents could do as they waited for help.
“We did a lot of praying,” said Myakka City resident Gail Nagy. “As the eye got nearby, all of a sudden, the wind and rain was pulled every which way. Upside down. Left. Right. And that lasted longer than I was expecting. There’s nothing you can do, so you just have to ride it out and pray for God’s mercy and grace.”
By Oct. 1, floodwaters from the Myakka River covered large swaths of the area, infiltrating homes and leaving some residents stranded on their property. The East Manatee Fire Rescue and Manatee Search and Rescue were involved in operations to transport residents along Taylor Road, as well as on Singletary Road, to safety.
Saddlebag Creek resident Regis Champ, who has lived in the area for two-and-a-half years, said the community had previously seen flooding from the creek, which flows alongside the subdivision, but said it was the first time the waters had risen to nearly waist-deep heights, although they spared his home, which sits at a higher elevation.
He said fortunately all his animals survived, as he had built pallets, with hay on top, that kept his Nigerian Dwarf Goats above the water.
“This was catastrophic,” he said.
Manatee Search and Rescue employee Jared Leggett, a native of Bradenton, called the disaster one of the worst he had seen.
He said navigating the waters by boat was difficult, due not only to objects underneath including lawn decorations, but also to the fast-moving currents.
The county used drones flown by Airborne International Response Team, working alongside multiple
fire departments including the East Manatee Fire Rescue, which can employ techniques such as thermal imaging, to spot stranded residents.
Residents of Myakka City were uncertain about the future.
Resident Veronica Young said she didn’t know how she would deal with her uninsured home off Singletary Road, which was flooded with waist-deep water.
However, she said the family does have an RV and hoped her husband, Timothy Young, a well-known builder in Myakka City, would be able to complete the needed repairs on their home.
Warren Kelly, who lives near Wauchula Road, said his livelihood had been impacted by the destruction of his tool sheds, where he stores the tools he uses to work on bikes and cars. He said one of the two sheds was crushed, while another blew apart.
“It’s hard to say what we can do as a community because not everybody has the money,” Kelly said.
However, residents said they believed they would hold strong.
Kelly said on Friday, he noticed that two trees, which had fallen in the road near his home, had been moved, apparently by neighbors.
“We’ve just got to stick strong because we are a little small part of the map in a big county,” said Kelly.
Courtney Dakin said the farm’s cleanup attempts had already seen assistance from family, friends and other members of the community.
“This is an amazing community that we have out here,” said Dakin. “We’ve already seen so much support.”
“Everybody will help each other as they can,” said Nagy. “People put out ‘I need hay’, or ‘I need a new feed for the animals, does anybody have any?’ and usually somebody can supply it.”
“I hope we never have to go through anything like that again. I don’t wish it upon anybody, anywhere, ever,” Myakka City’s R.J. Douglas said. “We’ll all pull together and help each other, and get it back to the way it was. That’s the way it always has been, and the way it’ll always be.”
