Idalia causes anxiety but little damage in Myakka City

Year round, the Silver Star East in Myakka City dishes out homemade, comfort food. During a hurricane watch, the meeting place offers something that’s not on the menu — the comfort of a community.

Although almost a year later, some Myakka City residents still are reeling from the flooding caused by Hurricane Ian. Understandably, the first hurricane of this season to come our way, Idalia, caused some anxiety.

“I think there were a lot of jitters for the people on the river, and they would come into the restaurant and ask us, ‘What do you think?’” Silver Star co-owner Vicki Krone said of the time that Hurricane Idalia was approaching. “We felt pretty confident, but we’re on alert all the time during hurricane season.”

Krone said Myakka City residents keep an eye on each other, and most are prepared with supplies throughout the season, so there’s no last-minute dashes into town. 

Residents have also formed an online community through a Myakka City 411 page on Facebook. Frank White shared a post that suggested shaving your telephone number onto the side of your horses before a storm to aid their return if lost.  

Residents were ready for Idalia. The Myakka Community Center on Aug. 29 was void of people as the first bands of the storm neared the area. Julie Farmer was there with her husband, Dan, and only one other person. The Farmers live in a cabin at the end of River Road, but the sand bags they had filled were headed to a cottage on Anna Maria Island.

Both husband and wife were born and raised in Manatee County. The cottage was passed down from Julie Farmer’s father, and the couple has owned the cabin since the 1980s. They went through the safety motions, accepting that they can’t control a hurricane. 

“For what it’s worth,” Farmer said with a shrug of her shoulders as she loaded another sandbag into the back of the couple's truck. 

Despite flooding on Anna Maria Island, the inside of Farmer’s cottage on 48th Street stayed dry.  

Their Myakka City property runs along the Myakka River. During Hurricane Ian, water came up from the river and destroyed the cabin's air conditioning and ducts. The flooding was bad because the ground was saturated from last summer’s rainy season. Drought conditions leading up to Hurricane Idalia eased the threat of flooding.

“We figured that a good bit of the rain that fell would absorb,” Farmer said. “The ditch that runs along the west side of our property had been dry. There was no water standing in that ditch until Thursday afternoon.”

Rain upriver affects the cabin, so flooding is a way of life. The couple evacuated for Hurricane Ian, but stayed put for Idalia. The water didn’t start creeping toward their property until Friday. By Saturday, the water was starting to recede. 

Farmer described the water as a nuisance. Being prepared for the weather is a lifestyle in Myakka City.

Farmer makes sure the couples’ prescriptions are filled to the max in case of an evacuation. She shops year round, making sure the cabin is always stocked with cases of water and their nonperishable foods of choice. 

When staying in the cabin during a hurricane watch, the Farmers monitor the storm on the news and check the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website to see the most current tides and water levels reported for the river. 

A five-gallon bucket of water is ready to go in the bathroom if the power goes out and the well can’t be used. The cars are moved to higher ground.

“I never lived up north, but I imagine it’s like being prepared for a blizzard. It’s just common sense,” Farmer said. “Every once in a while, we get caught flat-footed, but we try to avoid that.”

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

Down the road, staff and volunteers at the Humane Society at Lakewood Ranch were also calmly moving through protocol. 

“We have our plan. We have our list of the 10 things we do,” Executive Committee Member Cindy Jackson said. “We know where we have issues with flooding. We were absolutely fine.” 

First up on the list is to find as many foster homes as possible. Staff and volunteers were able to secure foster stays for 12 dogs. 

Staff also sped up the adoption of a Border Terrier mix named Squirt. Squirt, along with five other pups, were fixed Tuesday morning. Because the dogs needed extra care following surgery, finding homes for them through the storm was important. 

All pets are fixed, vaccinated and microchipped before being adopted. Squirt would’ve normally stayed a few more days before heading to his forever home, but with a hurricane on the horizon, staff members made it happen Tuesday afternoon.

A dozen plus volunteers were in and out of the shelter all day Tuesday and Friday. They were picking up animals and pulling toys out of the yard, and then did it all over again in the reverse.

The buildings can withstand a Category 4 hurricane, and staff saved the sandbags from Hurricane Ian. There’s one large door into the dog kennel that opens like a garage. Water crept under it during Ian, so for Idalia, all the remaining dogs were moved to the back of the building and sandbags were piled along the bottom of the vulnerable door. 

Adoptions were back up and running by Friday.