Post Hurricane Milton – Naples, Florida

Post Hurricane Milton – Naples, Florida

Hello Naples Friends,

I’m a little late on the draw for my post-assessment on Hurricane Milton, primarily because I’m losing interest in writing about other people’s misfortune and seeing my town disheveled. Also, there’s still so much we don’t know, but there’s certainly no shortage of armchair quarterbacks. Do not mistake my lack of enthusiasm as a sign I’m falling out of love with Naples. I’m not. I love this place more today than ever, and I’ll explain a few reasons for this in this post. This isn’t one of those “now is a great time to buy” posts. If you know anything about me, you know I call it as I see it. I’m also going to have to admit I was wrong. The people who like me the least can rejoice. Fortunately, I don’t have to do that often! So here’s my post-Hurricane Milton update for Naples, Florida

What I’ve Seen So Far

The day after the storm, I rode my electric bike to survey the condition in Bay Colony, Pelican Bay, and Vanderbilt Beach. At first glance, I could say I was relieved and saddened at the same time. Both Bay Colony and Vanderbilt Beach suffered surge destruction, but not near the extent of what happened with Hurricane Ian. Yay/boo at the same time. The surge didn’t cover nearly the same area as Ian, which is surely a win. Still, more importantly, I was happy about the additional measures taken to protect real estate and personal property. I’m going to talk about this a lot! We are getting our black belt in preparing for these storms. If you have a home manager or live in a condo and rely on a great property manager to protect your things and they did a good job, commend them for me. That may be the only way we are going to get these insurance prices under control!

Bay Colony

I rode my e-bike to Bay Colony this time mainly because I did not want my car standing between first responders and progress. What I have learned is something funny happens with repeat storms. The wind takes the weakest stuff, so there is not as much loss during a lighter storm. For example, I lost 32 trees with Irma and only one with Hurricane Ian. I only lost part of one this time around. Bay Colony lost a ton of cars during Hurricane Ian. I couldn’t find evidence that they lost even one car during stupid Milton. I heard from residents and managers alike that there were new preparedness policies in place, and from the looks of things, I believe those were practiced. These pictures weren’t taken in the same place, and they weren’t taken at the same time. The photo on the left was Hurrican Ian. I took that shot at 11:23 in the morning, the day after the storm. The photo on the right was taken at 9:14 a.m. the day after Hurricane Milton, and that storm went later into the evening compared to Ian. This road was easily accessible by car, unlike after Hurricane Ian.

Unfortunately, not all properties escaped hardship, and there is a chance that residents will be tasked with redoing landscaping, pool equipment, and cleaning up at a minimum. Still, it won’t result in near the task or expense compared to Hurricane Ian. Two reports of two beachfront high-rises tried to use a new product to keep water out of the garage. Early reports suggest water reached as high as near ceiling levels. Still, I do not believe any cars were ruined. I’ll receive more intel as we go.

Pelican Bay

I rode through areas like Jamestown, Barrington Club, Oakmont, and L’Ambiance and couldn’t see anything interesting enough to take a picture. I will say that the row of Oak trees near the corner of Oakmont Parkway and Green Tree Dr. had quite a few branches down, yet somehow, board members want to replace oak trees throughout the neighborhood. I hope they consider alternative canopy trees that perform better than oak trees. Unfortunately, Pelican Bay didn’t escape all damage either. The beach clubs are still closed due to no electricity, and they are still assessing damage, but it won’t be worse than Hurricane Ian. Many of our amenities are open again, and others plan to open very soon.

Loss mitigation seen and heard around the Pelican Bay area included moving the trams to higher ground, which saved them this go around compared to Ian. St. Lucia also installed flood barriers, but the water did not rise enough to determine if they worked. Cars parked on higher ground were spotted at Montenero, Dorchester and Grosvenor as noted in my pre-Hurricane post.

Park Shore

I took a quick drive through Park Shore two days after the storm due to an appraisal appointment I attended for my client. I’ll tell you what: The manager at Venetian Villas may be one of the best property managers I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. The lengths he went to protect his residents’ properties were unlike anything I’ve seen. As a result, the property my client has under contract did not experience any water penetration, and that’s saying A LOT! I cannot express the importance of hiring a qualified property manager. The beach and boardwalk took another thrashing, and it will take some time to remove some sand, fix some landscaping, and get the boardwalk back to Park Shores’ traditional, beautiful setting. While a little dirty, the rest of Park Shore fared far better than it did during Ian. The streets were way cleaner, with some evidence of a surge in some locations, but again, I didn’t see anything super big out of place, unlike last time. We did lose some pretty good-sized trees, and that’s always sad.

The Village at Venetian Bay was open for business as early as Thursday, the day after the storm. If that’s not a testament of strength and resilience, I don’t know what is!

Moorings was a little messier, with lots of sand visible in parking lots and garages. I lost count of the number of work trucks pushing sand and attending to other restoration activities.

Olde Naples – A few of the most common areas in Olde Naples flooded a little like it often does, but much of the flooding was due to the ridiculous amount of rain we got before the storm. A special nod should be given to the owners of The Syren and The Turtle Club for doing a tremendous job protecting their amazing restaurants. Syren was open Friday night, and while it will take a little more time for The Turtle Club to reopen, they were SO much better prepared for the storm this time. Naples, Florida, is truly lucky they keep betting on us. I hope we will all repay them for continuing to bet on them back! We ate at Tommy Bahama’s last night. The good folks at that restaurant were out of business a full week during Hurricane Ian and out zero days this time. Naples has never prepared like this before!

Vanderbilt Beach

If you have a Facebook account, you may have seen the video showing the surge in the Vanderbilt Beach area. Fortunately, again, it wasn’t nearly as destructive as Hurricane Ian. Many condo owners will likely face landscape and pool equipment repair/replacement. There was still plenty of water on the street by Thursday, but the roads were easily passable by car. Again, the number of service providers working hard on the street and sand was a welcoming sight! If you follow me on my Naples Smart Girl Facebook page, you can see all the photos I posted. You’ll also see alerts on new blog posts and killer deals as they hit the market!

In Closing

The hard truth is that while hurricanes remain scary and destructive, Floridians are getting pretty good at preparing. I was without power for a week with Hurricane Irma and less than 24 hours with Ian. For Hurricane Milton, I didn’t lose power at all. We have a BALLER Governor who knows how to get resources to help us recover. I follow @FrogNews on X.com. They reported at 12:10 on Monday, October 14, 2024, that Florida had restored 100% of the power. That means in 5 days, 4,071,183 accounts were restored! Additionally, countless Floridians did what was necessary to protect their homes and businesses. There are so many people and entities we are thankful for, including all of the linesmen who flood our communities to help restore our power, our folks in political positions doing everything possible to protect our lives and property, and the businesses that remain ready and willing to serve our communities! Thank you!

Please let me know your questions and how I can assist you further!

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!
239-595-6223