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| Photo Credit: AP. |
SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — When Hurricane Ian struck Florida’s Gulf Coast, it washed out the bottom level of David Muench’s home on the barrier island of Sanibel along with several cars, a Harley-Davidson and a boat.
His parents’
house was among those destroyed by the storm that killed at least two people
there, and the lone bridge to the crescent-shaped island collapsed, cutting off
access by car to the mainland for its 6,300 residents.
Hurricane
Ian underscores the vulnerability of the nation’s barrier islands and the
increasing costs of people living on the thin strips of land that parallel the
coast. As hurricanes become more destructive, experts question whether such
exposed communities can keep rebuilding in the face of climate change.
“This is a Hurricane Katrina-scale event,
where you’re having to rebuild everything, including the infrastructure,” said
Jesse M. Keenan, a real estate professor at Tulane University’s School of
Architecture. “We can’t build back everything to what it was — we can’t afford
that.”
Ian slammed
into southwest Florida as a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday with among the
highest windspeeds in U.S. history — in nearly the same spot where Hurricane
Charley, also a Category 4, caused major damage in 2004.
Of the 50
tropical cyclones that have come within 100 nautical miles of the Fort Myers
area since 1873, 23 have been hurricanes that passed within 75 miles (120
kilometers) of Sanibel Island, according to the city’s website. Each posed “a
significant threat to property and lives on the island at some point in its
life cycle.”
In 1921, a
massive hurricane wiped out half of neighboring Captiva’s landmass and cut that
island in two, according to the Sanibel Historical Museum & Village.
The latest
storm has initiated a new cycle of damage and repair on Sanibel that’s played
out on many other barrier islands, from the New Jersey shore and North
Carolina’s Outer Banks to a ribbon of land along the Louisiana coast.
Barrier
islands were never an ideal place for development, experts say. They typically
form as waves deposit sediment off the mainland. And they move based on weather
patterns and other ocean forces. Some even disappear.
Building on
the islands and holding them in place with beach replenishment programs just
makes them more vulnerable to destruction because they can no longer move,
according to experts.
“They move
at the whims of the storms,” said Anna Linhoss, a professor of biosystems
engineering at Auburn University. “And if you build on them, you’re just
waiting for a storm to take them away.”
After
devastating parts Florida, Ian made landfall again in South Carolina, where
Pawleys Island was among the hardest hit places. Friday’s winds and rains broke
apart the barrier island’s main pier, one of several in the state to crumble
and wash away.
On Saturday,
homeowners in the beach community about 73 miles (120 kilometers) up the coast
from Charleston struggled to assess damage from storm. The causeways connecting
the island to the mainland were strewn with palm fronds, pine needles and even
a kayak retrieved from a nearby shoreline.
Like Pawleys
Island, many barrier island communities anchor long-entrenched tourist
economies, which are often the source of crucial tax dollars. At the same time,
the cost of rebuilding them is often high because they’re home to many
expensive properties, such as vacation homes.
“When
there’s a disaster like this, we will pour tens of billions of public dollars
into these communities to help them rebuild,” said Robert S. Young, director of
the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, which is a joint venture
between Duke University and Western Carolina University.
“And we will
ask very little for that money in return in terms of taking a step back from
places that are incredibly exposed to hazards and making sure that we never
have this kind of a disaster again,” Young said.
But any big
changes to the standard disaster response will be complicated, said Dawn
Shirreffs, Florida director of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Challenges
could include decisions on who participates in programs that elevate
flood-prone homes or programs that buy those homes and tear them down. Planting
mangroves to prevent erosion could end up blocking someone’s view.
Many
homeowners bought their properties before people were fully aware of climate
change and the risks of sea-level rise, Shirreffs said.
Keenan, the
Tulane professor, said Sanibel will undoubtedly be changed by Hurricane Ian,
based on the research he’s done. There will be fewer government resources to
help people rebuild. Those with fewer means and who are underinsured will
likely move. People with financial means will stay.
“Sanibel
will just be an enclave for the ultrawealthy,” Keenan said.
But Muench,
the Sanibel resident, said homeowners and business owners are sure to rebuild
their properties.
His family
has owned and operated a campground on the island for three generations. The
island, he said, is “paradise — we live in the most beautiful place on Earth.”
“We are
going to continue to exist on Sanibel,” Muench, 52, said from Fort Myers on
Friday after evacuating Sanibel. “Give us five years, and you might not even
notice if you didn’t know.”
Finley
reported from Norfolk, Virginia. Associated Press reporters Curt Anderson in
St. Petersburg, Florida, and Meg Kinnard in Pawleys Island, South Carolina,
contributed to this story.