Posted: November 15, 2005 3:30pm Eastern Time

"It appears that life is getting back to normal after 3 weeks. A few of the guys are golfing this morning but had to go up to Immokolee Rd. to Valencia to get a tee time. Lely is able to use only 1 of its 3 courses. Riviera has only the front nine open and they have no idea when the back nine will be playable. Hibiscus on US 41 was closed all summer for upgrading and was supposed to open on 12/1 but this is in doubt now.

There are lots of 'blue' roofs on the Island. The Board just voted on Friday to replace all of the roofs on buildings A, B, D and E. Work should begin in about 4 weeks. As soon as we can get D roof completed, we will get a new solar panel system installed to help heat the pool. Propane is so expensive! We are still waiting on the insurance adjuster who keeps telling us he will be here in a couple of days.

The most encouraging news is that the plant life here that was damaged with wind and sand are now budding out very quickly with lots of new growth. And the outfall project between The Sands and Beachview is completed on our side. They are now working behind Beachview and next to the priests' house on Flamingo. At least we can open our windows again and sleep through the night without the pump and generator going!

The Island has been very busy and lots of owners have been down to see to their homes and condos. Most will return home for the holidays and return after January 1.

It appears the Essex will not be condemned as a whole but 29 units have been deemed "unlivable" and until all of the repairs are completed, the City will not issue an occupancy permit. The Princess across the street had 20 units condemned. Most of it is water damage from broken windows/doors and roofs which in some cases, compromised the electrical systems. And now mold and mildew in the ones that could not be dried out quickly enough.

But overall, life is getting back to normal and much of the stress is gone. Many people complained that they lost a week somewhere and Rich and I were one of them. Some people will tell you that they would stay again. Others, like me, swear that we will leave. It was difficult not knowing what was happening, but the rain and wind we had in Orlando convinced me that I would not want to be in the center of it all.

Joyce Kaelin"

Posted: November 6, 2005 8:00pm Eastern Time

"It is Sunday, the weather forecast is for low 80's the rest of the week with 0% chance of rain and 60's at night. This is good since some a/c units are not working yet. The temporary roofs should be done tomorrow and then those a/c units can be reset and checked out. After the rain last week, we don't need anymore right now, just a chance to clean up and get repairs done.

All of the local papers have had lots of photos this week and several special sections. A total of 8 people died in Collier County as a result of Wilma. When you see all of the photos of other places, you realize how fortunate we were.

Backwater Nick's on the Isles of Capri is closed until further notice. Many upcoming events have been canceled all over the area. It appears that one of the towers at The Essex down on the South end, may be condemned. Tropicale Isle condos was very heavily damaged. So many boats were sunk or destroyed all over Marco, Goodland, Isles of Capri. Very few pool cages escaped damage. The swales all over the Island are covered with brown tree branches awaiting pickup. FEMA is providing landscaping pickup and removal until about December 1. I think it will take that long!

A mailing was sent to all owners on Friday to help them understand their responsibilities and the Association responsibilities. Tim and Marilyn have been overwhelmed with requests from owners and while they understand the anxiety the owner must be feeling, Tim has the primary responsibility to see to the common areas and secure the property. Quite a few of the owners here have been doing a lot of volunteering.

The City has been great in putting a moratorium on the new water rates until January 1 and not insisting on permits to make most repairs for 60 days.

I will not be sending daily updates now, but will send information when I think we need to.

Joyce"

Posted: November 5, 2005 9:30pm Eastern Time (The following are comments from Lamar Persing (D-202) who rode out the storm in his condo at The Sands)

"IT STARTED WITH WINDS @ ABOUT 1AM AND INCREASED TO HURRICANE STATUS OUT OF THE SOUTH WEST & HIT THE SANDS AT 4AM WITH WINDS IN THE 70 TO 90 MPH WITH A NOISE OF A TRAIN & LASTED TO ABOUT 5AM.   THEN THERE WAS SILENCE FOR 1.5 HOURS.

I WALKED TO THE END OF THE WALKWAY AT THIS TIME TO LOOK AT THE GULF TO SEE THE WAVES.   I COULD ONLY SEE THE WHITE CAPS IN THE DARKNESS AND RETURNED TO THE CONDO.   I DID NOT SEE MUCH DAMAGE AT THIS TIME.   AT ABOUT 6.30 THE BACK END OF THE STORM HIT WITH A QUICK FLURRY OF HIGH WINDS IN AREA OF 90 MPH OR 120 MPH OR MORE AND A SOUND MUCH GREATER THAN I EVER HEARD.   I COULD NOW SEE A LITTLE BETTER AND I SAW PLANTS AND TREES FLY BY AND HIT THE BUILDING AND WINDOW SHUTTERS, ETC RATTLED.

THE STORM HAD TURNED TO COME NOW OUT OF THE NORTH WEST WHICH I FEEL MAY HAVE STOPPED THE TIDAL SURGE.   THIS WAS A 90 DEGREE TURN. THIS IS THE TIME WHEN THE ROOF WAS FLYING OFF.   I SAW A 20FT. SECTION FLY OFF OF B BUILDING AND FLY LIKE A MAGIC CARPET OVER THE POOL AND LAND ON THE FENCE AT THE SOUTH EAST CORNER.   THE ROOFS WERE FLYING OFF OF A B D AND E ALONG WITH THE SOLAR PIPING WHICH LANDED IN THE PARKING LOT ON THE SOUTH SIDE.

THE BACK PART OF THE STORM LASTED ABOUT 2.5 HOURS BEFORE YOU COULD GO OUT.   POWER WENT OUT AT 4AM.   THE BUILDING DID NOT MOVE; IT IS SOLID.   NO WINDOWS OUT OR BROKEN; THE STORM SHUTTERS DID A GOOD JOB.   THE REST IS HISTORY.

LAMAR"

Posted: November 4, 2005 1:00pm Eastern Time (Day 12)

"Yesterday was very busy. Tim & Marilyn needed lots of help so a few of us were at the office and helping to take care of stuff.

The insurance company needed a building by building list of damages - we have not seen the adjuster yet even though he has been promised several times. But they want a list of damages before they will quote our insurance for next year and the policies are up on 11/17/05 so we are really pushing. Duane is hard at work with Tim on the insurance.

After the rain on Tuesday night, more damage was incurred on the top floor units who had damage earlier, plus others. One of the problems is that some lanais do not have the weep holes open or covered up by the shutters and the water can't get out. The water backed up into the living room on a couple of units. The weep holes were either clogged, covered with grout and covered by the shutters.

The roofers should be done today, hopefully and then we will have the A/C man reset the units on the roofs. Lamar worked on the fence/gate by the C/D pool walkway and it looks much better. He also replaced a board or two on the bridge at D/E walkway. One of the big projects coming up next week is the replacement of light, emergency lights, Exit signs and fire extinguisher/hose doors.

We still have not found anyone to remove the tennis court lights but we will address that next week. The tennis court fences, corral fences and pool fences are on the list. All of the plants and trees must be inventoried. Some will come back, some need to be removed or staked. Many of the trees are naked but should come back within a year.

Our biggest concern is the roofs, getting them secured and estimates for new roofs, and the A/C units. We are awaiting 2 estimates on the roofs and should have them next week.

Marco and The Sands lucked out, but you cannot believe the damage. Overall, it will be at least a year before the Island is close to what it was on October 23. The man hours being put in by Tim and Marilyn are incredible. We have insisted they not come near The Sands this weekend. Saturday will be their first day off since October 23. And many owners are volunteering their time to help in any way they can.

Only 26 more days until Hurricane Season is over.

Joyce"

Posted: November 2, 2005 2:00pm Eastern Time (Day 10)

"We had another power outage last night from 6pm to about 9pm. More salt on the wires and connectors. Very frustrating, but we get through it. Tim had to come over and reset the elevators.

It also rained a lot last night but since the rain gauge was blown away by Wilma, we don't exactly know how much. Unfortunately, the roofers are not done and the roofs leaked again! It is slow going without power to seal the rubber roofs. We had hoped they would work on Saturday and Sunday but they could not.

We sent you some photos to put up on the web site. The pool pic was after cleanup but before the heavy roofing material was lifted off yesterday. The fence and gate are damaged.

The weather is beautiful today and the roofers are busy. The outfall construction is going full steam ahead. The lawn was cut yesterday before the rain. Several trees were removed yesterday morning. It is slow going but it is going little by little. Everyone on the Island wants their work done yesterday and we all know it never worked that way before Wilma!

At least the rain last night washed some of the sand and salt from my bedroom window and I can see out of it! It also helped clean more salt off the power lines so hopefully we will not have too many more outages.

Joyce"

Posted: November 1, 2005 9:00pm Eastern Time (Day 9)

"Things are slowly getting back to normal on the island. I think it will take some time however before it is 100%. Everyone was instructed to place all storm materials for disposal on the swales throughout the city for pickup. We were told to separate construction debris from vegetation. As you drive around the city there is debris everywhere -- lots of trees, palm fronds, shrubs and aluminum struts, roofing material and pool cage nets. With most hurricanes, there is rain to wash the salt water off the vegetation, but not Wilma, so most all the plants have dead leaves on the gulf side. It will probably be a year or more before the vegetation is back to what it was.

We had zero damage to our unit. The condo association had some water damage to 3 or 4 top floor units where the roof was torn off. We were lucky to find a contractor to put a $60,000 TEMPORARY roof on -- they will be finished today. Not one broken window in the whole complex! We lost 3 or 4 trees that were blown over and couldn't be saved. Several others were lying on the ground but we were able to prop them up. Part of our roof is still lying on top of the pool fence but that should be removed today. 3 of our tennis court light poles blew down and destroyed the fence around the tennis courts with one of them leaning on the phone lines in the Catholic church parking lot next door.

Most businesses seem to be open, after all, they don't call this mark-up island for nothing! We were very fortunate. It is good we were here to help clean up. Several owners patrolled the grounds picking up roofing material for several days so it looks good from our lanai, especially with a glass of good wine in hand!

I hope this wasn't TMI for you!

Wayne and Carol Anderson"

Posted: November 1, 2005 5:00pm Eastern Time (Day 9)

"It is a very cloudy, rainy day and we are expecting a lot of rain tonight and tomorrow. It is the remnants of a tropical wave. Fortunately, the temporary roofing should be done today, or at least we hope. They have to stop periodically because of the rain but we are hoping it holds off enough to finish the job.

Rich and I took a ride to Mackle Park today. We had read all of the parks on Marco were closed because of damage but have not heard anything else. Mackle Park is closed until further notice and they have lots of tree equipment on the premises. Last year, the City transplanted many of the gumbo-limbo trees and palm trees from South Collier to Mackle Park and it looked beautiful. I suppose many of those are down because of rooting.

The City has already been on San Marco & Bald Eagle to prop up a lot of the canopy trees that the Beautification Committee planted this past year. At least 50% were down and you can see all of the new 2x4's propping them up.

Most business establishments are open. The restaurants are asking people to come in. So far we have not been out to eat but maybe for lunch tomorrow at The Snook Inn. Rich and I need a grouper fix.

Joyce"

Posted: October 31, 2005 2:00pm Eastern Time (Day 8)

"I picked up the SunTimes this morning and they had quite a lot about Marco and Isles of Capri.

Pelican Bend Restaurant lost their Tiki Hut but not much damage other than that. The Capri Fish House Restaurant Tiki on the water was totally destroyed and the inside building was very heavily damaged. Lots of salt water, but the fish tank survived. The boat dock between the two restaurants was totally destroyed as were several boats.

Many beachfront condos had lots of damage. The Marriott only lost about 1 dozen windows on the gulf side.

The roofers are back working today and should be finished tomorrow. Hopefully the temporary roofs will hold until we can get all new ones put up, except for C building. The tree man will be here in the morning to work on the trees. We lost the one fiscus on San Marco Rd. and several Tababuila. All of the shrubs, trees and plants are burned from the wind and sand. It will take a little time for them to come back.

On a side note, the outfall project was picked up again on Thursday and they are going full steam ahead. It is loud, the sand and dirt flying is bad right now, but they sprinkled this morning with a water truck to keep some of it down. The new storm sewers are buried up to about D106 and they are working on the corner between Beachview, San Marco Church and our property. It should be completed in a few weeks and hopefully, they will landscape right away.

Joyce Kaelin"

Posted: October 30, 2005 3:00pm Eastern Time (Day 7)

"It is again a warm, beautiful day on Marco. Temp. about 73 degrees. A lot of folks at the pool taking a well deserved rest. The water is a little cool with no solar heating but just being there is great. And with the cool evenings, we have not needed any A/C.

Owners are arriving daily. The parking lot is getting crowded, especially since we can't use D building lot. It has been very windy and the wind is blowing lots of sand from the outfall project up to our doors on D side.

The NDN used the whole first section as a Wilma special. As I said yesterday, we will try to save some to have on hand if anyone is interested.

The McDevitts and Summys had damage to their pool cages and roofs. But as Joyce M said this morning, it is stuff that can be repaired.

We all have electricity and water. Many in Collier and Lee counties still are without one or both. Bonita Springs was the hardest hit in Lee Co. Chokoloskee, Everglades City and Immokalee were very hard hit. The newer building codes saved a lot of destruction in Marco and Naples and other newer areas.

We still do not know the extent of damages to the local golf courses. Passing by Forest Glen on Wednesday, we saw a great deal of cleanup going on. The mobile homes at Riviera Golf Estates were mostly destroyed, most certainly affecting the golf course. Charlie took out a lot of trees there last year.

Joyce"

Posted: October 29, 2005 1:03pm Eastern Time

"Today at 1pm, it is 71 degrees, sunny and beautiful. Workers are picking up landscaping debris on the Island and there is lots of it. Tim and Marilyn have been here since about 8:30am working.

Someone reminded me to warn everyone to be careful walking, especially barefoot in the grass. There are still roofing nails lurking that are invisible until you step on them. There have been a number of flat tires because of the debris everywhere on the Island. We are carrying a 'Fix-a-flat' in the car just in case.

Sunday, the Naples Daily News will have a special section on Wilma. Hopefully we can save a few for everyone to see when they arrive.

Falling Waters at 951 & 41 still has sections without power. Most of the agriculture has been wiped out in Collier County. Citrus trees were stripped, greenhouses were destroyed, so lots of farm workers are without jobs. Most businesses on Marco are open.

Joyce"

Posted: October 28, 2005 8:00pm Eastern Time

"What a day! At 3am, a lot of folks were awakened by booms of transformers blowing! The sea salt had accumulated on the wires, connectors and transformers and the dew settling on them caused them to blow. All of Marco was without power from about 5am today. We received a Code Red Alert from the City telling us the problem but no time table on restoration of power. All throughout the day the estimates were 4days, 4-7 days, Nov. 15th! We were getting pretty upset, but decided that we would have a cookout on the propane grill on Saturday night for all of the residents with the food in our freezers and refrigerators. Publix was giving away all of their ice since it was melting.

Several residents decided to get away to family members elsewhere. The rest of us decided to give it a day or two. After cooking a couple of steaks on the grill, and dining by candlelight, our phone rang. It was another Code Red Alert telling us that power would be restored soon and if we did not have power by 2pm on Saturday, to call City Hall. Ten minutes later the power came on and you could hear a cheer throughout the condo.

Tim arrived shortly thereafter and reset all of the elevators so the folks on the upper levels could get out.

I tell you now that I am so glad we have LCEC in place of FL Power & Light. LCEC has been here and restored power so quickly, even in disasters. FPL is still having a hard time in Naples, Bonita, etc.

We are almost ready to open the Champagne - but will give it a few more days. This is day 4 after Wilma and we are in great shape! We are truly blessed.

Joyce"

Posted: October 28, 2005 7:45pm Eastern Time

Great news! The power for the Sands was restored this evening (10-28) at approx 7:45.

Wayne Anderson

Posted: October 28, 2005 7:00pm Central Time

To view Public Notices from the City of Marco Island, FL , Click on Marco Island Public Notices.

Posted: October 28, 2005 6:00pm Central Time

The following is information sent in by Pat Ettensohn:

"I had signed up to receive emails from the City of Marco Island city hall and got this one this morning. So I think the outages up to that point had to be sporadic. These emails have been super and it’s valid information. When they’re back up and running, you can go to cityofmarcoisland.com and follow the instructions to get these emails. Our condo at Club Marco had no damage so we are very thankful for that. There was the usual vegetation loss and some other minor damages to a few units, but ours didn’t even lose a roof tile. We are still in Ohio due to Bob’s eye problems, but will head south when the doctor gives the O.K. We don’t know when that will be. We’re glad we couldn’t leave on Oct. 15th as originally planned. All in all, I think Marco has fared pretty well."

Here is the information that Pat received from the City Hall:

"PLEASE BE ADVISED:

There will be wide spread power outages on Marco Island due to the build up of salts on electric substations and transformers. The salt has mixed in with moisture from the dew, resulting in failures of the electrical system.

There will be a city wide power outage with in hour or so. Please alert friends and neighbors.

LCEC and the city Fire Department are currently washing the electric substations and transformers. Power will be restored in increments as the salt is washed off.

The phone service to City Hall will be disrupted until power is restored".

Posted: October 28, 2005 3:30 Central Time

First, the good news. Our Condos came through the hurricane very well compared to others. Mostly superficial damage. The roofs were damaged but are being repaired.

The bad news is that last night all the power on the island went off! All the transformers blew and the island has no power. The power company says that it may be a couple days to maybe even several weeks before they can restore all the power. Hence, there will be no e-mails coming from Marco Island for a while. I will try to keep up on the news on a day to day basis and will post it on the website. Joyce told me that it appears that the Mariner was lucky too and doesn't have extensive damage. The South end of the island got hit harder than we did. The Essex, which is just about a mile south of us on Collier, was damaged a lot; windows out and some structural problems.

If you have any specific questions, send me an e-mail and I will attempt to get the answer and place it on the website.

Joe Ferris E-101
E-mail: jferris@tponet.com
Phone: 920.734.9554
Fax: 920.734.7311

Posted: October 27, 2005

Hi all,

Just a quick note. Arrived back on Marco yesterday about noon and just connected my computer 20 min. ago. Have spent the better part of my time in the office helping with phone calls, etc.

Damage - All roofs except C building sustained some damage. As I write this, we have a contractor putting on a temporary rubber roof until the roofs can be assessed by the insurance company and be replaced.

Many A/C units on the roofs were MOVED, but not off of the roof - only across the roof. The Board has contacted someone who will move them back and reconnect them after the roofs have been repaired. You will be billed for this. It should be covered by your Wind Insurance. You may want to check with them.

Trees and shrubs are damaged or destroyed. A few units have damage such as screens, lanai shutters and a few have water damage from the roofs. All but one of the tennis court lights are down - 2 on the courts and one on the telephone wire near the church. The tennis court fence is damaged as is the corral and the pool fence. One of the fiscus trees on San Marco Rd. is down (Yeah!!).

A lot of photos are being taken and we will try to post some on the Internet if possible.

Marco is damaged but, as City Manager, Bill Moss, reported. Marco is open for business. Most of the Island has power and phone service. The boil water order has been rescinded. We still have a curfew of 10pm to 7am so if you come in, you must have papers to pass the police during curfew hours.

The best news is that most units have no damage at all. Most of the damage is external.

We will try and keep you posted as often as possible, but there is a lot of work and we have lots of owners on cleanup detail and they are doing a fantastic job.

If you have any questions, please email me at jrk8042@aol.com and I will get back to you ASAP.

Joyce Kaelin