Marco Island survived

Approximately 1,000 people stayed on the island when the storm hit. No fatalities as far as I can tell. News has been hard to come by. Below is a letter the condo association sent to all the owners. Eddie better get a Christmas bonus.

"Eddie, our maintenance manager, and twelve other owners and/or residents and/or family members of owners remained in the building throughout Hurricane Irma – thankfully, they all worked together, supported each other, and are well (considering what they have been through).  Frankly, that is the most important thing!

Very quickly:

1. Power went out yesterday morning (Sept. 10) and no one knows when it will return.  The building generator is operating and is keeping the essentials running, with power to the Social Room.  There is NO power to your units – assume no air conditioning and no working refrigerators.
2. We were fortunate that there was not the storm surge that was predicted – the sand berm or dune held against the gulf, which completely covered the beach – perhaps a 4 foot storm surge.
3. Our damage came from the front and East side of the storm.  Those units on the island side of the building were affected the most, i.e. those units with old windows (without high impact glass) were either blown out or broken by flying debris.  We are currently making a quick survey of the building but if you had not updated your windows and have a unit on the island side, you should assume that your unit windows were breached and that you have unit damage.  Please notify your insurance carrier as soon as possible.  Eddie and other staff are working on the building and will not be able to provide any assistance to you at this point.  We are making efforts to secure someone to board up windows but workers and lumber are absent, and no one knows for sure when the Island will be accessible.
4. Our main damage is from water intrusion through the compromised windows.  We are working to contain that water but it has spread to the hallways and probably to other units.
5. Our roof for the building held, but the farthest carport roof (closest to the street) blew off, causing flying debris.
6. All palm trees are down – many broken like toothpicks – but much of the rest of the landscaping that was low survived.  One palm is in the pool and the grill area is “gone”.  Eddie will move the grills back outside when it is safe to do so, which will provide a cooking surface for those at the building.
7. I am receiving reports from other buildings, and some reports are much worse than ours.  I have also received unverified reports relating to City infrastructure, bridges being evaluated, etc., so at this point I have no real information as to whether the City is accessible or habitable.  Before attempting to come down, please check with the City and others, as well as a Board Member or Management Team member, to make sure to you can get to your unit.

In many ways, considering we took a direct hit from a major hurricane, the news is better than might be expected; on the other hand, there will be much work to perform over the next weeks and months to get our building and grounds back to A-1 shape.  Your Board is committed to this process and will act as quickly and appropriately as possible.  Many of us have offered up our units and the supplies therein to those on site to aid in their safety.  Eddie has served as the rock or anchor for our building and all of us are in his debt.  We anticipate that we will have your full cooperation as we put our building and property back together."