More than seven months since Hurricane Ian left its mark on communities across Southwest Florida and municipalities are still trying to race the clock to repair damage that the storm left behind. In Punta Gorda, crews are trying to repair thousands of damaged seawall panels throughout the city to minimize damage.
“We have been pouring seawall panels for months,” Chris Fankhauser, a community outreach coordinator for the city of Punta Gorda, said.
Fankhauser said crews were still working on repairing Hurricane Irma damage when Ian hit. That storm meant an additional seven-and-a-half miles of seawall needed repairing, which will require thousands of panels.
“Our inspectors have been out through every zone in Punta Gorda Isles and Burnt Store Isles. And every zone has damage,” Fankhauser said.
The city said it will take millions of dollars and up to 18 months to repair the damage and officials expect FEMA to reimburse expenses. In the meantime, the city says it asking for boaters to help limit the damage.
“Sometimes you might not be able to see the damage. But a wake would possibly cause more damage to the seawall before our crews can get in to replace that or repair it. So we are asking all boaters to observe a slow speed, low wake,” she said
Ian caused thousands of five thousand-pound panels to crack or snap throughout the city. In many spots the ground behind the panels is sinking. Fankhauser explains this type of damage wasn’t caused by raging waves instead it was all the water that drained out of the canals and harbor as Hurricane Ian approached Southwest Florida.
“You have the differing forces on the sea walls, you have the force of the earth on one side, and the force of the water on the other side, and it keeps them stable. When you remove one of those forces, you have one that is now increased significantly. So the force of saturated land on one side with no water on the other to hold it up, cause some of these sea walls to crack,” said Fankhauser.
She said crews are working as quickly as possible to get the seawalls repaired and they’re targeting the most critical areas first.
“So if everybody cooperates, we'll be able to get back to enjoying our canal system like we do in times when there's no storms,” said Fankhauser.
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