County receives Hurricane Ian after-action report
Nearly a year after devastating Hurricane Ian changed Southwest Florida forever, Lee County Commissioners were presented with the official after-action report.
The Lee County Hurricane Ian After-Action Report presented Tuesday morning reviewed the county’s preparedness, response and recovery efforts.
Lee County Assistant County Manager Christine Brady detailed that Hurricane Ian was the third costliest hurricane to make landfall in the United States, totaling $112 billion in damages.
Brady said the report “focuses on county-wide operations, and does not cover department-specific operations.
“If focuses on broad, policy-level issues or operational challenges encountered as a result of Hurricane Ian, and does not document department level issues, adjustments, or improvements that have taken effect during or after the event,” he continued.
“Observations and recommendations in the report are intended to contribute to Lee County’s preparedness and readiness for future storm events.”
The report details 14 different “observations” made in regard to the county’s response and recovery actions before, during and after Hurricane Ian. These observations note actions made by the county, such as opening shelters, leveraging resources, the sending of information and other actions.
Each of these observations comes with recommendations on how to improve the action moving forward. Recommendations include the county coordinating with all Emergency Operation sections and county leadership to develop checklists or job aids for personnel; further developing an EOC guide; continue to explore and evaluate strategies to coordinate shelter operations; convening with other municipalities and entities to establish additional base camp locations, improve information sharing; and more.
The report states that post-landfall, the county initiated Urban Search and Rescue missions, bringing in teams across the state via helicopter. After the storm, 98% of the county was without electricity and numerous roadways, especially to island towns, were virtually impassable. In the first 36 hours after Hurricane Ian’s landfall, officials state that first responders continued to respond to the pending 752 fire and EMS calls received during the storm and consolidated the list down to 26 outstanding calls due to lack of access.
As time passed and recovery efforts continued, so did damage assessment.
Throughout Lee County, 24,585 residential structures and 4,690 commercial structures reported damage. Property loss was estimated at approximately $3.22 billion. The USCG completed its waterway assessment on Friday, Oct. 7.
According to the county, 5,076 homes and 284 businesses were destroyed throughout the county, with 910 businesses suffering major damage and 1,851 suffering minor damage.
The conclusion of the report states, in part: “Hurricane Ian was a massive incident on a scale that few communities will encounter. County staff did work during the response well beyond the typical scope of normal duties, yet seamlessly embraced new and emerging roles and responsibilities. This was also true of multi-jurisdictional, private sector and non- profit stakeholders, who were all committed to working together to support the Lee County community.”
The full report is published on the Lee County government website: leegov.com.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com