HURRICANE MILTON

Update 10/14/24 12:20pm

And the clean up begins….. Thank you Libby for being on top of the damage and getting the tree removal and lawn clean up process started immediately post Milton. Most companies are already weeks out before they can begin. Special thanks to all the owners, renters, owners families and friends for debris clean up. It’s amazing to have seen the property on Friday as compared to it now. We have a long way to go but have made great strides thanks to our Bay Tree community

Removal of tree by car wash

Tree removal behind C #1

Tree removal behind C #2

Tree removal behind C #3

Update 10/14/24 12:30am

Additional videos and pictures of damage around the property. Some may be repeats from the previous post. I had received questions about the beach and cabanas so I have included pictures of those as well. Our new cabana roof held strong with absolutely no damage which is amazing considering the incredible winds it must have been against. We were fortunate to have completed the roof prior to this hurricane season as it very well could be the reason we still have cabanas. The beach has a totally new look. A great deal of our dune is now covering the walkway. There is very little vegetation to the left of the walkway and no vegetation from the top of the walkway to the water. The beach is very wide and as beautiful as always.

The link to the aerial view below shows the damage around the island. Use your mouse to drag the view north and south.

Additional Hurricane Milton Damage 10/14

Video of walkway to beach

Video of the beach from the old bench area

Baby Gopher Tortoise trying to find a snack

Aerial view of Siesta Key – scroll with mouse to move the view

Update to the Update! – 8:00pm

ALL FIRST FLOOR CONDOS APPEAR TO BE DRY!!!!!!!!! The eye of the hurricane hit at Point of Rocks and pushed the surge water that was at our door right back into the bay and kept away the torrential downpours that hit Tampa! Unfortunately our property is NOT in good condition as I incorrectly reported earlier. With the eye of the storm came 102mph winds that did EXTENSIVE damage around the property. The majority of the beautiful oak trees behind C building are down. Several of the windows in A and C buildings were blown out (Bill will take care of boarding up for any owners not at Bay Tree). B building was apparently protected by the Gannon property. Several oaks and palms are down in front of B building. Docks had extensive damage . Entire dock finger is missing on the south dock and two large chunks are missing out of the north dock. Unbelievably the cabanas are still standing and our new roof appears to be intact. Only cabana damage at this point appears to be the loss of another door.

I am working on a document of pictures of the damage around the property. It’s going to take me a bit to compile. I will try to get it uploaded to this page later this evening so check back in the morning. Be prepared for some major devastation.

While we have some big hurdles to overcome, we WILL get through it. In the end we all have our homes to go back to and that is what is most important! We are BAY TREE STRONG!!

First pictures of Hurricane Milton Damage

Midnight Pass post Milton

Update Post Milton – 4:50pm

Promising news! C building owner Phil Brown walked from the bridge down to Bay Tree to check on the property. He reported that his C building first floor condo is dry! Let’s hope we are saying the same about our A and B first floor units. Apparently our docks have considerable damage to them but the rest of the property doesn’t appear too bad. Good news as we were still working on getting damages repaired from Helene! Power is still out and access is still denied to the island. Thanks Phil for bringing some light to a couple of very frightening days.

Update Post Milton – 10/10/24 12:30pm

Still have no power but news coming off of the north end of the Key is promising. The village was dry this morning. Seems the surge there was less than Helene. Praying the south end is the same. Jack Cherin provided the pictures below from across the bay. We still have buildings and docks! Still no access allowed on the key except by foot. They were told by the FEMA guy that you can only walk so far south on Midnight Pass and then you have to swim. (hoping they were referring to the low part of Midnight Pass that floods in every rain). There is a tree down across the road at 7900 Midnight Pass so it’s impassible anyway. Thanks Jack for sharing your pics! Thinking positive thoughts!

Final Update til power returns-

Lost all power and cameras in all three buildings. I’m sure you are all watching the news, but Siesta Key took the eye of the storm at landfall. Could not see the cameras well enough to get videos but surge came up pretty quick and water was up to the edge of the parking lots in front of all three buildings. Can only pray that because we took the eye, the back side of the storm will push the surge out and away from our condos. As a first floor owner, it sickens me to deliver this heart breaking news. Still praying for the best and that the water recedes quickly before any damage is done.

Barb

8:00 Update –

Cameras going off and on as the power flickers. Visibility on the cameras is extremely poor. Additional videos will not likely be possible. Latest update says landfall on Longboat with extreme storm surge on Siesta Key of 15-20ft. Praying for us all that they are very wrong.

6:13 Update –

Conditions are getting worse so I tried to take videos from around the property assuming we might lose power soon. It’s getting dark which will deteriorate the quality of the videos I will continue to post as long as I can. Whatever happens we are BAY TREE STRONG!!

5:30 Update –

Winds continue to be strong in bursts. Looks like the wind direction is changing with the outer bands moving in. Good news with the drop of the strength to a Cat 3, Siesta Key’s expected wind speed at 9pm went from 90mph down to 73mph. We will take everything we can get! Looks like the worst time for the wind will be from 7pm to 11pm

4:13 Update –

Still lucky to have power! Rain bands are bringing heavier rains at times and winds seem to be picking up in bursts. Bay is very choppy. Damaging tornadoes on the east coast in Martin and St Lucie County and several tornadoes in outer bands just south of that area.

Milton has been downgraded to a Cat 3! KEEP ON DROPPING and get in and get out!

3:09 Update –

Still a light rain with just mild wind gusts. B parking lot has receded just a bit. Bay is very choppy but still not over the wall. Standing water between the cabanas from rain only. Included a snapshot of all cameras below in case you can expand to see more detail of property.

I will update pics as I see changes.

all cameras 04:55pm