Wild Weather, Prayers, and Duct Tape

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Since the beginning of the Marco Beach Boys and Girls there has always been more than enough action and adventure in the lives of those that call Marco Island home in the summer. When thunderstorms climb, and the heavens turn dark with ominous clouds and lighting, everyone suddenly becomes a pioneer, because no one knows if the worst tempest ever is still to come.

During the last week of September of the previous year, a particular Marco Beach Boy and Girl were hosting in their Marco home a young couple from Germany. Darlene and Max are from Dortmund Germany and are regulars to Marco Island during the summer season. The kids normally visit in August and stay for about three weeks, but on their last visit to the island, they chose late September.

When Hurricane Ian popped up on the weather map - on every media source available - everyone in the little Marco Island home began to watch the weather carefully. When the storm began to gather strength, the television was constantly switching channels to learn of different forecasts and conflicting opinions on which way the storm was heading.

Tampa Bay was a likely landfall the forecasters agreed, until about sunset on the day before the storm was due to arrive. With everyone gathered and watching a local Fort Myers weather anchor, there was an overwhelming silence after the forecaster spoke: “I don’t want to scare anyone, but this hurricane is gathering strength and beginning to look like a worst-case scenario for Southwest Florida. The forecast track has now shifted to the east and we are expecting the landfall of a category four hurricane somewhere around Fort Myers.”

Before anyone could speak, all of the phones in the room began sounding with an urgent alert: The message was that an evacuation of Marco Island was an urgent recommendation.

When the phone warning was complete, the Fort Myers weather anchor began repeating his earlier statement. “I don’t want to scare anyone, but this is a very dangerous and major hurricane headed our way.”

When the remote silenced the weather forecaster, Darlene began looking around the room. “I don’t know about anyone else,” she said. “But that guy on TV is scaring me!”

There was nervous laughter followed by sudden telephone calls to everywhere. There were calls to family members on Marco and there were face-time telephone calls to family members in Germany. No one knew quite what to do. Normally there was time to prepare, and days to make a plan and choose an evacuation destination. This time everyone agreed that it would be better to ride out the storm in a sturdy house than in a car stuck in a traffic jam without a restroom. Perhaps not a great idea, no one knew.

By midnight, the wind and the rain was howling out of the southeast. This was when the particular Marco Beach Boy and Max from Germany went outside with safety glasses to check the position of the storm. Without eye protection, flying debris can be dangerous.

An old mariner’s tool for forecasting the direction and center of a hurricane is simple. While facing directly into the wind, hold out the right arm directly to the right side of the body and point: where the hand is pointing is the current position of the storm unless you happen to be in the eye or the center of the vortex. According to the simple calculation, Hurricane Ian was southwest of Marco sometime after midnight.

Before dawn, the old mariner method was showing the gusting wind and rain coming directly out of the south, which was the indication that the storm was churning directly offshore and to the west of Marco. So far so good. Only a few limbs were broken off the trees and the window shutters were holding up nicely. The wind and the rain were heavy but steady…and then the electricity went out.

When the overcast dawn did arrive, the wind in the trees was wild and everyone’s yard was a tangle of broken branches and anything else that was flying before the wind.

The danger from the tidal surge came down the street about mid-morning. At first, the water was only a small stream arriving from the south and heading north. The surface of the street, however, soon went underwater, and in only an hour, the seawater came creeping up the driveway. The best gauge of the depth of the water was the mailbox, and as everyone watched with growing fear, the water kept rising.

When the water was almost to the garage, the cars were quickly moved onto the grass on the highest part of either side of the house. A few minutes later, the water was coming into the garage. This was when Max from Germany asked. “Do we have any duct tape?”

After the answer was, “Yes,” and with Max’s suggestion, the taping began on all of the seams on all the doors from the inside. A few moments later, the water from the street began flooding the backyard. In another very few minutes, the water was over the pool and the beautiful pool water turned dark and scary.

The water was now about eight inches deep in the garage and everything from running shoes to lawnmower gas cans were floating. When the water came up over the sliding glass doors at the pool deck, the heavy-duty duct tape held. There was now ten inches of water visible through the glass of the doors. The duct tape was holding, but there was a steady stream of water coming through a rubber seal where the metal of one of the doors met the glass. Everyone was praying hard that the water would come no higher. After about two hours of furiously fighting the leak with about twenty towels, the prayers were answered and the water began to recede. By late afternoon, the Marco Beach Boy and Girl along with the German kids that would forever now be family were walking down the street and checking on neighbors.

Tom Williams is a Marco Islander and the author of two books: “Lost and Found” and “Surrounded by Thunder - The Story of Darrell Loan and the Rocket Men.” Both books are available on Kindle and Nook.

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