As we turned onto Myakka Avenue we started to see the total damage. The other MRMR residents who arrived to the resort prior to us had cut a path down the avenue so that vehicles would pass. They had to cut about 60 trees that laid across the road. As we crept to the gate we found that it was wide opened so we kept going past downed palm trees and debris spewed everywhere. We were able to transverse the roads and park in front of our lot. We couldn’t pull the bus in because our driveway was inaccessible. We got out and accessed our damage:
Dismayed at what we saw regarding our pergola and lanai, but happy that the casita was virtually unscathed. The pergola lost all the louvers, some screens, door, fan, and the upper granite top on the bar. Our lanai was leaning about 20 degrees as the cross bracing held it from falling down – a complete loss. Some of our bushes were torn out and would need to be replaced.
After seeing our damage we decided to look around the entire resort. This is what we found:
The roof of the clubhouse was completely damaged, very few fronds left on any palm trees, the concrete railing around the pool knocked over in places, most of the perimeter fencing destroyed, garbage everywhere, and vegetation debris spewed around. Very disheartening.
One thing that we love about our MRMR Family was how much everyone jumped in to help restore our resort to the beauty that was just there last week. There was a core of eight people at the beginning clearing debris, cleaning the streets, and removing downed trees and bushes. Since the Twisted Fork restaurant down the street had power and was serving a limited meal we decided to take a break:
Left to Right: Beth, Mike, Dennis, Mike, Ed, Katrina. Not pictured: Ron and Jessica
Residents that weren’t physically there sent food and care packages. More people would start coming down once the basic utilities were restored.
Living in a coach is fantastic as we are self sufficient until you run out of fresh water, or your tanks fill up, or you run out of diesel which runs your ACs. Tom Connor started driving down to MRMR with full tanks of diesel in his truck which could hold hundreds of gallons of the liquid gold. Within a couple of days Florida Power & Light restored the electricity which meant that we could shut off our diesel generators. Tom turned around as our dire need for diesel was averted.
What a fantastic community we found! Almost everyone was working all day long on the restoration with more help on the way everyday. Here are some pictures showing the dedication:
MRMR could have of course hired outsiders to restore our resort but it would have been costly and it would have taken so much time as workers in every discipline were busy else where. As an example, our louver company received 10,000 calls the day after Ian hit. Our saving grace were local renters, who are staying at our resort as they build a house, Jeff and Jodi O’Donnell. Jeff owns a Kubota and a flat bed trailer which enable us to pull out trees, push rocks, load vegetation and haul it away. Luckily we could throw all of our debris out on the shoulder of Myakka Avenue and the state would come and pick it up. Jeff & Molli Wills and Sam & Lee took a week off from their hiking trip with chain saws to clear all the trees particularly the ones hanging over our perimeter fence. Once those were cleared the fence was able to be straightened, rebuilt and cleaned. They were a tremendous help! Our next door neighbors, Roger and Wendy Hockstra arrived which enabled us to replace the trees and bushes between our two lots as we had planned.
We got the resort back into shape enough to continue to have renters starting in late October. But it took about two plus months to restore the place back to what we could accomplish without insurance claims, building permits, and professionally licensed contractors. As of this date our clubhouse has a brand new roof and our sunset deck is scheduled to be completed. The interior has been painted but we are still awaiting the new floor.
As of this date personally we have a new lanai with power but we are still awaiting the power screen. In the pergola we have replaced screens and door, but we are still awaiting the new louvers and granite top. We replaced the trees and bushes and I repainted the entire casita.
Although it took time, perseverance, money and patience to recover from the direct hit of Hurricane Ian we feel very lucky compared to the devastation we witnessed around the area. We are really looking forward to spending time in our little piece of paradise next season without having to work so hard.
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