- Jellyfish-like creatures called Blue Buttons that spit out waste through their mouths are washing up on Texas beaches CBS News
- Watch out for these blue creatures washing up on Texas beaches KHOU 11
- Galveston blue jellyfish: Tentacled sea creature ‘blue buttons’ spotted ashore on Texas beaches along Gulf of Mexico KTRK-TV
- Bright blue ‘buttons’ washing up on Texas coast, photos show. But don’t press them Fort Worth Star-Telegram
- Invasive Australian spotted jellyfish washes ashore Texas beach. Here’s what you should know KPRC Click2Houston
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A Florida woman is barricading herself inside a Daytona Beach hospital room after shooting her terminally ill husband
CNN
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A woman has confined herself to a room inside a Daytona Beach, Florida, hospital after shooting her terminally ill husband on Saturday, police say.
Officers arrived at the Advent Health Hospital after receiving a report of about a person being shot, Daytona Beach police said in a release obtained by CNN affiliate WESH.
“Officers have evacuated staff and patients around the room, and at this time the female is not seen as a threat to staff or patients. No one else has been injured,” the release said. “We are currently negotiating with the female to get her to surrender and come out of the hospital.”
Dr. Joshua Horenstein, a cardiologist at Advent Health Hospital, was working in the emergency department when he learned of the shooting incident.
“Someone came in screaming in the emergency department that this was not a drill and to shelter in place,” Horenstein told CNN while hiding in a supply room with a nurse.
Horenstein said he was finally able to leave the supply room after roughly 90 minutes.
Daytona Beach Police are expected to hold a press conference Saturday afternoon, according to a tweet on the department’s verified Twitter account.
Police are asking people to stay away from the area.
CNN has reached out to hospital staff, some who are currently on lockdown inside the hospital.
The status of the woman’s husband is unclear at this time.
GMA3 Cohosts T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach Take Their Relationship Public on the Beaches of Miami
Daytime television’s most talked about couple is getting it all out in the open, literally. Good Morning America 3 co-hosts turned lovers, T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach were recently spotted on a Miami Beach getaway in their first public appearance since the scandal broke. Despite Holmes’ recent filing for divorce from wife Marliee Fiebig, and Robach’s very current marriage to Andrew Shue, the two weren’t at all shy to pack on the PDA.
Photos obtained by Page Six show Holmes and Robach getting hot and handsy in the beachside city, with the couple arm in arm, Robach clinging to her new beau as if he were the last man on earth. The two were also seen strolling on the pier, kissing in broad daylight, and sharing cocktails on the Miami restaurant scene.
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According to People, the new pair also has been traveling together between Atlanta and New York before arriving in Florida. The outlet reported that the two “spent the holidays together and are spending all of their time together right now. They are fully in a relationship. They are not hiding anything because they have no reason to.”
Fans also noticed that Robach recently reactivated her Instagram account after taking it down briefly once the news of the romance broke. Rumors began circulating about the canoodling co-hosts back in November, but the sources close to the two say that they’ve been seeing each other since March of this year. And while they have each been estranged from their respective partners, T.J. Holmes’ wife says that she was completely “blindsided.”
“She’s devastated. She had no idea,” a source spilled to Page Six in early December. “They haven’t been together in [a while], but they were trying to work it out.
There have been no murmurings from Robach’s husband about the “affair” but her stepson Nathaniel Shue is apparently with all the shade. Over the holiday the 26 year old posted a pic of himself, his brothers and his father without Robach, captioning the post: “Riders on the storm. On to ‘23.”
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Shocked couple discovers ‘alien hand’ on beach: ‘Looks like ET’s bones!’
Life’s a beach — or is it a boneyard?
A skeletal hand appendage washed up in Brazil this week — and a horrified couple was shore it was “alien bones.”
Leticia Gomes Santiago and her boyfriend Devanir Souza were taking a romantic stroll on the beach when they happened upon it.
The pair filmed the hand — found in the sands of Ilha Comprida, São Paulo State, Brazil — next to Santiago’s flip flop as a size reference, noting how “big” it was.
“We think it is not human because of the size and amount of bones,” Santiago said. “What could it possibly be?”
It could have belonged to some sort of aquatic mammal, or, they mused, something not of this world. So, of course Santiago sought out social media experts to discover the truth.
“We don’t know what animal it is, and if it’s an alien, even worse,” she posted to her followers.
One commenter proceeded to joke that it could be the beloved extraterrestrial from Steven Spielberg’s beloved 1982 film about a pint-sized alien, or perhaps it belonged to a creature from prehistoric times.
“Looks like ET’s hand,” one person quipped.
“[It’s a] mermaid hand!” argued another.
“Might as well be a dinosaur bone!” stated someone else.
“Take it to a biologist, because this isn’t normal,” one sane person advised — and that’s just what they did.
Eric Comin, a marine biologist, claimed the eerie hand probably belonged to a cetacean, a group of sea mammals which includes dolphins, porpoises and whales, hence the size, Jam Press reported.
His deductions were made upon first glance, noting that more testing would be necessary to exactly determine which creature of the sea the mysterious flipper belonged to — although he’s convinced it’s probably a dolphin.
Solely based on the images he’s seen, the rate of decomposition told the biologist the mammal was most likely dead in the water 18 months ago.
People who discover remains, he added, should report it to the Cananéia Research Institute (IPEC).
Odd or unknown animals of the sea — or parts of them — are known to wash up on shores, like last month, when an unidentified “globster” was discovered on an Oregon beach.
The mysterious creature from the deep looks like a massive blob and smelled like “decomposing mammal,” according to the local who stumbled across it.
“We always prioritize leaving the bones on the beach so it does not interfere with the cycling of nutrients within the ecosystem,” Henrique Chupill, the spokesperson for IPEC, told Jam Press.
“Eventually, when there is some scientific interest, we collect them to be used in studies. If they are recently-deceased animals, we collect them to perform necropsies and identify the cause of death.”
Hurricane Nicole: Beachfront homes in small Florida community washed away
CNN
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Trip Valigorsky’s beachfront home in a tight-knit community in Volusia County, Florida had been in his family for nearly 15 years before it was washed away this week, as the dangerous storm surge and powerful winds caused by Hurricane Nicole swept across Florida.
“This home was my grandma’s favorite place,” Valigorsky told CNN. “Some of the best memories with her were here.”
Valigorksy is just one of many residents in the beachfront neighborhood of Wilbur-By-The-Sea whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the storm.
In Volusia County, at least 49 beachfront properties, including hotels and condos, have been deemed “unsafe” in the aftermath of Nicole, which hit Florida’s eastern coast south of Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday before weakening into a tropical storm and eventually becoming a post-tropical cyclone Friday afternoon.
Video from the county shows homes crumbling, reduced to wreckage, as Nicole’s waves erode the coastline. Separate video shows the county’s beach safety office collapsing into the rising water.
Sea level in this part of Florida has risen more than a foot in the past 100 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and most of that rise has occurred in the past three decades.
Scientists and researchers have long warned that sea level rise is leading to more erosion and high-tide flooding — particularly during extreme coastal storms.
This has put even more stress on seawalls that are meant to protect coastal communities from high waves and water levels, many of which were destroyed this week by the storm surge. One seawall that was put up on Tuesday, which Valigorsky and his neighbors had hoped would protect their properties from damage, crumbled into the ocean by Wednesday, he said.
“It was stressful wondering if it would fall, and here we are,” Valigorsky said.
On Wednesday morning, Valigorsky decided to grab his essential belongings and his dog to evacuate the area as he watched the storm become even more severe. By the time he returned, all that remained of his home was the garage and the front foyer.
As his community begins to rebuild their neighborhood in the aftermath of Nicole, Valigorsky said he plans to reconstruct his home alongside his neighbors who also lost theirs.
Another resident, Phil Martin, lost his entire home during the hurricane this week.
“It was the most devastating thing to see,” Martin said. “We didn’t think it would be this bad.”
Martin said he has lived in the area for two years and the home was his permanent residence where he spent time with his children and grandchildren, playing soccer in the backyard or walking down to the beach.
“There’s no politics at the beach, everyone gets along,” Martin said, adding that his community and those surrounding Wilbur-By-The-Sea are keeping his spirits high.
“Everything happened very fast with this one,” he said. “But we’re going to rebuild, we’ve got this.”
Just six weeks ago, Hurricane Ian’s storm surge eroded parts of Florida’s eastern coast, hitting the area where a seawall was built behind Martin’s home as well as his neighbors’. Now, he said, that seawall is gone.
The back-to-back nature of storms is making seawalls – which are already aging – more vulnerable, Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, previously told CNN.
“It doesn’t really take a strong storm – you just need high tides or storm-agitated tides to wash away or put extra stress on the walls,” he said. “Having these two storms six weeks apart, if you don’t give places any time to repair or replenish, each storm definitely leaves its mark.”
Arlisa Payne, who has been a resident of the beachfront community for most of her life, told CNN affiliate Spectrum News 13 that she’s “never seen anything like this” after assessing the damage caused by Hurricane Nicole.
Although her home survived the storm, Payne said that she is concerned the seawall in front of her house is at risk of collapsing.
The mother of four children said many of her neighbor’s homes were not damaged by Hurricane Ian but they were hit hard by Nicole, making it difficult for the community to prepare for such storms.
“I think this caught a lot of people off guard,” she said. “How do you prepare for this? People can’t prepare for it.”
Hurricane Nicole: Florida picks up after storm kills at least 5 and leaves ‘unprecedented’ damage to Daytona-area coastline
CNN
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As Nicole threatens the Carolinas and Virginia on Friday with tornadoes and flooding, Floridians – many still recovering from Hurricane Ian – are picking up the pieces after this week’s storm killed at least five people and ripped apart buildings with its dangerous storm surge and powerful winds.
In Volusia County, Florida, at least 49 beachfront properties, including hotels and condos, have been deemed “unsafe” in the aftermath of Nicole, which hit Florida’s eastern coast south of Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday before weakening into a tropical storm and eventually becoming a post-tropical cyclone Friday afternoon.
“The structural damage along our coastline is unprecedented,” Volusia County Manager George Recktenwald said in a news conference, adding more buildings will likely be identified as compromised.
As Nicole turns to the northeast, a tornado watch is in effect for portions of northeastern North Carolina, central, eastern and southeast Virginia until 6 p.m. Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
Track Nicole here >>
As the storm – the first hurricane to hit the US in November in nearly 40 years – walloped Florida, Ian-battered coastal buildings were compromised even more by coastal erosion. Deputies went door to door Wednesday evacuating residents from structurally unsound buildings in Volusia County ahead of Nicole’s arrival.
In Wilbur-By-The-Sea – a barrier island community off Daytona Beach – 22 homes were evacuated in advance after officials deemed them unsafe.
Then amid Nicole, some oceanfront homes collapsed into the ocean.
Trip Valigorsky unlocked the front door to his home to see a gaping hole leading to crashing ocean waves where his living room had once stood. Pointing to where the television and sofa used to be, he told CNN affiliate WKMG he was in shock.
“I was here Tuesday night and I kind of watched the wall deteriorate, and then I woke up Wednesday morning and the wall was completely gone, so I started evacuating,” Valigorsky said. “And now here we are.”
Nicole also pushed a huge volume of water onshore, tearing through infrastructure already strained by Ian.
Storm surge peaked Thursday morning at around 6 feet, sending rising ocean water to streets. A lower surge also pushed ashore on top of exceptionally high tides associated with this week’s full moon, keeping water levels high longer.
Homes nearly hung off cliffs and Daytona Beach hotels crumbled into the ocean in the storm’s aftermath, drone video showed.
“The devastation is almost impossible to comprehend. Imagine watching your home collapse into the ocean,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood tweeted.
Nicole is weakening as it passes Georgia and heads into the Carolinas, but it still poses dangers, CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said.
The tornado watch in effect Friday covers about 4.2 million people, including Virginia Beach and areas just south of Washington, DC.
Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph are also possible and more than 12 million people are under wind alerts from Georgia into the Carolinas.
This system is expected to produce an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain across the central Appalachians, mid-Atlantic, and New England through Saturday morning, before pushing away from the US East Coast, according to the US Weather Prediction Center.
As remnants of Nicole race northward Friday through Saturday, its tropical moisture will be absorbed by a separate cold front, which delivered blizzard conditions across the northern Plains, CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam said.
Heavy rain and gusty winds in excess of 30 mph will make traveling along the Interstate 95 corridor tricky. Meanwhile, airline travel will likely be disrupted at many East Coast airports as the storm moves through.
As the colossal storm approached Florida, schools and universities closed, hundreds of flights were canceled, airports halted operations and some coastal residents were evacuated.
After Nicole passed through, streets were left flooded, roads and homes were damaged, and thousands were without power. More than 300,000 customers in Florida were affected by outages earlier; the number had fallen by late Friday morning to about 14,000, according to PowerOutage.us.
Two people died after being “electrocuted by a downed power line” in Orange County, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Two additional deaths are being investigated as possibly storm-related following a fatal car accident, according to Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.
Also killed was a 68-year-old Port Canaveral man who had been on a yacht early Thursday morning as it was “being battered by the waves and the dock,” the Cocoa Police Department said. After his wife called 911 to report her husband was in distress, rescuers took the couple to a hospital. He was later pronounced deceased, police said, adding the cause of death isn’t yet determined.
Downed power lines in flooded streets are among a multitude of hazards residents must maneuver in the hurricane’s wake as they return to their homes, and crews work to clear debris from roadways and conduct emergency repairs to washed out roads.
Nicole strikes Florida’s east coast as the first US hurricane in November in nearly 40 years
Editor’s Note: Affected by the storm? Use CNN’s lite site for low bandwidth.
CNN
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Nicole has weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall early Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane along the east coast of Florida, knocking out power to thousands, pushing buildings near collapse and flooding the coast as the first hurricane to hit the US in November in nearly 40 years.
Follow live updates >>
The storm struck just south of Vero Beach with winds of 75 mph before quickly weakening, the National Hurricane Center said. Its strong winds, downpours and storm surge thrashed some areas hit in September by Hurricane Ian.
A tornado threat, plus powerful wind and rain, are expected to continue Thursday in parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. A tropical storm warning is in effect from Juniper, Florida, to the South Santee River in South Carolina and along Florida’s west coast – where Ian first struck – from Bonita Beach to Indian Pass, plus Lake Okeechobee. Storm surge warnings also remain in place across coastal Florida and Georgia.
“Given the uncertainty of the storm’s strength and path as it approaches South Carolina, residents need to have their personal emergency plans ready to go just in case we need to take safety precautions later in the week,” said Kim Stenson, who heads the state’s emergency management division.
At 7 a.m. ET Thursday, Nicole was still packing 60-mph sustained winds and centered about 30 miles southwest of Orlando, moving west-northwest at 14 mph.
Track Nicole here >>
Up to 8 inches of rain could drench eastern, central and northern portions of Florida. And between 2 to 6 inches are expected from parts of the US southeast to the southern and central Appalachians and western mid-Atlantic through Friday, the hurricane center said.
Nicole is expected to weaken to a depression early Friday and become a post-tropical cyclone over the Southeast.
Here’s what to know now:
Tens of thousands without power: More than 240,000 homes and businesses were without power early Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us.
Crews set to survey damage: In Indian River County, officials Thursday morning will “be assessing debris and messaging cleanup plans,” spokesperson Kathy Copeland. In St. Lucie County, there were so far “no serious reports of damages or injuries,” spokesperson Erick Gill said, adding, “Most likely the biggest impact is going to be beach erosion.”
Residents urged to evacuate unsafe buildings: Ahead of Nicole’s landfall, officials asked people to evacuate some buildings deemed unsafe to withstand the storm. In New Smyrna Beach, some condos were determined to be unsound due to the erosion of a sea wall. And in Daytona Beach Shores, still reeling from Ian’s impact, at least 11 buildings were at risk of collapse, Public Safety Department Director Michael Fowler said.
Volusia County officials told people to leave more than 20 buildings found to be structurally unsound due to Ian’s impact. “There is a strong potential that one or more buildings will collapse during the storm,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood told CNN affiliate WESH-TV on Wednesday.
“Right now, ground zero is here.”
Low tide limits storm surge: Nicole’s peak winds coincided with low tide, limiting the storm surge and inundation on the shore. At Port Canaveral, the surge was measured at just under 6 feet around 4 a.m. ET, just after landfall. Later Thursday morning, surge was down to around 3 feet, but water levels are expected to remain high through high tide, between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Flights canceled and schools closed: The storm’s colossal path led to the closure of many schools, colleges and universities, as well as the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the shuttering of amusement parks. Orlando International Airport halted operations Wednesday afternoon, and Miami International Airport warned of cancellations but did not plan to close.
Historic hurricane: Nicole’s landfall Thursday was the latest in a calendar year a hurricane has ever struck Florida’s Atlantic coast. It broke the record set by the Yankee Hurricane, which hit Florida’s east coast on November 4, 1935.
Earlier impacts: Nicole on Wednesday brought strong winds and dangerous storm surge to the northwestern Bahamas.
Subtropical Storm Nicole is on track to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches Florida
CNN
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A powerful storm packing torrential rain and damaging winds could slam into Florida’s east coast as a Category 1 hurricane this week as many residents are still enduring the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
Subtropical Storm Nicole is expected to strengthen slowly as it approaches the Florida Peninsula, bringing heavy rain that could lead to dangerous storm surges and high winds beginning Wednesday, according to Jamie Rhome, the acting director of the National Hurricane Center.
“We’re probably going to have good chunks of the Florida Peninsula impacted by these conditions,” Rhome said Monday in a video briefing posted online.
More than 20 million people are under tropical storm alerts from Hallandale Beach, Florida, all the way north to Altamaha Sound, Georgia, according to according to CNN Meteorologist Robert Shackelford. Plus, a tropical storm warning has been issued for Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida, he said.
Additionally, more than 5 million people are under storm surge warnings from North Palm Beach northward to Altamaha Sound, including the mouth of the St. Johns River to Georgetown, Shackelford added.
As of early Tuesday, more than 8 million people were under hurricane watches in Florida, Shackelford said. The storm is expected to make landfall Thursday morning above West Palm Beach, he said.
Areas along the state’s west coast from north of Bonita Beach to the Ochlockonee River were also under tropical storm watches Tuesday morning.
Nicole was about 400 miles east-northeast of the northwestern Bahamas Tuesday morning. It is expected to become a tropical storm later Tuesday.
Nicole is not expected to intensify rapidly like Hurricane Ian did in late September when it killed at least 120 of people in its path in Florida and destroyed communities that are still reeling from the destruction.
“We’re not forecasting a major hurricane,” Rhome said. “Again, not an Ian situation, but still a potentially impactful system.”
Impactful in the sense it’s projected to be a strong tropical storm or a Category 1 hurricane by the time it reaches Florida by Wednesday evening into Thursday morning, Rhome said.
“Florida residents need to be taking this seriously,” Rhome said.
The warning comes as a hurricane watch is currently in effect along the east coast of Florida, from the Volusia/Brevard county line to Hallandale Beach, according to the hurricane center.
The watch also extends from just north of Miami to the Space Coast and includes Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Cape Canaveral and Melbourne.
Subtropical Storm Nicole packs wind speed of 45 miles, with higher gusts, Tuesday as it churns toward Florida from the northwestern Bahamas, where a hurricane warning is in effect.
“Dont let the ‘sub’ fool you. #Nicole is a formidable storm that will have major impacts all along the southeastern U.S. coastline, not only near the center. Coastal flooding, large waves and rip currents will extend from the tip of FL to NC,” the National Weather Service explained.
As many people across Florida head to the polls on Tuesday for midterms Election Day, forecasters are warning them to be prepared.
“Florida can expect scattered showers and storm to begin to impact parts of the state by Tuesday afternoon,” Shackelford said.
“The storm surge will be accompanied by large and damaging waves. Residents in the warning area should listen to advice given by local officials,” the hurricane center said.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said online that she’s been briefed on the storm and urged residents to prepare.
“Residents and visitors should monitor the forecast and make sure their storm kit is up-to-date,” Levine Cava said in a social media post. “We’re taking all needed precautions to prepare for potential flooding and power outages.”
Officials are not expecting the storm to impact Election Day on Tuesday.
Rhome, the acting director of the hurricane center, said that the potential for coastal flooding exists for a large area along the eastern coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning Wednesday, adding that some of those areas were hit by Hurricane Ian.
The main threats to Florida are heavy rain amounts up to 7 inches, and storm surge that could rise up to 5 feet along the coast combined with high winds. Those conditions are mainly forecast for Wednesday evening and Thursday.
Subtropical Storm Nicole: Hurricane watch issued for Florida’s east coast as the state grapples with Hurricane Ian’s devastation
CNN
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A rare November hurricane could batter Florida’s east coast this week as residents try to recover from deadly Hurricane Ian.
Subtropical Storm Nicole is forecast to keep strengthening and is expected to be a Category 1 hurricane when it approaches Florida’s east coast late Wednesday into Thursday morning, the National Hurricane Center said Monday.
Warmer than normal ocean waters in the region will allow strengthening as the system develops and could lead to the formation of a November hurricane, CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller said.
The last hurricane to strike the US in November was Hurricane Kate in 1985.
A hurricane watch is now in effect along the east coast of Florida, from the Volusia/Brevard county line to Hallandale Beach, the National Hurricane Center said.
The watch extends from just north of Miami to the Space Coast and includes Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Cape Canaveral and Melbourne.
A storm surge watch has also been issued for parts of Florida and Georgia, from Altamaha Sound to Hallandale Beach.
Florida officials have warned residents – including some recently hit by devastating Hurricane Ian – that the new storm could bring heavy rain and damaging winds this week.
“Heavy rainfall, coastal flooding, gale force winds and rip tides will impact eastern Florida and the southeast US,” CNN Meteorologist Robert Shackelford said.
Rainfalls in the Sunshine State could range between 2 and 4 inches, with isolated amounts possibly exceeding 6 inches, Shackelford said.
Already, the US territories of Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands are under a flash flood watch through Monday afternoon, and tropical storm watches are in effect for northwest Bahamas.
Areas south of Tampa – some of which are still trying to recover from Hurricane Ian’s destruction in September – could get drenched with 2 to 4 inches of rain.
Orlando could get 1 to 2 inches of rain, and areas south of Jacksonville could be hit with 1 to 4 inches.
Ahead of the storm, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged residents Sunday to take precautions.
“I encourage all Floridians to be prepared and make a plan in the event a storm impacts Florida,” DeSantis said in a news release.
DeSantis said residents should prepare for an increased risk of coastal flooding, heavy winds, rain, rip currents and beach erosion.
On Tuesday, Election Day, much of the Florida Peninsula can expect breezy to gusty conditions. Chances of rain are expected to increase throughout the day for central and eastern cities such as Miami north to Daytona Beach and inland toward Orlando and Okeechobee.
“Conditions may deteriorate as early as Tuesday and persist into Thursday night/Friday morning,” the National Weather Service in Miami said.
“Impacts to South Florida may include rip currents, coastal flooding, dangerous surf/marine conditions, flooding rainfall, strong sustained winds, and waterspouts/tornadoes.”
DeSantis said officials are coordinating with local emergency management authorities across the state’s 67 counties.
The goal is to “identify potential resource gaps and to implement plans that will allow the state to respond quickly and efficiently ahead of the potential strengthening” of the storm system, the statement said.
Hurricane Ian made landfall September 28 as a strong Category 4 storm on the west coast of the Florida peninsula, packing winds of nearly 150 mph.
The ferocious storm killed at least 120 people in Florida, destroyed many homes and leveled small communities. Thousands of people were without power or water for running days.
Before, after images show Hurricane Ian storm surge completely destroyed some Sanibel Island, Florida hotels
CNN
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Many beach cottages that lined the shores of Sanibel Island were wiped away by Hurricane Ian’s storm surge, new aerial imagery from NOAA shows.
Most homes on Sanibel and Captiva islands are still standing, but appear to have sustained some form of roof damage, in addition to certain storm surge and flooding damage.
Near the Casa Ybel Beach Resort, large scars in the sands are seen – the surge eroded much of the beach and dunes.
If you are unable to see the images, click here.
Shalimar Cottages & Motel is gone, too. Its 14 cottages and entire motel building were wiped away by the storm. At least four cottages – or what remains of them – are sitting in the street.
Mitchell’s SandCastles has also been completely destroyed. There are no buildings left and the property is covered in sand.
Only one building remains of the Waterside Inn on the Beach. The only thing remaining of the eight buildings on the property, which encircle the swimming pool, is debris.
The roofs of the four buildings that comprise Ocean’s Reach have sustained significant damage. It’s unclear how things fared inside the buildings, but a significant debris field is seen behind the buildings. The covered parking structure behind the buildings has been destroyed as well.
Near the Casa Ybel Beach Resort, large scars in the sands are seen – the surge eroded much of the beach and dunes.
Even though storm surge is no longer covering Sanibel, a number of homes remain underwater located on the Sanibel Island Golf Club.