In Houston, there were heartbreaking stories of people evacuating and abandoning their pets. We all saw photographs and videos of rescuers going house to house, rescuing dogs from the floods. It was just a little bit different this time around in Florida. The state of Florida is well-equipped to handle flooding, so it was always the 100+ MPH winds that were the biggest concern. ONe thing that wasn’t really discussed until the storm began to hit was how Hurricane Irma would suck the water out of bays/flats before hitting and that water would later come rushing in as a storm surge.
You might’ve seen this footage from yesterday that showed an entire bay being left bone dry before Hurricane Irma showed up. Well, this phenomenon of the water being sucked out also happened in my hometown of Sarasota and unlike Houston where dogs were left in need of rescuing, in Sarasota, it was the manatees who needed help.
Two manatees were left stranded on the mud as Hurricane Irma ripped the water out to sea before the later (albeit minor) storm surge came back in. Thankfully, the manatees were spotted by local residents who were able to alert the authorities, and these majestic creatures were rescued:
Manatees were rescued after being stranded near Sarasota as Irma sucked up water from bays along the Florida coast https://t.co/NF11e2Cscx pic.twitter.com/v092wBkr9U
— CNN (@CNN) September 11, 2017
Manatees caught in Irma's force as winds push water out. Happy to report this guy was saved by good Samaritans. Credit: Tony Foradini-Campos pic.twitter.com/gYIL6GG2Ux
— Kellie Cowan (@KellieCowan) September 10, 2017
It wasn’t just the manatees who needed help during the storm. This rescuer managed to pull a rare guitarfish off the rocks and put it back in the ocean to swim away and live another day:
Guy saves a #guitarfish stranded on the #shore 🐟 #HurricaneIrma #Irma pic.twitter.com/jYxbUdPppd
— ☘️ Marie ☘️ (@7eights2nine10) September 11, 2017
This pod of dolphins was also in need of some TLC at the aquarium as they were being transferred to safer facilities in order to ride out the storm:
Guys, the hurricane is making things extra weird in Florida. Now they're putting shirts on dolphins. pic.twitter.com/Dur8h88nGa
— kevinbiegel (@kbiegel) September 10, 2017
The Baltimore Orioles also hooked up my family and let them stay at the Spring Training facilities along with their pets because a relative of mine works for the organization:
https://twitter.com/casspa/status/906942289825726467
My home was hit dead on by Hurricane Irma around midnight last night. The main BroBible office is in NYC, but I’m working remotely from Sarasota, Florida these days where I was born and raised, where almost all of my family lives. After seeing the jaw-dropping damage caused by Hurricane Irma as the storm barreled through the Caribbean we made the decision to put up the hurricane shutters and evacuate.
So, while a lot of people in America were annoyed by the 24/7 coverage of Hurricane Irma on the news I was glued to the TV for the past 24 hours looking for any glimmer of hope that the storm would weaken and/or turn. Thankfully, the storm did weaken considerably. And while there was a lot of damage sustained in Sarasota (over 2/3rds of the county lost power), it pales in comparison to the Florida Keys. One thing I’ve learned over the past two weeks of the Gulf Coast getting pounded with catastrophic hurricanes is the world is a much better place when we act like a community. It doesn’t cost you a dime to commit random acts of kindness or to be a better person.