Tortuga Community Forum

October 7, 2024   Dear Owners:   I am sure many of you are anxious over the news of Hurricane Milton and the impact it will have on Siesta Key and Tortuga.   I have no good news currently. I am going to state the facts that I know. They are not meant to alarm; they are just what has been presented. This information comes directly from Sarasota Emergency Management.   ·      This morning, Milton had shifted slightly south, putting Sarasota in the bullseye of the storm. ·      It has picked up speed and is currently a Category 5 hurricane with winds up to 175mph ·      The strengthening of this storm is historic, no hurricane before it has gained in strength this fast. ·      The surge is expected to be 10-12 feet depending on the time of landfall, high tide or low tide. ·      Surge could be higher if Milton remains a Category 5 when it hits land ·      Sarasota Emergency Managers stated “it is imperative that no one stay on a barrier island, or they may not survive” ·      Homes built on slabs are not expected to survive ·      Trees and power lines will be knocked down ·      The storm sewers are still full of sand and debris from Helene, so flooding will be “catastrophic” ·      Areas will receive as much as 16” of rain ·      Milton is like a combination of Helene and Debby. ·      Zones A and B are in mandatory evacuation, they are evaluating evacuation for zone C ·      Water will be shut off ·      Be prepared that the ability to get on the barrier island may take days ·      Be prepared that water may not be restored for days to weeks ·      BE PREPARED THAT POWER MAY NOT BE RESTORED FOR WEEKS ·      IF YOUR CONDO DOES NOT HAVE POWER OR WORKING ELEVATORS, IT WILL BE DEEMED UNINHABITABLE AND NOT FIT FOR OCCUPANCY ·      Once the barrier islands are closed, bridges will be raised, and no entry allowed ·      Once the bridges are up, it will be unsafe to rescue, you must evacuate now   Dale and Tom finished preparing Tortuga today for the storm. All power has been turned off, and the garage doors are locked.   R.L. James and McEnany were out to ensure they removed anything that could become airborne and tighten up items that needed addressing after Helene.   Tom made sure all residents had vacated Tortuga. If an owner does attempt to go back at this time, be aware we are under a mandatory evacuation. You must leave Tortuga and Siesta Key. You will not be rescued once access to the island is closed.   Owners, we are all in the same situation. We all want power so that our air conditioners work, and we will not have mold and mildew. We all want this to be over and Tortuga to be standing as it has for close to 50 years. We must all hope Milton shifts south, to soften the expected “catastrophic” damage to our beloved Siesta Key.   I do want to communicate to you we will have water intrusion. With the high winds that are expected and a bullseye hit, it cannot be avoided.   With the power restoration expected to take weeks, units will probably have mold and mildew.   After this update, I will only be able to update you on the status of the hurricane.   Once we lose power, and we will, I will continue to access our email remotely. Do not call the office, no one is there to answer, and the answering machine will not be working.   Until we have a damage report, please do not email and ask when power will be back on, or when you can get a new A/C unit or when you can come down or the state of Tortuga.  That will be communicated when we know, and it could be days after the storm as communicated by Sarasota Emergency Management.   Once Sarasota allows our emergency agents (Dale & Tom) access to Tortuga, we will send out an update.   I will continue to update the alerts from Sarasota Emergency Management and any from Casey Management.   The Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday October 9th, is cancelled. We will reschedule sometime in the future.   Please think of Dale over the next few days. He too is in an evacuation zone, and we all want him to be safe during Milton.   I sign off today trying to think optimistically as it is possible the storm could weaken, continue to move south before landfall, and with hope Tortuga and its owners will  pull through this.   Thank you,   Karen Smith President, Tortuga Club Inc.

Owners:   This is a short alert to inform you that we will be turning off the electric power today around 2:00pm. This is to preserve what power we do have and try to salvage the meters and transformers  not affected by the last surge,   We will be locking the garage doors by 3:30pm.   After the garages are locked, Dale and Tom will leave Tortuga with no owners present. We prepared Tortuga as best we could in hopes she can take what she can from Hurricane Milton.   I will be sending out an announcement in a couple hours once the latest data is available.     Thank you,   Karen Smith President, Tortuga Club Inc.   Karen Smith

Not everyone got in the picture. Hardest working owners ever! What a team! This has been backbreaking work and today 2 strangers walked into the garage and handed us a box of subs, chips, cookies and soda! They said they are going up and down the Key trying to help with lunch! What Angels!! All 3 garages are cleaned, power washed and sandbags put at each garage for this next storm.