Elsa brings heavy rains to Sanibel, Captiva
Heavy downpours from Tropical Storm Elsa flooded streets on both islands last week, with a condominium fire on Sanibel believed to have been started by lightning from the storm.
More than 7 inches of rain and wind gusts of 42 miles per hour were recorded on Sanibel as Elsa passed along the Gulf Coast, according to the National Weather Service. Lee County sustained periods of heavy winds and large accumulations of rain during the afternoon on July 6 and into the night.
On July 7 at about 7 a.m., the Sanibel Fire and Rescue District responded to a fire at Pointe Santo De Sanibel, at 2445 West Gulf Drive, Sanibel. Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Barbot reported that lightning is believed to have struck the condo between 3 and 4 a.m., smoldering for a few hours before taking off.
“We had all three apparatus on scene,” he said.
There were no injuries, but one unit was deemed uninhabitable due to the damages.
“We had the fire under control in 20 minutes,” Barbot said.
“The guys responded really quickly,” he added.
Barbot reported that during Elsa, the district ran about 18 calls in 18 hours.
“Electrical hazards,” he said, adding that the calls involved downed power lines and transformers blowing. “We had a couple of medical calls during the storm.”
On Captiva, fire crews did not respond to any major incidents.
“A lot of clean up with the handful of trees and debris that fell in the roads,” Captiva Island Fire Control District Fire Chief Jeff Pawul said. “A lot of fire alarms related to the storm, the weather.”
“And just some general medical type calls after the storm,” he added.
The district did receive calls about water entering structures in the area between the South Seas Island Resort and ‘Tween Waters Resort and Spa. Pawul noted that they involved non-elevated buildings.
“This wasn’t a huge wind event for us, but it was definitely a big water event,” he said.
“It’s just a good reminder it doesn’t have to be a major hurricane hitting the island to cause some damage,” Pawul added.
City of Sanibel Community Services Director Keith Williams echoed that.
“Tropical Storm Elsa did all that we expected it to,” he said, adding that there was no major damage. “The only significant impact was we received over 7 inches of rain in less than a 24-hour period.”
There were flooded streets from the heavy rain and standing water, but no storm surge.
“It was more of a big rain event,” Williams said.
He described Elsa as a dry run for future storms.
“I think this was a great opportunity for our residents to understand the importance of preparation,” Williams said. “Were you prepared? Did you have all you needed? Hindsight is 20/20.”
Lee County Government Communications Director Betsy Clayton reported that prior to Elsa, Natural Resources and partners surveyed the shoreline. They have been in communication since the storm.
Immediately following Elsa, crews from the Department of Transportation and Community Development went to Captiva. DOT staffers worked on clearing any obstructions to help the roads drain, while Community Development workers focused on any potential structural damage.
She added that no significant damage was reported to island structures. The localized flooding that impacted stilt homes subsided, and only a few homes were observed to have water in the carport areas.
LCEC reported isolated outages on Sanibel as a result of Elsa.
“The largest-longest was an outage on Captiva Tuesday morning,” Public Relations Director Karen Ryan said. “There were 1,400 customers out in the Blind Pass area for about two hours while crews repaired facilities that were struck by lightning.”
The Island Water Association reported no storm-related service outages.
“We came through Elsa without any major issues,” General Manager Diana Wilson said.