Venice, North Port prepare for different potential impacts from Hurricane Ian

The shift in the projected trajectory of Hurricane Ian Tuesday put the city of Venice directly in the path of what could be a Category 3 hurricane at landfall, and the city of North Port on the so-called dirty side of the storm, with some of the heaviest impacts, when it's expected to make landfall Wednesday night.

Officials with both municipalities said they always prepare for hurricanes in the area as if they will be direct hits.

Still each city has a unique set of characteristics to deal with when considering a landfalling storm.

Venice is split by the Intracoastal Waterway, with the island of Venice linked to the rest of the city by bridges at the north and south via Tamiami Trail and, to the east, via Venice Avenue.

North Port has 80 miles of waterways and canals – built by General Development Corp., when it laid out the community in 1959 – that feed into the Myakkahatchee Creek, which drains into the Gulf of Mexico by way of Charlotte Harbor.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Sarasota County has issued evacuations for residents living in zones A and B.

For Venice, that means much of the island of Venice, particularly along Venice Beach and the northern coast east of Venice Inlet.

Venice Assistant City Manager James Clinch said the city is coordinating with Sarasota County on evacuations, getting medically dependent people evacuated and publicizing the evacuation rally point at the Venice Community Center, 326 Nokomis Ave. S., though not as many people have been showing up as anticipated.

“We are working to increase our messaging and certainly appreciate anything you can do,” he added.

Buses from there are taking people to Taylor Ranch Elementary School.

There are some fairly high portions of the island, where people could theoretically shelter in place – notably the east side of the island and the southern part near the Venice Municipal Airport.

The most vulnerable points are to the north and the beachfront residences along Tarpon Center Drive.

Even residences on higher ground on the island could be uncomfortable places to ride out Ian, Clinch said, since the city plans to turn off water service for the island at 8 p.m. Tuesday, until the storm passes.

Sarasota County has done with Siesta and Casey keys and the Englewood Water District has done with Manasota Key.

“It’s really important to get that infrastructure protected by isolating it,” Clinch said. “It’s not intended to get people to leave; what it’s intended for is to protect the system so the rest of the community can keep using the water system.”

The city might have to turn off its water treatment plant just east of the Intracoastal Waterway because it is in a flood zone. In that case, the city would open interconnects with Sarasota County to maintain water service in the city.

Venice Fire Rescue Station 2 – or 52 as part of the Sarasota County system – will have to relocate to the Venice Police Station on East Venice Avenue, because it, too, is in a flood zone.

In contrast, the new Station 1, on the island at the City Hall will remain open.

“It is at a fairly high elevation and new construction so we plan to keep it operating,” Clinch said.

City officials will be in constant communication with Sarasota County, the state and FEMA, Clinch said, “to ensure we are ready to respond and ready to recover from the event.”

Moving water in North Port

In the city of North Port, water issues are related to flood control along the canals and waterways.

Public Works Director Chuck Speake said that the city prepared for the storm as if it would strike North Port head on.

Related:North Port eyes rising flood waters after Tropical Storm Elsa

“Our staff has been lowering water levels now for the last two weeks,” Speake said Tuesday afternoon.

Since Sept. 21, Public Works has lowered the typical water level in the Myakkahatchee Creek by 3 ½ feet.

“That’s an enormous amount of water we’ve moved,” Speake said, then added that water levels in retention ditches have been lowered too, in anticipation of inland water flow, since the Myakkahatchee Creek is park of the Myakka River drainage basin.

“We take a large amount of water from the north section above the city” Speake said.

On Monday, when the City Commission met to declare a state of emergency, Fire Rescue Chief Scott Titus said that the city has been moving water better than it has in the past but cautioned, “All of our surrounding areas are close to flood stage, so it won’t take a lot of water to reach flood stage.”

Speake said Tuesday that with large rainfall events, it takes time for water to work through the system and city residents should anticipate some street flooding.

“During any of these storms we would anticipate that if there’s heavy localized raining there will be some roadway flooding,” Speake said.

In 2021, the much less powerful Tropical Storm Elsa caused several days of flooding.

“We would expect if we get somewhere between five and 10 inches of rain, you would have roadways that will hold water for some time,” Speake said.

Forecasters have called for as much as 24 inches of rain falling in Southwest Florida, as Ian travels north.

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.