Worse than Hermine? That's bad

We focus today on our neighbors in Crystal River, Homosassa and Ozello.

I spent Wednesday in my cozy Inverness home looking at photos and videos of what Hurricane Idalia did to their Wednesday. 

It was anything but dry and cozy. 

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Heartbreaking images of our coastal communities. High water across roadways, blocking businesses and homes. The intersection of 19/Citrus Avenue blanketed with several feet of water. Ozello, always an easy target for storms, underwater. People being rescued in airboats.

Chamber CEO Josh Wooten talked to the locals in Crystal River who said this was worse than Hurricane Hermine in 2016. More water, more damage.

My days of running into trouble spots are behind me. I’m not media in the traditional sense and it’s silly for me to interfere with people who are experiencing these life-altering situations as they happen.

But I watched it unfold on numerous Facebook pages I had opened at the same time.

Two thoughts:

— Coastal flooding. High tide. Storm surge. These are not things most of us concern ourselves with.

If you live west of U.S. 19, especially in the heart of Chassahowitzka, Homosassa, Ozello and Crystal River, it’s a constant issue. When a hurricane churns up the gulf, it becomes a crisis.

I failed science in school, but even I follow the logic of 120-mph winds pushing a high tide of water much further than intended. In Crystal River and Homosassa, that means neighborhoods under 5 and 6 feet of water.

Sheriff Mike Prendergast had a news conference (I’ll get to that in a minute) and he complained about people not heeding calls for mandatory evacuation. I get it. Every sheriff complains about that and that’s their duty. People in areas known to flood should get out so they don’t need rescuing the next day by a sheriff’s airboat.

I’ve never had the coastal life. Beautiful, no doubt. Incredible sunsets. Not sure about those no-see-ums but I guess that’s part of the lore.


Unfortunately, this is another part. Inverness had a lot of rain and some wind, but I’m sleeping in a dry bed tonight. Other than an extremely wet summer, such as what we experienced a few years back, I rarely concern myself with floods.

Not so on the coast. The price for living in such an area is the potential for catastrophic flooding invading homes, vehicles, businesses, schools and government buildings. Not to mention the psychological toll of trying to figure all this out.

Expect to read plenty here in the coming days and weeks about Crystal River and the other coastal communities as they recover. Residents and business owners face enormous difficulty and challenge.

This is not a Crystal River, Ozello and Homosassa. It’s a Citrus County disaster and I hope our non-coastal citizens appreciate that.

— I mentioned I had four Facebook pages running Wednesday afternoon at once: sheriff, county, Crystal River Mayor Joe Meek and the Chronicle. Plus the Just Wright Citrus page, of course.

At one point I asked myself, “JWC, why isn’t there a single Idalia Facebook page where all these agencies can drop important information, so that I’m not flipping from one page to the next? That way if someone has a question, such as which roads are closed, it can be asked and answered on a single page instead of trying to decide whose role that falls under.

I have no answer. Since the sheriff’s office runs emergency management, it seems like that’s where this coordination would come from. Let’s not hold our breath.

The sheriff, as noted, had a news conference in the afternoon in Crystal River. We know this because the sheriff’s Facebook page showed a PHOTO of Prendergast in front of the TV cameras and gushed that the sheriff was having a news conference, but for some odd reason didn’t run it live. Instead, later the agency posted a “recap” of what the sheriff said.

That doesn’t pass the logic test. Shouldn’t we get the information at the same time as the media, particularly since the agency is recording it anyway?

There’s more but I’ll save it for another day.

Coastal neighbors are our focus. Time to draw in, Citrus.

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