VOLUME
Stay safe, stay well
NO. 4
the Best News on anna maria island Since 1992
Astheworldterns. 6 HB commissioner bids farewell. 4 Storm delays parking elimination. 4
NOV. 18, 2020 FREE
islander.org
1 dead in ts eta deluge on aMI
Meetings. 4 Pandemic precautions for family holiday. 5
Opinions. 6 10-20 YeaRs ago
from the archives. 7
HB parks reconvene. 9
Save a date. 10
Happenings 11 12 Stars shine on center movie night. 12
Gathering.
14
Obituaries. 14 Privateer competes for prized motorcycle. 15 eta snapshots. 16-19 triplex — site of double homicide — demolished. 20
Streetlife. 20 Scenic highway group pushes extension. 22 renourishment buffers beach. 24
good morning glories. 25 eta douses sports. 26 fishing spurred by eta. 27 mote announces red tide projects. 27
PropertyWatch. 28 CLASSIFIEDS. 28
ISL BIZ: 30
NYT puzzle. 31
a large buoy is removed from the beach Nov. 12. islander Photo: Jim Price By ryan Paice islander reporter
Tropical Storm Eta led to the Nov. 11 death of a longtime islander. Mark Mixon became a victim of the storm’s tidal surge. Mixon, 65, was sandbagging a rental home at 211 Bay Drive N., Bradenton Beach, with a friend, William Klapheke, when he was electrocuted after stepping into around 4 inches of standing water in the laundry room, according to a Bradenton Beach Police Department report. Klapheke told police that he stepped away to grab a sandbag from a truck when he heard Mixon yell for help. Klapheke said he saw Mixon on his back in the water and thought his friend suffered a heart attack. The friend tried to grab Mixon,
a sailboat is lodged under the cortez Bridge Nov. 12. islander Photo: chrisann allen
but was thrown back by an electric shock, according to the report. Klapheke then grabbed a rake and tried to drag Mixon from the room but, in doing so, he received mixon another shock. He called 911 at about 5:30 p.m. Manatee County emergency medical services, West Manatee Fire Rescue and BBPD officers were dispatched to the home. WMFR Chief Ben Rigney said Nov. 12 that emergency responders couldn’t safely recover Mixon’s body until Florida Power & Light completely shut down service to the area power grid. “We were told the power was secured. So our crew started going in, but they felt
little tingles coming up. So they realized the power was still on and quickly retreated,” Rigney said. “We then waited for FPL to shut the grid down so we could get in there.” “That is the first time I’ve ever heard of that happening,” he said of the electric grid shutdown for the emergency. Mixon’s body was recovered and he was pronounced dead around 6 p.m. “Unfortunately, I think that, even if we got in there 20 minutes earlier, it wouldn’t have made a difference,” Rigney said. Kim Eresten, Mark’s sister, was working at another of Mixon’s rentals nearby and rushed to the scene, according to Trish Mixon. “After we were able to remove the body, we checked for vitals and realized he wasn’t
Maria Island and in other low-lying areas of the county. Evacuation shelters were opened Nov. 11 at Virgil Mills Elementary School in Palmetto and Manatee High School in Bradenton. Thirty county residents sought shelter at Manatee High, but none arrived at Mills Elementary. “Most of the impacts we know were in south county and on the island,” Nicholas Azzara, county information outreach manager, said Nov. 12 during a teleconferenced press update on Eta. “But it looks like damages were pretty limited.” The county reported flooded roadways, downed power lines and “cosmetic” damage to aluminum sheds and similar structures. The county Nov. 12 also reported signifi-
cant erosion on the beach due to the storm, but officials stressed that renourishment projects, which have been underway since July from north Holmes Beach to Longboat Pass, are intended to build sand on the shoreline to protect communities in storm events. “The primary purpose of our beaches is for coastal protection, to dissipate the energy of the storms,” Charlie Hunsicker, the Manatee County parks and natural resources director, said Nov. 12. “So, in this circumstance, we are quite pleased that the erosion losses we saw were a measured benefit of having the beach in place for storms just like this one.” County beaches were closed Nov. 10-12 due to riptides.
turN to DEATH, Page 3
storm turned killer, inundates aMI roads, sinks boats, washes out beaches By chrisann allen islander reporter
Tropical Storm Eta taught islanders to expect the unexpected. Eta made it’s second landfall early Nov. 12 near Cedar Key, about 100 miles north of Tampa Bay, after slamming the Florida Keys Nov. 8. The Manatee County coastline saw about 8 inches of rain Nov. 11-12, as well as recorded winds up to 60 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm coincided with high tide near midnight Nov. 11-12, which caused a 3-foot surge, leading to flooding and standing water in Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach. The county issued a voluntary evacuation notice Nov. 11 for people on Anna
REAL CHEFS. GREAT TAKEOUT. OUTDOOR DINING. YOU KNOW WHERE TO EAT.
turN to ETA, Page 2
5315 GULF DRIVE HOLMES BEACH, FL 34217
(941) 778-0411
ORDER ONLINE: EatHereFloridaAmi.com