Hurricane Elsa spared Manatee of major damage. Sea turtle nests were not as lucky

Amid the backdrop of a choppy Gulf of Mexico thanks to Tropical Storm Elsa, and as winds still whipped across Anna Maria Island early Wednesday morning, Suzy Rogers was walking the beach as she often does.

She enjoys looking for seashells after a storm, but she mostly helps the environment by filling a few bags of trash along her walk.

A few hundred feet away, a couple of surfers struggled through the rough waves in an attempt to get a rare ride on the island’s usually calm surf.

There was no significant damage reported early Wednesday as Manatee County continued to evaluate Tropical Storm Elsa’s aftermath. Elsa was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane as the center of the storm passed by Manatee County early Wednesday.

The news on the island was not all good.

“It’s so sad to see that some of these sea turtle nests have been destroyed,” Rogers said. “There are a couple of them that have been completely exposed, eggs all over the place and the birds are getting to them.”

Sea turtles, as it turned out, were the biggest victims of Hurricane Elsa as it blew through the area Tuesday night.

Authorities throughout Manatee County reported no significant damage from the storm as of Wednesday morning, but there was enough of a storm surge overnight to cause some minor beach erosion.

The winds were strong enough to push the Gulf of Mexico a few dozen feet further onto the beach than where the normal tide would take it. That put several marked nests under water for an extended period of time.

Staff and volunteers from the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch & Shorebird Monitoring were busy Wednesday morning assessing the damage. A final assessment of how many nests were lost was not immediately available.

However, in one small stretch of Cortez Beach alone, most of the nests that could be seen had been swamped by the storm surge.

In the meantime, Manatee County Emergency Operations announced Wednesday morning that it will remain partially activated as their team continues damage assessment.

All county parks and recreation areas were set to be reopened by noon Wednesday. Lbraries will remain closed until Thursday morning.

The county reported that “extensive rain and roadway flooding,” in eastern Manatee County has closed Wachula Road at Long Creek. Motorists are asked to detour to Verna Bethany Road. The closure was expected for most of Wednesday.

“Manatee County fared very well and I’m pleased to see our residents took the necessary steps to prepare for this storm,” said Public Safety Director Jacob Saur in a prepared statement. “No matter what category the hurricane is, all residents need to take these storms seriously.”

The county’s 311 call center will field questions about any post-storm damage caused by Elsa until 5 p.m. Residents also are asked to use the 311 call center to report any damage they see.

No recycling will be collected for the remainder of the week with the exception of yard waste on Wednesday. Garbage collection will resume as normal immediately and all collections will be back to normal by Monday.

Homeowners who suffered any property damage should contact their insurance company to file a claim. In addition to contacting their insurance companies, homeowners and renters who sustained damage from Hurricane Elsa should report damage to county officials.

This story was originally published July 7, 2021 at 11:47 AM.