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Manatee County Bounces Back After Record-Tying Hurricane Season

After facing three hurricanes last year, this southern Florida county is back in business for meetings

By Linden M. Bayliss

The team at Silver Surf Gulf Beach Resort on Manatee County's Anna Maria Island helps remove sand after Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
The team at Silver Surf Gulf Beach Resort on Manatee County’s Anna Maria Island helps remove sand after Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. || Courtesy of Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau

When your region experiences three major hurricanes in the span of three months, getting back to hosting gatherings is no easy task. Florida’s Manatee County—which includes the cities of Bradenton, Anna Maria, and Palmetto, among others—was affected by all three storms that hit the Sunshine State last year, and community members have been working around the clock to get things back on track. While hurricanes and tropical storms are nothing new for residents and employees working along Florida’s Gulf Coast, the most recent season was particularly noteworthy—2024 tied the record for most hurricane landfalls in Florida in one season, unmatched since the hurricane season of 2005.

“Each storm brought something different,” says Kolby Gayson, communications and marketing director for the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. In August came Category 1 Hurricane Debby, the mildest of the three, which Gayson says resulted in flooding to the eastern part of the county and mostly impacted rural, non-tourist areas. Then, Category 4 Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept. 26, 100 miles off Bradenton’s coast. Anna Maria Island, one of the county’s most popular meeting destinations, was especially affected.

Sand piles up outside Silver Sands Gulf Beach Resort. || Courtesy of Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau

“The island’s used to getting, you know, a foot of water [from storms],” Gayson says. “They’re typically reopened within 24 or 48 hours, but this was different. They had feet of water and sand in their stores and their rental properties. So, it was a different kind of recovery we were faced with.”

And just when residents and the convention and visitors bureau thought they couldn’t get any more unlucky, Hurricane Milton reared its ugly head.

On the evening of Oct. 9 at about 8:30 p.m., Hurricane Milton hit Florida near Siesta Key in Sarasota County, much closer to home for the folks in Manatee County, just 35 miles away. “I mean, it was coming directly south of my house personally,” says Gayson. “It was the wind. You know, it was just under a Category 4. That made it a little scarier because you never quite know what wind is going to do.” Wind speeds from Milton reached up to 120 mph, damaging many homes and businesses and ripping off the entire roof of Concourse B at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. According to officials, Milton caused over $350 million in property damage to Manatee County.

hurricane damage from Milton
Many homes in Manatee County suffered severe wind damage from Hurricane Milton’s 100-plus mph winds. || Photo by michael, courtesy of Adobe

Gayson says all things considered, the area has recovered relatively quickly. She notes about 85% of businesses and accommodations in the area were reopened as of mid-December, and all beaches are currently back in business. “It took a lot of hard work, community, and teamwork,” she says. Manatee County’s premier venue, the Bradenton Area Convention Center, survived the gusts of Milton with minimal damage, and Gayson says it is still on track to reopen and debut renovations in the second quarter of this year. “We were really lucky,” says Gayson. “We have a fantastic construction company that battened down the hatches. So, after it passed, they assessed, and things have moved on.”

Many other key players contributed to the county’s recovery. Gayson highlights the role of the Manatee County Natural Resources department, whose employees worked long hours raking and sifting sand to move it out of homes and businesses and back to its rightful place on the beach. “Had they not jumped into action and worked so hard and pushed themselves to understand the importance of getting the island’s number one asset back open, we absolutely would not be able to accommodate people coming back in February or March,” she says. “But because of their diligence, we’re ready to go.” On Nov. 15, The Center on Anna Maria Island and the Manatee County Tourist Development Council put on the Rock ‘N’ Support benefit concert, which featured musical act Lynyrd Skynrd and raised money to support Gulf island hospitality workers who were displaced due to the impacts of Helene and Milton.

Post-Milton Anna Maria Island || Courtesy of Bradenton Convention and Visitors Bureau

“The biggest issue we’re facing now is people having this false perception of us being obliterated and still recovering,” Gayson says. “But we’re proud to be where we are [just] months after. We’re really thrilled. There are a lot of nameless, faceless heroes in this story.”

bradentongulfislands.com

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