What Debby Taught Us About the Island

We thought we knew Sanibel pretty well, but Tropical Storm Debby taught us a lesson or two about the Island.


Tropical Storm Debby brought pummeling rain, high winds and extremely rough surf the last few days of its visit. The islands of Sanibel and Captiva lost power a few times with just a few downed trees but no major problems for us…. well, except flooding in a couple of spots. For those of us who drove across the causeway on the way to or from the island, it was a rare sight to see the calm bay waters crashing so hard on the shore that they literally splashed on to the road way.


But the bigger surprise was in observing the wild life on Island. The animals on Sanibel changed their patterns to accommodate the storm. They tended to want to bring their young with them where they went, rather than leave them in the nest. And we saw them as clearly as Noah when he collected the pairs for his ark. Our colleagues saw a mama armadillo and her baby have a very hard time crossing the road and there were 5 cars and 10 bikes all waiting for them. Also later a baby alligator was trying to get across the road, and a mama raccoon and her baby were observed trying to get across by the Fire Station.


Many baby birds were blown clear out of their cozy nests. Several were discovered by rental guests who did not know what to do. They called C.R.O.W. (the Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife) to find out what to do, and they said because of the winds they were getting so many calls about abandoned baby birds that they couldn't keep up with it. C.R.O.W. advised that the best chance of survival was to try to build the bird another nest.


So the owners, workers and complex management across the island got out their tools and built “hurricane proof” homes for the families and their little ones, with great success in most cases. Now, it seems, the babies and their mamas and daddies are all at the nests and doing fine.


Keeping in mind this was a tropical storm and not a hurricane, we feel so blessed that hurricanes are few and far between in these parts. If a tropical storm can cause so much change and disruption, we fear what truly fierce winds would do to the patterns of our feathered and four legged neighbors!