Emergency Management chief notes necessity of public evacuations of areas when storm surge predictions indicate such action
With the official start of hurricane season a month away — on June 1 —Sarasota County staff has installed a multi-colored pole on both Siesta Public Beach and Manasota Beach “in an effort to improve individuals’ understanding of the risks associated with storm surge and how deep water levels could potentially rise above the ground when storm surge occurs,” county staff announced on April 23.
A third pole is planned for North Jetty Beach in Nokomis, the news release said.
Following storm surges associated with Hurricane Helene in September 2024 and Hurricane Milton about 10 days later, Siesta Key residents posted on social media pages photos they had taken of lines on structures such as garages to illustrate how high the associated storm surges ended up being.
The county news release noted that “Hurricane Helene brought 4 to 7 feet of storm surge to the Gulf Coast of Sarasota County.”
In a county video produced to coincide with the installation of the poles, Sandra Tapfumaneyi, the county’s emergency management chief, reported that Hurricane Helene’s surge in the area of Siesta Public Beach was as high as 8 feet.
She stressed that storm surge “can travel far inland,” adding, “Storm surge can be very life-threatening.”
A National Hurricane Center report on Milton, released in March 2025, pointed out that it “was one of the strongest hurricanes of record in the Atlantic basin, reaching category 5 intensity (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) with a minimum central pressure below 900 [millibars].”
It came ashore at Big Sarasota Pass on Siesta Key, on the night of Oct. 9, 2024, as a Category 3 storm, the National Hurricane Center pointed out.
“Storm surge inundation of 6-9 feet above ground level (AGL) occurred from Venice southward to Boca Grand, with an isolated peak of up to 10 ft AGL estimated near Manasota Key,” the March 2025 report said. “Near the landfall location,” the report continued, “maximum storm surge inundation of 4-6 ft occurred from Longboat Key to Venice.”
County staff has noted that a display installed next to each of the new poles provides more information “about how the colors align with the National Hurricane Center’s storm risk map system.” Each color represents 3 feet of water above ground level, it added:
- Red — greater than 9 feet above ground.
- Orange — 6 to 9 feet above ground.
- Yellow — 3 to 6 feet above ground.
- Blue — 1 to 3 feet above ground.
The county news release further emphasized, “Storm surge is one of the most dangerous elements of hurricanes and can create life-threatening conditions, shoreline erosion, road and bridge damage, and building destruction along the coast.”
It added, “Areas along the Gulf Coast are vulnerable, but storm surge is not exclusively a beachfront problem. It can also travel up rivers and canals, reaching well inland from the coastline.”