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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City of Sanibel
News Release
Sanibel, Florida
October 4, 2022
Contact: City of Sanibel - City Manager's Office
239-472-3700
HOW TO VIEW AND CONSIDER THE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT MAP COMPLETED BY URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS (USAR)

Damage Assessments – There is widespread damage on island, causing dangerous conditions throughout the island and particularly in and around various structures. Damage assessments of structures have been completed by Urban Search and Rescue Teams (USAR).

USAR completed the damage assessment of Sanibel properties on October 3, 2022. Click here for data uploaded as of 3:49 p.m. October 3, 2022. Data is still being uploaded to the system, and during the update process, the data is unavailable on the host site. Once the next update is complete, the City will issue a new press release providing a link to that updated map and information.

WARNING: THE DATA ON THE MAP IS FOR GENERAL REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY. THE MAP IS NOT A GUARANTY OF CONDITION OR ANY OFFICIAL CITY MAP AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS SUCH. NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE PROVIDED AS TO THE COMPLETENESS OR ACCURACY OF THIS DATA, ITS USE, OR INTERPRETATION. ALL MAP INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

Once at the damage assessment site, you will see the following screen.
You can them zoom in on the map to your property on Sanibel. 
After zooming in to your property, the screen will look like the image on the left. You may click on your property’s waypoint and the pop-up box image (above left) will appear and inform you about your property’s damage level. 

To see the damage level legend, click on the box shown above and the drop-down screen will appear as shown below. 
  • Properties with the Damage Level of Destroyed, Major, or Inaccessible should not be accessed.

The City of Sanibel and the Sanibel Fire & Rescue District strongly recommend property owners do not attempt to access their structures as conditions on the island are unsafe regardless of the damage assessment level assigned to a property. There are dangerous debris fields, no electricity, no potable water, no sewer, and limited communications on the island.

The Sanibel Fire & Rescue District has limited resources to assist injured persons. 
To the best of the City’s knowledge, the following was the process for the USAR assessment:

  1. It was largely performed from the street;
  2.  “Knock and go” searches of each structure on the island were performed to find people who did not evacuate for Hurricane Ian; and
  3. USAR assessment teams did not attempt to access any structure, except when there was a reasonable belief that rescue assistance was needed.

City personnel have not conducted any forced entries into structures and have not entered any private property structures, unless at the invitation of the owner.

For residents removing debris from the interior of their homes, please place the debris as close to the street as possible. DO NOT PLACE ANY DEBRIS IN STREETS AS IT MAY SLOW DOWN RESPONSE EFFORTS AND MAY RESTRICT EMERGENCY VEHICLE ACCESS. 

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