LaBelle Damage from Hurricane Erma

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017

So sad to see this active DC-3 airplane completely junked by Hurricane Erma.

The Island Hopping DC-3 was at the LaBelle Airport to have the engines removed and overhauled before being put back in service.

The plane was being used to transport people and cargo in the Bahama's.

With the engines removed it was much lighter and therefore easier to be lifted by the storm winds.

She was flipped upside down on top of an airport fence and into an adjacent parking lot.

Notice the anchor laying in the grass, it pulled both of the concrete anchors out of the ground as the plane tried to lift off.

She was facing the winds when Irma blasted thru LaBelle.

The cockpit looks like the plane was crashed but it was actually in good condition before the storm.

The engines were sent out for a complete overhaul just a few weeks prior to the storm.

Click on this picture to see the bob wire fencing that almost cut the airplane in half as it slide across the fence.

Amazing this much damage could occur to an airplane that never left the field.

About the only damage at the Marina was a few trees uprooted by the winds.

Here a few spectators are watching the DockMaster try to upright this tree with two SUV's....It didn't work.

I should have shot a video of the two vehicles smoking their tires on the pavement...

A major clean up job going on at Mike and Pat's house in LaBelle.

This area was hit hard by Erma, everyone lost trees and the debris is piled up along all streets and highways.

Power still out in most of Hendry County but the troops have landed.
There are hundreds of bucket trucks in the area working day and night.

Getting the fire cranked up to burn tons of debris. The big oak in the background is laying on the ground. It was uprooted by the strong winds.

The giant oak was the center piece of the Harder's back yard along the river.

Another sad conclusion to Hurricane Erma.

Then in the middle of the clean up process we get a call that the RiverBend water plant is down.

Power failures have caused lots of problems in the area....this is just one of many.

Mike and Jose are discussing the computer issues while I wander around thinking about all the hours I spent in this room while I was President of the Board of Directors.

But back at the boat it's business as usual...the crew from Sea King Kanvas is removing the old canvas and making patterns for the new Bimini and Enclosure for Mystic Lady.

No, it had nothing to do with the storm...it was already scheduled to be done.