Removing Damaged Boats: Florida’s Marine Towing and Salvage Companies Swamped

Heather O’Brien’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing in the two weeks since Hurricane Ian hit.

O’Brien, who along husband Capt. Pat O’Brien has owned the Fort Myers Sea Tow franchise since 1996, already has responded to ‘hundreds’ of situations where boats were sunk or displaced or need to be recovered because of the storm.

And that number pales in comparison to what’s ahead. ‘It just doesn’t stop,’ she said. ‘For our area, (the calls) keep coming. Right now, it’s at five or six thousand in the queue and we expect a lot more.

‘And this is everyone, it’s going to take months to clean up. We’re not even going to have a season. We’re going to be overwhelmed for the next six months.’

Between the winds of the Category 4 hurricane and the unprecedented storm surge to Southwest Florida, thousands of boats were sunk or ended up on dry land, sea walls or even on top of other boats or even in buildings.