ANNA MARIA – The combined impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused the Anna Maria City Pier walkway to fail, according to an inspection report provided by the George F. Young engineering firm.
Mayor Mark Short shared this information during the March 13 city commission meeting after receiving the requested report the previous week.
Short said the engineering firm concluded that during Hurricane Helene, the waves and storm surge under the pier walkway pushed the walkway upward and stressed the walkway and the concrete pilings supporting it.
“That loosened everything up and when the winds of Milton came two weeks later, that was all that was needed to blow it down and knock it over,” Short told the commission. “It was a combination of the two. It got stressed from the surge pushing from the bottom up and the winds came from the top down and caused the failure.”…