There may or may not have been a bit of scoffing going on a few days ago, as many from this area who went through Ian were looking at a tropical storm more than 100 miles off our coastline. Was this even  worth buying water for? Or gas? 

As it turned out, effects from Idalia started at about noon on Tuesday, even before the rain began. During that high tide, stormwater drains were already backing up and creating a bit of flooding down by Whidden’s Marina and at 4th Street/Bayou Drive.

Here’s a look at the newest timeline provided by Steele Construction, Inc. as to when the tower might be up. Now that the bakery is gone things should move quickly, but this schedule is an optimist’s look at what could happen … if everything goes right.

Sue Sligar stood watching the Bakery Building come down on Monday, Aug. 28 with mixed feelings. As the new owner of the building (or the space, we should say) she was grateful it would no longer be a hazard to The Barnichol Hardware Store and the general public. But one of the apartments above the bakery had been her home for several years, and she lost just about everything when the tower collapsed on it during Hurricane Ian. 
“I lost everything, materially … all of it,” she said. “But in the face of losing it all, I became fearless. What else did I have to lose?”