In Goodland, a quieter hurricane forecast still comes with one warning: it only takes one

GOODLAND, Fla. (WINK) — In Goodland, hurricane season is not judged by counting storms.

It is remembered by the ones that come close enough. The low-lying island community in Collier County is small, tight-knit and surrounded by water. The 2020 Census counted just over 300 people in Goodland, and federal data lists the community at less than one square mile. The U.S. Geological Survey lists Goodland’s elevation at about 7 feet above sea level.

That is why even a quieter hurricane forecast does not bring much comfort to people who have watched storm surge move through their homes, streets, businesses and church.

This hurricane season, NOAA is predicting below-normal activity in the Atlantic, largely because El Niño can make it harder for storms to organize. But in Goodland, the number of expected storms is not the number people are focused on.

They are focused on the one that could come their way.

“Anytime a good-sized hurricane comes through Goodland, it really does makea mess of the place,” said Pastor Joe Brown, pastor of Goodland Baptist Church.

Brown said when strong hurricanes move near Goodland, the water becomes the story.

“During hurricanes here on Goodland, I liken to say it’s like the Gulf takes back Goodland for a few hours,” Brown said. “We can watch from a distance as the water comes through, and then a couple hours later it just peels back.”

Brown showed WINK News where water reached around Goodland Baptist Church during Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Irma.

“Hurricane Ian came somewhere around in here, and Irma was a little bit higher here,” Brown said, pointing to the area outside the church. “As you see, the water will flow completely across the property, and it really just going over anything that’s in its way.”

He said the church takes hurricane preparation seriously. Before storms, they check supplies, move items up, tie down boats and try to make sure they know who is staying, who is leaving and where people are going.

Still, Brown said there is only so much preparation that can stop when the water arrives.

“Even with all the storm preparedness we did, water comes through the church,” Brown said. “It floods the church about two feet every time a good storm comes through.”

The damage can be immediate, but the cleanup can last much longer.

Brown said after storms, boats have floated into the church parking lot. Mud has been left behind several inches thick. Appliances have been stacked in piles as families gut homes and businesses.

“Seeing appliances stacked up two and three stories tall after any storm is always a grim reminder of just what everyone’s going through during these storms,” Brown said.

That is the warning people in Goodland want others to understand. A slower hurricane season does not mean a safe hurricane season.

Mike Barbush has spent decades living in the Goodland and Marco Island area. He remembers Hurricane Andrew crossing the state in 1992 and what happened once the storm reached the Gulf side of Florida.

“Andrew came across. It came up right across the state through the Everglades,” Barbush said. “But once it got out into the Gulf, then the wind switched around, and then the storm surge came in.”

Barbush said he had only been in his house for about four months when Andrew hit.

“I had six or seven feet of water downstairs, tore my roof up, a lot of damage to my house,” Barbush said.

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center report on Andrew says observed storm tide values on Florida’s southwest coast ranged from 4 to 5 feet near Flamingo to 6 to 7 feet near Goodland.

Barbush said storm surge remains the threat Goodland residents worry about most.

“I got flooded every time,” Barbush said, talking about recent storms. “I had anywhere from a foot to three feet on those storms, and that passed almost 100 offshore.”

That is why Barbush said people on the island need to be ready to take care of themselves after a storm.

“Where we are out here, it’s going to take at least a week,” Barbush said. “So you got to be self-sufficient for at least a week.”

That means food, water, medicine, generators and a plan.

Brown said the same message applies at the church and across the island.

“Always be prepared,” Brown said. “When we hear that a storm is coming, take it serious, be prepared, keep your equipment, your batteries, your gas cans, keep everything ready, have a plan, so that you’re not thinking about it when you finally get the news.”

For Goodland residents, preparation is not just about protecting property. It is also about protecting the community.

Brown said after storms, the church and neighbors get to work checking on people and helping however they can.

“When the storm passes, we have a crew that gets together and we start assessing and just see how, as a community and as a church, we can come together and help everybody after the storms,” Brown said.

He said storms are not something anyone wants, but he has seen hardship pull Goodland closer together.

“We don’t pray for them to keep coming,” Brown said. “But he’s used the storms to bring us together closer as a community and in our faith to the Lord as well.”

Gabriela Porter has lived on the island since the 1960s. She remembers storms going back to Hurricane Donna in 1960. She said Hurricane Ian gutted her home.

“With Ian, our whole house got gutted,” Porter said.

She said the aftermath of a hurricane can be hard to describe unless you have seen it.

“Every time a hurricane comes through, it’s like it just strips everything,” Porter said. “It just horrified me, and those huge trees were just like naked.”

But Porter said she has also seen what happens after the water leaves.

“For some reason it just brings us closer together, and we really help each other out,” Porter said.

She said after one storm, she looked out at the damage and saw something that helped her believe the island would recover.

“I looked over here at the church, and there was the cross, and I knew everything was going to be okay,” Porter said.

That is the other side of hurricane season in Goodland. The water comes in. The mud stays behind. The cleanup takes weeks. But neighbors also show up for neighbors.

At The Crabby Lady restaurant, a framed photo shows one of its tables swept away during Hurricane Ian's flooding. The table ended up near a sandbar. Later, someone went out by boat and brought it back.

For people in Goodland, that story says a lot about the island: storms can carry pieces of the community away, but someone usually goes looking for them.

Brown said that kind of community response is part of what makes Goodland resilient.

“When storms come through, there’s no better time to activate our faith and the love of the Lord than as a body getting out and being there for our community,” Brown said.

The message from Goodland this hurricane season is not panic.

It is memory.

A quieter forecast may mean fewer storms form over the Atlantic. But people who have lived through Andrew, Irma, Ian and other storms say it only takes one to change everything.

“Take it serious,” Porter said. “Just prepare.”