(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez has stepped down after a recording emerged of her making racist and offensive comments about fellow council members.
Martinez will remain as a member of the city council, but will relinquish her leadership role.
Story developing…
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(NEW YORK) — Some of the nation’s largest airports have been targeted for cyberattacks Monday by an attacker within the Russian Federation, a senior official briefed confirmed to ABC News.
Importantly, the systems targeted do not handle air traffic control, internal airline communications and coordination, or transportation security.
“It’s an inconvenience,” the source said.
The attacks have resulted in targeted “denial of public access” to public-facing web domains that report airport wait times and congestion.
The attacks were first reported around 3 a.m. ET when the Port Authority notified the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that the LaGuardia Airport system had been hit. LaGuardia has been restored, but other airports around the country have subsequently been targeted.
The websites for Des Moines International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Chicago O’Hare International Airport appeared impacted Monday morning.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport reported around 10:30 a.m. ET that its site is back up and running and that “at no time were operations at the airport impacted.”
“Early this morning, the FlyLAX.com website was partially disrupted,” LAX said in a statement to ABC News. “The service interruption was limited to portions of the public facing FlyLAX.com website only. No internal airport systems were compromised and there were no operational disruptions.”
Engineers and programmers are actively working to close backdoors that allowed the attacks and shoring up more critical computer infrastructure.
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(CHICAGO) — Over one recent weekend in Chicago, two children under the age of 10 became victims of the city’s rampant gun violence.
Mateo Zastro, 3, was shot and killed while in the car with his mother and siblings in an apparent road rage incident on Sept. 30. Then 7-year-old Legend Barr was shot and wounded as his family arrived at church on Oct. 2.
ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas spent a day with Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown for an inside look at the department’s efforts to curb gun violence — incidents affecting many Chicagoans — throughout the city.
“It’s the most complex policing landscape ever in this country’s history. We are making progress, but the complexities make it such that it is so fragile,” Brown told Thomas. “The ebbs and flows of violence are persistent.”
While shootings like those that killed Zastro and wounded Barr continue, the violence does seem to be ebbing: An ABC News/Gun Violence Archives analysis of the nation’s 50 largest cities shows homicides are down nearly 5% from last year after two years of pandemic-era increases.
In Chicago, shootings are down 20% through the end of summer and homicides have fallen 16%. That means 101 fewer people were shot this year than last.
What’s behind the small but encouraging decline? The Chicago police credit both community engagement as well as a new, more surgical deployment of officers to crime scenes after an analysis by the department showed half of all shootings and homicides occurred on 55 “beats,” or areas that are roughly the size of a block.
According to Brown, police have also been taking an average of 12,000 guns off Chicago’s streets every year — including “ghost guns,” which are unregistered firearms that can be assembled from at-home kits.
But Brown told Thomas that’s likely only 10% of the illegal firearms out there. “I don’t think we’re even chipping away,” Brown said.
Police say they have another powerful tool in their investigations, however: The department uses a system called “ShotSpotter,” where sound sensors are placed throughout Chicago to detect and locate gunfire.
“It’s like the intelligence network for how we respond to crime, how we solve crime,” Brown said. “I think more importantly, this is one of our major linchpins for how we prevent crime.”
Thomas had rare access inside the department’s technology center, where officers comb through surveillance camera footage from businesses and homes near crime scenes to identify and track down suspects. Brown said using such footage also protects witnesses who are “fearful to come forward,” while still helping solve cases.
In 2021, the department said it had cleared about half of its homicide cases, a nearly 20-year high, though a quarter of those did not result in prosecutors bringing charges, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.
Brown stressed to Thomas that gun violence was a multi-pronged issue.
“We’re talking about policing, but this is about economic development,” he said. “This is about poverty. This is about, in many instances, race.”
Community investment and engagement
Brown touted Chicago’s $1.4 billion investment to revitalize South and West side communities, which are disproportionately affected by crime.
“Our impoverished communities in Chicago here, we just did not have the commitment,” he said.
Brown explained his belief in economic development as a crime-fighting tactic by comparing his city to New York City’s Harlem neighborhood.
“You look at Harlem in New York today versus Harlem in New York 30 years ago, where you see actually some gentrification, but you see, really, a commitment to economic development. And you see Harlem much safer than it was 30 years ago,” Brown said.
“You did not have that here in Chicago,” he continued. “We’re starting to see that commitment now. So that we can have that sustained decline, because we are investing in affordable housing. We’re investing in jobs, we’re investing in mental health services and other drug treatments, social services.”
Brown showed Thomas what he says is an example of how that support has made an impact, visiting an area once known for being a crime hotspot that’s now been turned into a basketball court and green space for the community.
“Instead of it being an attraction to hand-to-hand drug transactions, it’s an attraction to community engagement with each other and with police,” Brown said.
With decreased crime and increased investment, the area can foster something more important, the superintendent said.
“Hope, hope, people have hope. People who have hope can have dreams of a better life. People who have dreams of a better life are not attracted to violence,” Brown said. “That’s what economic development does — different than what policing does.”
Working to build trust
Community engagement is another strategy Chicago police have been employing, one Brown told Thomas is key to gaining trust in communities of color, especially in light of high-profile police killings like George Floyd’s murder by an officer in Minneapolis.
“How difficult has it been?” Thomas asked of forging bonds between police and those they are assigned to protect.
“[It] made it more difficult to even be heard,” Brown said.
He also acknowledged the role race plays in perspectives on crime and policing.
“The demographics are what they are, in terms of people who look like you and me, who are shooters and are victims,” Thomas said. “How, as a Black man and as a law enforcement executive, do you balance how you feel about that?”
Brown said: “I think the first step for me personally is to never forget where I’ve come from.”
ABC News’ Jack Date, Quinn Owen and John Parkinson contributed to this report.
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(UVALDE, Texas) — The Uvalde, Texas, school district — still facing withering criticism over its police department’s failings both during the May 24 elementary school massacre and since — announced the suspension of the entire district police force on Friday.
Hours later, Uvalde school district Superintendent Hal Harrell announced he would be retiring. In a Facebook statement, he said retirement was “completely my choice” and that he’ll stay on through the year until a new superintendent is named. The transition will be discussed in a closed session of the school board on Monday.
Amid the police department suspension, the district said it’s requested more Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to be stationed on campuses and at extracurricular activities, adding, “We are confident that staff and student safety will not be compromised during this transition.”
The length of the school district police suspension is not clear.
Lt. Miguel Hernandez, who was tasked with leading the department in the fallout from the shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers, and Ken Mueller, the UCISD’s director of student services, were placed on administrative leave.
Hernandez acknowledged in a law enforcement communication in August that he’d received formal notification from DPS that an officer applying to Uvalde’s school police force was under investigation for her response at Robb Elementary.
Mueller has elected to retire, according to the school district.
“Officers currently employed will fill other roles in the district,” the school district said. According to the district’s website, that includes four officers and one security guard.
Victims’ families, led by Brett Cross, guardian of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, had been holding a round-the-clock vigil outside the school district headquarters calling for change. The families are now commending Friday’s police department announcement.
“We’ve gotten a little bit of accountability,” an emotional Cross told ABC News. “So, it’s a win, and we don’t get very many of those.”
Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter, Lexi, was killed at Robb, said the department suspension was “what we’ve been asking for — it’s more than we’ve been asking for.”
“They don’t know how to hire people, they don’t know how to vet officers,” she told ABC News. “They haven’t provided proper training.”
Gloria Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter, Jackie, was killed, called the department suspension “bittersweet.”
“It’s a win — a small win,” she told ABC News. “We’re not done.”
Berlinda Arreola, the grandmother of victim Amerie Jo Garza, added, “This is the perfect example of why we didn’t stop.”
“We are going to continue because there are other children that still go to school here. We have a lot of siblings of the deceased that go here,” she said. “We want to make sure our kids are secure and protected. And we want to make sure that the people protecting them are willing to protect them.”
The department suspension comes one day after the firing of Crimson Elizondo, the officer who was hired by Uvalde’s school district despite being under investigation for her conduct as a DPS trooper during the massacre.
Elizondo was the first DPS member to enter the hallway at Robb after the shooter gained entry. The trooper did not bring her rifle or vest into the school, according to the results of an internal review by DPS that was detailed to ABC News.
As a result of potential failure to follow standard procedures, the trooper was among seven DPS personnel whose conduct is now being investigated by the agency’s inspector general. The seven were suspended, however, by Elizondo resigning from DPS to work for the Uvalde schools she was no longer subject to any internal discipline or penalties. Her conduct — if found to be in violation of law or policy — would still be included in the final report from the DPS inspector general.
The school district said in Friday’s statement that “decisions concerning” the school district police department have been pending results of investigations from the Texas Police Chiefs Association and the private investigative firm JPPI Investigations, but “recent developments have uncovered additional concerns with department operations.”
Results of the JPPI investigation “will inform future personnel decisions” and the Texas Police Chiefs Association’s review “will guide the rebuilding of the department and the hiring of a new Chief of Police,” the statement said.
The school district’s police chief, Pete Arredondo, was fired in August.
ABC News’ Patrick Linehan and Olivia Osteen contributed to this report.
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(SAN ANTONIO) — The San Antonio Police Department fired a police officer after bodycam footage showed him shooting a teenager eating a hamburger in a McDonald’s parking lot in Texas.
The 17-year-old, identified by police as Erik Cantu, was shot multiple times and remains hospitalized.
The department terminated Officer James Brennand on Wednesday over the incident due to his actions, which violated department tactics, training and procedures, according to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.
According to police, Officer Brennand was responding to a disturbance call on Oct. 2 when he noticed a vehicle he thought had fled from him the night before during an attempted stop.
The footage shows the officer approaching the car and opening the door, when he sees Cantu eating a hamburger alongside a female passenger and orders him out.
Police said the officer reported the car door hit him as the teen started to reverse the car.
Bodycam video shows the officer firing 10 times at the moving vehicle before chasing after it on foot.
Police said that the passenger in the vehicle was not injured during the incident.
In a statement to ABC News on Sunday, Cantu’s family, through his attorney, said the teenager is on life support and fighting to stay alive.
“We thank you for the heartfelt thoughts on the status of Erik’s recovery. We will inform you that he’s still in critical condition and literally fighting for his life every minute of the day as his body has endured a tremendous amount of trauma,” Cantu’s attorney, Brian Powers, said. “He is still on life support. We need all the blessing we can receive at this time. We kindly ask for privacy beyond this update as this is a delicate moment in our lives and we are focusing on one thing and that’s getting him home.”
The San Antonio Police Officer’s Association had no comment immediately following Brennand’s dismissal from the force, but in a new statement to ABC News, the president of the union, Danny Diaz, said that the organization will not represent Brennand because he had not completed his 1-year probationary period for new officers at the time of the shooting.
“New police recruits must complete a 1-year probationary period before becoming eligible for benefits provided by the union,” Diaz said. “We understand the San Antonio Police Department’s decision to terminate Officer James Brennand but will refrain from further comment until a full investigation is completed.”
ABC News’ Nick Kerr and Jennifer Watts contributed to this report.
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(WASHINGTON) — The man who allegedly left two dead and six injured after he went on a stabbing spree in Las Vegas “had every intention” of killing the victims, one of the survivors told ABC News.
Yoni Barrios, 32, allegedly approached a group of performers outside the Wynn Casino on Thursday and asked to take a picture with them before removing a knife, according to an arrest report.
Barrios allegedly told police he removed a black carbon knife from a suitcase, telling the women he was a chef, and he became angry because he thought the women were laughing at him and making fun of his clothing, according to the report.
“Barrios started running and looking for groups of people so he could ‘let the anger out,'” the arrest report stated.
Surveillance video showed the suspect stab several victims, including street performer Maris Mareen DiGiovanni, before running south along the sidewalk, where he stabbed victim Brent Hallet in the back, according to the arrest report.
The suspect then continued running south and stabbed two victims before turning east along Sands Avenue and stabbing another two victims, the report stated.
Both DiGiovanni and Hallet died from their injuries.
Anna Westby, one of the street performers, told ABC News from her hospital bed that he “had every intention of killing her [DiGiovanni], killing us.”
Westby said the suspect approached them, asking for a photo with his logo. After DiGiovanni said yes, he pulled out a knife, she added.
“And we’re like, ‘That’s not a logo — the logo we were expecting,'” Westby said.
Barrios then allegedly grabbed the knife and stabbed DiGiovanni in the chest, Westby said.
Westby denied that the group of street performers was making fun of the suspect, saying, “There was not a single moment where he was provoked.”
Barrios allegedly chose his targets at random, a source told ABC News. The victims include both locals and tourists, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said during a press briefing Thursday.
He allegedly confessed to police, apologizing and acknowledging that what he did was wrong, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. Barrios allegedly did not have a coherent explanation, making it seem that he had snapped, the official said.
Surviving street performers later told police the suspect made them feel uncomfortable, according to the arrest report. One of the victims told police that Barrios told him, “sorry man,” as he stabbed him, the report stated.
As of Thursday night, three victims were in critical condition and another three in stable condition, police said. It is unclear whether their conditions have changed.
Barrios has been charged with two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and six counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, according to police.
He was denied bail during a court appearance Friday afternoon and is scheduled to appear again on Tuesday.
Information on a defense attorney for Barrios was not immediately available.
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(FORT MYERS, Fla.) — Floridians whose homes and businesses were destroyed during Hurricane Ian are adamant about rebuilding the communities that were destroyed during Hurricane Ian.
Images out of some of the hardest hit regions like Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach show entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble after menacing storm surge and Category 4 hurricane force winds ripped through southwest Florida on Oct. 28.
Despite threats exacerbated by climate change, such as rising sea levels and the threat of more intense storm systems, and the challenges presented by the sheer level of devastation, residents are vowing to bring these coastal communities back to their former glory.
“There’s no doubt that the rebuilding efforts, the reconstruction efforts, after Hurricane Ian, are going to be very challenging, and they’re going to take longer than they ordinarily would,” Matthew Harrell, CEO of Franklin Street, a commercial real estate company that specializes in Southwest Florida, told ABC News.
As local and national news stations broadcast the effects of Hurricane Ian live, one of the most striking images were videos of storm surge rushing into The Salty Crab Bar & Grill, a community favorite situated right on the Gulf of Mexico in Fort Myers Beach.
The restaurant was completely destroyed by the storm, Jamie McElhone, marketing coordinator of The Salty Crab, told ABC News.
The damage to the restaurant has not been surveyed yet, as search and rescue teams remain focused on locating those who died in the storm and may still be among the rubble, McElhone said.
Civilians have not yet been allowed to enter the region, she added. Seventy-eight employees for the restaurant have been left scrambling to find work. Some have relocated about 200 miles north to Clearwater, where the Beachside Hospitality Group, which owns The Salty Crab, operates another restaurant.
The plan is to rebuild the restaurant, as long as the insurance and building codes allow them to, McElhone said.
The expense of rebuilding will certainly be an issue that city officials will be grappling with in the coming weeks and months, Harrell said. After a major catastrophe, there is often a “demand surge,” which involves a temporary increase in the cost of reconstruction due to high demand of materials and labor.
The rebuilding efforts are expected to take longer than usual because of breakdowns in the supply chain and labor shortages that existed prior to Ian, Harrell said.
Max Doyle and the pub he co-owns with his father, the Celtic Public House in Punta Gorda, is a prime example of successful efforts to rebuild following a hurricane.
The pub was destroyed by the winds of Hurricane Charley in in 2004.
“It looked like Mother Nature decided to redecorate our town,” Doyle said of the damage.
Even though the Doyles did not have the money or an insurance payout to fund the rebuilding, “it was just something that had to be done,” he said. They relied on community donations and eventually restored the pub, he said.
The risk of hurricanes is something “you sign up for” when you move to Florida, Doyle said. The pub has since withstood every storm, including Ian, he added.
“There’s not really anywhere in the country where you don’t have some sort of natural disaster,” he said.
It will likely take years to rebuild the regions to what they once were, President Joe Biden on Wednesday after visiting Fort Myers Beach.
“You got to start from scratch,” the president said from Fisherman’s Wharf. “You got to move again. And it’s going to take a lot — a lot of time — not weeks or months; it’s going to take years for everything to get squared away in the state of Florida to fully recover and rebuild.”
Harrell praised the resiliency of Floridians during a crisis and expects communities to build back “stronger than ever” — with an ability to withstand the next “big one” that heads their way, Harrell said.
Many of the structures that were destroyed were built decades ago, before the building codes in Florida began to take into account the threat of strong hurricanes, Harrell said. All of the newly constructed properties will be built to current codes — including impact-resistant windows and roof straps that enable roofs to withstand 155-mile winds.
The properties that remained unscathed are the ones that were built to code, Harrell said, adding that there are discussions to strengthen those codes even further in the wake of Ian. The landscape of these regions won’t look the same either, with homes being rebuilt on stilts or raising the elevation of structures with dirt to withstand the base flood elevation.
“So the likelihood of having a similar type of even like Hurricane Ian … is much less likely to happen in the future,” Harrell said.
In addition, even those insurance rates will rise, the rates for newly built properties that are up to code will be less expensive, Harrell said.
Despite the risk of hurricanes, the areas still present desirable attributes such as beautiful beaches, warm weather and economic opportunities that come with tourism, Harrell said.
“There are very few parts of the country that are safe from any sort of natural catastrophes,” he said. “We have a history of just coming out of these catastrophes stronger better than better than ever.”
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(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — The search for a missing 20-month-old entered its fourth day on Saturday, as police have yet to turn up any sign of the toddler.
Quinton Simon was reported missing from his home in Savannah, Georgia, Wednesday morning, according to Chatham County police.
“Finding Quinton Simon is our highest priority, and the intensity of our work is as strong as it has been since the day of his disappearance,” police said in an update Saturday morning.
Police have been searching the surrounding area, including a pond near the home. The FBI is also assisting in the search, as there is the possibility that he could be an abducted child, Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley told reporters earlier this week.
“We’ll continue to look at all angles and exhaust all investigative avenues,” he said.
Simon was last seen at home around 6 a.m. Wednesday by his mother’s boyfriend, Hadley said. His mother reported the child missing around 9:40 a.m. after waking up later that morning, he said.
The search has involved K-9 teams, drones, helicopters with heat-seeking technology, police on horseback and dive teams in the days since he was reported missing.
Hadley told the Chatham County Commission on Friday that police have now “exhausted” the grid search of where the child might have wandered.
“We’ve tried to use every available resource that we can that makes sense within the scope of our investigation to try to get a better understanding of what’s happened to little Quinton,” Hadley said, noting that police still consider this a missing person’s case.
The case does not appear to be a custody dispute, and “all parties are cooperating with investigators,” police have said.
An Amber Alert has not been issued because there is no evidence of an abduction, police said.
The child’s babysitter, Diana McCarta, told ABC Savannah affiliate WJCL that she was distraught over his disappearance.
“It’s been horrible,” she told the station. “I keep seeing picturing his face. I can’t sleep at night because I see his face smiling at me the last day I’d seen him.”
Hadley told reporters Friday he is holding on to hope about finding Simon alive.
“If there’s something that we can [grab] onto and keep us moving, we’re gonna do that,” he said.
Simon was last seen wearing a light blue Sesame Street shirt and black pants, police said.
Anyone who sees him should call 911 and tips can be submitted at 912-234-2020 or online at police.chathamcountyga.gov/tips or savannahchathamcrimestoppers.org.
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(NEW YORK) — The Florida Department of Transportation began soliciting bids to fly migrants to cities including Boston and Los Angeles starting in July, according to documents obtained by ABC News.
“The Department of Transportation (“Department”) manages a program to relocate out of the State of Florida foreign nationals who are not lawfully present in the United States (“Unauthorized Aliens”),” the documents obtained under a public records request say. “Under the supervision of a Department Project Manager, a vendor will, upon demand of the Department or certain designated state and local law enforcement or criminal justice agencies (“Partner Agencies”), arrange or provide either ground or air transportation and other related services (collectively, “Relocation Services”), to assist in the voluntary relocation of Unauthorized Aliens who are found in Florida and have agreed to be relocated to another state in the United States or the District of Columbia.”
Rebekah Davis, general counsel at the Florida Department of Transportation,, solicited perspective figures from James L. Montgomerie a representative of air charter company VSC Global, which, according to public records is located in Destin, Florida.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ultimately flew migrants using a different charter company to Martha’s Vineyard last month, following Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s action of busing migrants to New York City, Washington, D.C., and other East Coast cities.
“4 to 8 x people going from Crestview to Boston area is approx $35, 000.00,” he writes in an e-mail dated July 26, 2022. “4 to 8 x people going from Crestview to Los Angles area is approx $60, 000.00. This is based on using a 8 x seat KingAir 350 Turbo Prop,” he says.
“If you need to move more than 8 x people I would recommend using a mid-sized biz jet that can accommodate up-to 12 people. 8 to 12 x people going from Crestview to Boston area is approx $55,000.00 8 to 12 x people going from Crestview to Los Angles area is approx $90,000.00 We are certainly willing to provide you with pricing information on specific ad-hoc requirements on a case by case basis.”
Davis responds by saying the information was “helpful.”
She also seemingly solicited on-demand jet company Wheels Up, which sent a brochure over, as well as a Florida-based company specializing in the transport of inmates and does work for the Florida Department of Corrections.
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(MATLACHA, Fla.)– Roughly three dozen pastel-colored cottages line the only road to Pine Island, the largest island along Florida’s Gulf Coast where Hurricane Ian made landfall.
To get to Pine Island from mainland Florida, drivers must first go over a bridge and through Matlacha, an island community of about 600 people — many are commercial fishermen. Residents there live at the foot of another bridge to Pine Island that was devastated by Hurricane Ian last week and serves as the only connection to the mainland.
On Wednesday, before meeting with President Joe Biden, Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Matlacha to announce that roads there had been cleared and that the bridge had been temporarily repaired so that its residents could be connected to the mainland. The work took three days, his office later said.
But a quarter mile from where the governor spoke, Matlacha resident John Lynch watched another tide roll in and another piece of his home crumble into the gulf.
The sea wall, which used to keep the waters at bay, has now partially collapsed. If it’s not repaired, he said, his cottage will wash away with the tide.
“They’re focused on the roads and the bridge, rightfully so,” Lynch, 59, said on Wednesday as he pointed to the tide that had breached the sea wall and enveloped his home on Pine Island Road.
“People are losing their homes and their businesses” that can still be saved, added Lynch who also owns the Blue Dog Bar & Grill in Matlacha that was damaged by the storm. “I’m looking for that sense of urgency to stop it from getting any worse.”
Ian battered the southwest coast of Florida at speeds just shy of a Category 5 hurricane. At least 117 have died, making it the deadliest storm there since 1935.
Matlacha is in Lee County, an area that so far has the highest number of deaths of any county in the state. When Lynch returned after the storm he watched as emergency service workers pulled bodies off the streets. He also saw his neighbors homes were swamped — their foundations cracking away.
Most of the cottages were built in the 1940s or the 1950s. They boast sweeping views of the water and docks for skiffs.
“It’s a drinking town with a fishing problem,” joked John Hayes, who also lives in Matlacha and is known by locals as “Fishcutter John.”
On Wednesday, Hayes, who works for Lynch, helped his boss lug out debris from the restaurant.
Lynch described Matlacha as a blue-collar community without the high rises like those on the ravaged neighboring barrier islands of the popular vacation destinations Sanibel and Fort Meyers Beach. He said because it’s a small community, it’s not getting as much attention as larger tourist destinations.
“We don’t have that big voice,” he said.
At least a dozen of his neighbors’ homes on Pine Island Road are still standing, he said. But the tides that typically stop at the once sturdy sea wall are now eroding the soil from underneath the structures.
In his 25 years on the island, Lynch has watched the tides get progressively higher — but never as high as they have been since the hurricane struck.
As Ian barreled in on southwest Florida last Tuesday night, Lynch and his family evacuated to Cape Coral, a city on the mainland, where he had worked as a fireman for 20 years. As soon as the sun rose on Thursday, he hitched a ride on his neighbor’s boat back to Matlacha.
He said he barely recognized the place.
It “was like a foreign landscape. I couldn’t landmark things because the landmarks were gone,” he said.
When Lynch arrived at his dock, he saw that the cottage next door to his, which is owned by his 87-year-old uncle, Alan Lynch, had been reduced to a pile of rubble.
“That was going to be his home for the rest of his life. That was the plan,” John Lynch said.
Since the hurricane hit, residents have been busy trying to control the damage. Until Thursday they were still unable to leave Matlacha, so local skippers like “Mangrove Jimmy” — who used to give mangrove kayak tours — shepherded residents back and forth to what’s left of their homes.
Lynch donated a stock of frozen chicken breasts from his restaurant to guys down the block, who have been barbecuing it for islanders as they work.
When he arrives in Matlacha, Lynch removes debris from his lot and cleans the mildew that covers his drywall. At night, he boats supplies to a 72-year-old employee who is ill and did not want to leave her home on Pine Island.
On Thursday, when authorities opened the road from the mainland to Matlacha, Lynch saw an opportunity to do something more for his home. He called in a contractor the next day to help stabilize its foundation.
But without emergency repairs to the sea wall, Lynch worries that even when power returns, he won’t be able to bring his family home.
“We’re gonna be fine no matter what,” he said. “But it might not be in Matlacha.”
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