Boot Key Harbor is perhaps the best managed municipal mooring field in Florida, and when Irma struck, it was full to capacity with about 200 moored and several dozen more at anchor.
This was where Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys–at what has long been considered a harbor of refuge.
Sean Cannon, ports director at the marina at U.S. 1 and 35th Street, told Flkeynews.com Tuesday that one man who stayed on his boat during the storm has not been found and about 200 boats were lost or destroyed.
“A few people actually stayed on their boats. One couple watched the whole thing and then an older gentleman stayed on his boat and he ended up having to go to the hospital,” Cannon said. “I have 54 left on mooring balls. Anchored boats? Not many — they disappeared. They’re in the mangroves or canals, in people’s backyards” and even up on the ground at the marina.”
This is what the Marathon City Marina plan looks like:
Here is the video of the aftermath, an empty place:
