Madeira Beach Engel & Völkers Re-Opens After Hurricane Irma

Madeira Beach, FL, September 17, 2017 --(PR.com)-- The Engel & Völkers shop in Madeira Beach was ordered to evacuate in preparation for Hurricane Irma on Thursday September 7, 2017 after a unanimous vote by the Pinellas County Commission.

Sitting on Gulf Blvd just feet from the sands of Madeira Beach, the shop sits in evacuation level A. Preparations were made at the office and team members were notified with no idea of when normal business would resume. Many team members also had to evacuate their homes on Madeira Beach and the neighboring barrier islands, some fled via airplane while others braved the backed up interstate highways and gas shortage. Still others chose to ride out the storm locally by boarding up windows, stocking up supplies and gathering sandbags. All employees are safe.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Irma began as a low pressure system in the eastern Atlantic Ocean on August 30, 2017 and by the next day was classified as a hurricane. Hurricane Irma was classified as dangerous category 5 storm with winds of 175 mile per hour on September 5. On September 6, the eyewall passed over Barbuda, St. Martin and the Virgin Islands. Neighboring areas like Anguilla, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas are also battered. Hurricane Irma's eyewall passed over the north coast of Cuba as a category 5 on September 8 and weakened to a category 4 with winds dropping to 125 mile per hour. The forecasted path for the hurricane ranged the entire width of the state of Florida. Ultimately, Hurricane Irma made landfall at Cadjoe Key in the lower Florida Keys as a category 4 on September 10. Later that day, the hurricane made landfall at Marco Island near Naples as a category 3 with winds between 115 to 130 miles per hour. The hurricane tracked east of Fort Myers as a category 2 and passed between Lakeland and Tampa as a category 1.

According to Duke Energy, 1.2 million Florida customers were without power on Monday, September 11, with most power scheduled to be restored Sunday, September 17. Pinellas County Schools and the Madeira Beach city offices will remain closed until Monday, September 18.

The Madeira Beach shop reopened with no major damage on Friday, September 15. "We were blessed. We were spared a direct hit from Hurricane Irma and now our attentions are focused on those who were affected," said Cherie Pattishall, License Partner. "As a global company, we have colleagues and friends in the Florida Keys, Naples, the Bahamas and beyond. We will provide those affected any aid we can."