What changed, and when?
Your first steps: Stay on stable ground, document observable changes and ask for a professional assessment. Keep temporary protection, permanent work and insurance questions in separate records.
Create a dated sequence: before the storm, first safe observation and later changes. Show displaced cap sections, open ground, exposed utilities, dock movement and soil loss. Include broad views and closer photos without entering unsafe areas.
The National Hurricane Center’s Ian report documents surge impacts around Naples Bay. That history explains local exposure; it does not prove what caused damage on your parcel.
Tide predictions are not a site safety forecast
NOAA’s Naples outer-coast station is 8725110. Its tide predictions use a named tidal reference; they do not substitute for local conditions, a storm-surge forecast or an engineer’s access decision.
- Keep observation times with the photos.
- Record whether rain, irrigation or water levels changed.
- Do not convert a tide reading into a survey cap elevation.
Ask about emergency authorization before permanent work
DEP publishes post-storm coastal permitting procedures. The route depends on location, work and any applicable order; “storm repair” is not a blanket exemption.
Give the City or County the address, photos, immediate concern and proposed temporary measures. Ask how permanent reconstruction should follow. Keep the agency response, permit conditions and subsequent inspection records.
Preserve facts for the insurer and assessor
Notify your insurer through its claims process and request the policy language relevant to the structure and cause. Keep estimates, invoices and discarded-material documentation if safe and requested.
Read the insurance guide. A repair recommendation, a permit and an insurance coverage decision answer different questions.
Make the first record useful without approaching damage
One overview, then details
From a safe accessible location, save an overview that identifies the affected stretch and any existing photos of the same view. Record the date, what changed and when you first noticed it. Keep original files as well as any annotated copies.
Separate observation from cause
Write “new gap visible at the north connection” rather than declaring what failed. Add reported flooding, rain or vessel impact as separate observations. Let the assessor explain which evidence supports a cause and what remains uncertain.
If there is movement, fresh ground loss or exposed utilities, keep people and heavy items away from the affected area and seek prompt professional help. Do not climb onto a damaged wall or enter the water to complete a photo checklist.
Keep temporary protection and permanent repair separate
Ask the professional to describe immediate protective measures separately from the permanent repair. Record the proposed action, responsible person, access restrictions and approvals still needed. Photograph the condition before changes when it is safe to do so, and retain work records and receipts.
DEP has a distinct emergency-permitting process for work within its coastal-construction jurisdiction. Do not infer that a storm makes permanent work permit-free. Confirm the route with the relevant authority and give your insurer the requested information without assuming the wall is covered.
When proposals arrive, compare the repaired components, drainage, lost soil and restoration—not just the emergency visit charge.
Prepare a repair brief
- Address, contact and safe access instructions.
- Observed changes and dates.
- Existing surveys, permits and prior repair records.
- Temporary measures already taken and their approvals.
- Questions requiring professional inspection.
Use the assessment guide to agree on the inspection’s scope before the visit.
Show sourcesHide sources
- Hurricane Ian tropical cyclone reportSource reviewed 2026-10-25 · official indexed text
- Naples outer-coast tide predictions, station 8725110Source reviewed 2026-10-25 · official indexed text
- CCCL emergency permittingSource reviewed 2026-10-25 · official indexed text
- Marine (PRMAR)Source reviewed 2026-10-25