COCONUT GROVE, Fla. – After Hurricane Irma passed over South Florida, three sail boats were pushed together like toys in the backyard of a 6-bedroom waterfront mansion in Miami's Coconut Grove.
There was debris scattered behind the two-story, six-bedroom 1.6-acre estate of Peter Austin Appel and Polly Appel on Main Lodge Drive near the Via Abitare Way. The mansion, built in 1926, appeared to not have structural damage.
The powerful storm surge left a sailboat stuck under the rooftop deck of the $50 million contemporary Casa Bahia. The 20,000-square-foot mansion remains one of the priciest homes in Miami-Dade County. Within the property, another sail boat defied the protected dock and nearly made it into Munroe Drive Circle.
The area surrounding The Barnacle Historic State Park is walking distance to Ransom Everglades School, one of the most prestigious private schools in Miami-Dade County. Storm surge and strong winds pushed a sail boat on the school's football field.
Irma — at one point the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the open Atlantic -- sent many of the neighborhoods residents out of Miami before the storm hit. The City of Miami crews were cleaning debris off the roads known for the shade of thick-rooted canopy trees that will need time to recover after the storm.
