New flood protection system at Naples Airport mitigates risk

Naples Airport has added a new flood protection system to safeguard its buildings, equipment and technology against storm surge.

The Naples Airport Authority purchased 3,000 feet of industrial-grade, flexible tubing from U.S. Flood Control. Once filled with water, linked and anchored, the Tiger Dam system forms an airtight barrier that officials say is more effective than sandbags.

“Having seen the water 3 to 5 feet throughout the airport really changed our thinking about how we prepare and mitigate our facilities for future events,” said Justin Lobb, deputy director of aviation.

During Hurricane Ian in 2022, storm surge from the Gordon River and Naples Bay left parts of the airport inches from catastrophic flooding.

“We realized we needed to protect our assets more proactively,” said Barry Brown, director of operations and maintenance. “Tiger Dam really stood out as pretty easy to deploy, a lot less expensive than some of the other systems and it’s pretty intuitive.”

The $259,370 system, paid for with airport funds, can protect key facilities including the North Road Terminal, General Aviation Terminal, Airport Office Building, Facilities Building and Fuel Farm. The two-by-one tube configuration will create a 3.5-foot dam.

On Aug. 13, the operations team trained on filling, stabilizing, stacking, draining and packing the barriers, which are stored in a custom trailer for rapid deployment.

“Tiger Dam is an emergency rapid deployment,” said Cheryl Witmer, sales director for U.S. Flood Control. “You can put it up very quickly with very few people.”

The self-sustaining airport receives no local tax dollars.