First residents allowed on Fort Myers Beach after Ian. Debris clean-up remains a priority
Ten days after Hurricane Ian crashed into Southwest Florida as a dangerous, high-end Category 4 storm on Sept. 28, the first group of residents returned to Fort Myers Beach — one of the areas that suffered the most catastrophic destruction — and new experts will soon arrive to help with debris removal, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Saturday.
“It’s our hope that everybody is able to go back to their property,” said DeSantis, during a briefing from Fort Myers Beach.
“I know there’s some people that are going to have really significant damage; some will have total loss; some may have damage that they’re willing to live in their house for, and if it’s safe, they have a right to do that,” he added.
After clearing Fort Myers Beach for people to enter, local officials brought in portable showers, restrooms and hand-washing stations for people to use in case they can’t at home. Fort Myers Beach had been closed off while crews completed search and rescue operations, but other islands had already allowed access in prior days.
Across the state, authorities have linked at least 115 deaths to Ian, one of the deadliest storms in Florida’s history. The storm’s destruction will likely cost $67 billion in private market insured losses from Florida to the Carolinas, according to data released Friday by a modeling firm called RMS.
On Saturday, the Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie announced the state activated the Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) program, partnering with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), for 19 counties: Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Flagler, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns and Volusia.
This helps those impacted by Ian to shelter in a hotel or motel paid for by FEMA.
DeSantis also announced Saturday a new disaster recovery center opened Saturday in Collier County to help Floridians displaced by Ian. It’s located at the Veterans Community Park, at 1895 Veterans Dr. in Naples.
That brought the total of disaster center in the state to four, including one in Sarasota County and two in Lee County.
Clean-up remained a priority Saturday. Because of that, Panama City Mayor Greg Brudnicki and his team, which handled the recovery in the Panhandle after Hurricane Michael in 2018, will travel to the impacted Southwest counties and provide advice there, the governor said.
“This is a monumental undertaking when you have debris of this nature,” DeSantis said.
So far, the Florida Department of Transportation has cleared 5,200 miles of roadway, and inspected and reopened about 2,500 bridges across the state.
On Wednesday, emergency workers restored the two-lane drawbridge in Matlacha that connects Pine Island, the largest barrier island off Florida’s Gulf Coast, to the mainland.
Workers are now fully focused on the Sanibel Causeway, which links Sanibel Island to mainland in Punta Rassa and which Ian severed. They started the repairs this past week and expect to wrap them up by the end of October. In the meantime, they’re carrying equipment, supplies and crews by barge to the island — the last barrier island in need of restored access.
About 2.6 million of the power outages have been restored. About 69,000 outages still needed to be addressed as of Saturday, according to the state.
