Fort Myers Beach residents return to ravaged island. No power, water, destroyed homes

[William769]

Ten days after Hurricane Ian tore through his small, tight-knit waterfront community of Fort Myers Beach with a storm surge estimated as high as 18 feet, Jerry Altrip boarded a bus and made his way back from the mainland across the causeway that connects to the small barrier island.

Since Ian struck on Sept. 28, Altrip had only seen pictures of the devastation from afar, mostly taking in footage of crushed homes, buildings and shredded landscape through aerial footage gathered by television stations.

Still, the long-time island resident told NBC Nightly News reporter Kathy Park that he remained hopeful his property had somehow survived the hammering winds and roiling waters that plowed through the “little island” that he “loved.” It didn’t.

“My house is gone,” Altrip told the reporter. “Lot of good memories.”

Altrip was one of the first residents and business owners permitted back onto Fort Myers Beach since Ian roared ashore with 150 mph winds and devastating storm surge. The group was shuttled by bus Saturday afternoon across the Mantazas Pass Bridge that connects the small, seaside community and barrier island to the mainland.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fort-myers-beach-residents-return-to-ravaged-island-no-power-water-destroyed-homes/ar-AA12M3Sv?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=872d0ff632ef46b7a179f34212dcc438



Fort Myers Beach will never be the same as it goes, all of old Florida is gone forever.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

1. I haven't seen one of them who says they don't want to build back.

That would change quickly if it came out of their own pockets.

Flood insurance should be limited to areas not at sea level or close to it.

[TheProle]

4. A sliding scale

as sea levels rise, yes?

[soldierant]

8. Some of it will be

or they'll have to scale down some. Flood insurance, like rarthquake insurance, doesn't cover as much as regular homeowner policies and has higher seductibles.

[fescuerescue]

15. I think that would be true anywhere

If you don't have the insurance to build back.

Should we build in areas that might flood? Maybe not.

Maybe we shouldn't build near earthquake faults, mud slide areas, the midwest too.

Ultimately, insurance is a shared risk pool. I think it's a good trade off. More buildable land, more affordable homes and everyone pays a little into the pot.

[moonshinegnomie]

27. flood insurance only covers 250k max (at least the government insurance plan)

i'd like to see flood insurance priced so its based on actual losses. and you should be limited to maybe 2 claims total before you're ineligible for the program. If you live in a flood prone area like on a barrier island your premium should be based only on losses in those areas. yes that will jack up the cost of insurance on those properties but theres. a reason you shouldn't build on them.

[snowybirdie]

2. They will rebuild

but it won't be the same. Hoping and praying they won't let the big developers take over. There's enough multi -millionaires in the area. Let FMB be again for the people. It was such a cool place.

[intheflow]

5. I'd love to see the island become a national park.

People who still have homes and businesses in tact can be grandfathered in for the immediate generation. I'd support the government buying people's whose homes are wiped out and relocating them to property well above sea-level. (Sorry the market rate for your non-existent home is so low, but that's what you get for living as though climate change is an illusion.

[slightlv]

9. I get what you're saying...

I just think it's a little more cruelty added to tragedy right now. These are just among the first of us to feel the effects. The entire west coast goes up in flames every year... and it creeps Easterly with each year that passes. We've got tornadoes and prairie fires that flame out of control in the mid west. And that's not to mention the drought we're suffering under right now.

Once upon a time, people who had very little... if any.. money, built shacks along the sandbars of the Missouri river. It would flood, and they'd rebuild. Time and time again they'd lose everything, which wasn't much to most of us here. The government did finally pay several people to stop building along the shores and moved them east into the beginning of the hills of MO. And then we started having 100+ year floods along the Missouri River.

Climate change is going to hit all of us. Even if you "buy out" all the people in danger zones, where would you put them all? Where is a "safe" place in the United States and how large are going to make this megalopolis? Remember, as personal space is squeezed from people, the crime rate goes up.

Maybe I'm just looking at FL with a Mid westerner's eye... I see it like I see most of lower LA... below sea level. I envision a time where the entire state is going to be back under water. Maybe what I've seen and read is wrong?

Meanwhile, the middle class and poorer people of Lee County are in a catch-22. They're living in a state that hubby and I call "Germany on the Gulf." I doubt greatly they're going to get any state help. And what can be done is being done Federally, even while the state reps vote it down. But I don't blame the people -- other than those R's who vote "R" simply because it isn't "D". I DO blame the gerrymandered, autocratic government. Hopefully, Ian has shown enough people what true help is like, and they'll vote the autocratic idiots out. But for that, I don't have much hope as long as places like "The Villages" exist.

[intheflow]

13. Yeah, yeah.

But- we know for 100% sure that FMB is going to be under water in the next 50 years. Tornados, fires, even hurricanes aren't 100% predictable, but Florida is going to drown and these folks are going to have to move at that point. I worked hurricane recovery for two years after Katrina, and lived in a tornado alley in Colorado. I stand by what I said.

[tavernier]

17. When I moved to the Keys 50 years ago, I was told in 50 years that Keys

would be under water.

Still here. Shoreline about the same. I have lost a home and a car to a Hurricane, but I lost stuff to blizzards and tornadoes up in Michigan.

Don’t get me wrong, climate change is real and everyone needs to understand the need for supporting change globally and immediately. But if I choose to live in the Keys or California or Kansas and understand the risks and bear the cost, that’s still my right.

[moonshinegnomie]

28. most areas wont be hit by a tornado in a lifetime

and even if they do occur they usually only take out a couple blocks. (ive been in 2) blizzards dont cause much in the way of property damage.
hurricanes on the other hand if you live on the florida coast you can be pretty much assured you WILL be hit.
thats the main reason when we moved south to get out of teh cold we eliminated florida. Theres almost a 100% chance you will be hit by a hurricane in any 20-30 year period.

[William769]

6. ...

[Lucinda]

3. ...

[greatauntoftriplets]

7. This is so sad, and for so many.

An entire way of life, lots of memories are gone. I hope that the developers don't completely ruin it.

[William769]

10. We can only hope.

Unfortunately, money talks.

[greatauntoftriplets]

14. Yes, sigh.

[honest.abe]

11. I just found this drone video of Fort Meyers Beach damage. Its shocking.

[FakeNoose]

18. Shocking! Compare that with this video of Ian's 15-foot storm surge

(This one is only 2:30 and the sound can be turned off.)

How can anyone decide to rebuild on this island? The government has to step in and prevent rebuilding. Declare it a national disaster area, or something.

[William769]

20. Thank you.

[ornotna]

26. Two weeks before the storm

It's all gone.

[honest.abe]

30. Wow.. I cannot even recognize any of those buildings.

Thanks for posting this. I was wondering what it looked like before. I have never been there.

[onethatcares]

12. If the mouth of Tampa Bay ever gets hit

it'll be a worse disaster. What used to be the road to Ft Desoto and a bunch of mangrove islands is now condos/private homes from the toll booths on the BayWay to the boat ramps.

They called them barrier islands for a reason and they did fine. At another time they were called the E.C. Wright estate, I don't know they became that but maybe the Earth is just waiting for the pay off.

[FakeNoose]

16. Are they smart enough to recognize the danger now?

Don't rebuild in Fort Myers Beach!

Move someplace that's at least 10 feet above sea level. Twenty feet would be even better.

[Hortensis]

19. Fort Myers Beach is the barrier island, not the town on the mainland,

which also took a very bad hit but not wiped away. The island residents must have been wondering for some years if each year could be their last one there, or at least in that residents, could they afford or dare to restore and remain after taking a bad hit? And now many know. Those for whom cost isn't the issue must have a different consideration.

Will the state replace the bridge and the county restore residential services or rezone and restore the barrier island as a park?

[William769]

21. Fort Myers beach is an actual city with a mayor & everything.

The answers would have to start there first.

[Hortensis]

29. Yes. They have a say, though the state could dissolve the local municipality.

And there's the issue of money. The very wealthy residents who'll likely already be applying pressure in Tallahassee certainly wouldn't expect to pay to rebuild a bridge and the services they need themselves. The town's own local revenue stream also came to an abrupt end, but hopefully they can still afford to pay for professional representation.

If I were an owner I wouldn't know if I even retained a greatly diminished land value until it was established that rebuilding the town will happen and zoning of my lot still allows. Significantly diminished in the best case given that this will happen again. As long as enough land is still there it's still doable for me if I don't need a loan or run into other obstacles to rebuilding, of course.

[CatWoman]

22. question: if all the insurance companies are leaving the state

how are people supposed to rebuild???

[William769]

23. Good question.

Fortunately, my insurance company is still here.

[CatWoman]

24. is this governor trying to address that problem in any way?

[William769]

25. Only if he can get it to fit into his reelection schedule. Otherwise, no.