Cape Coral councilman gives update on Hurricane Ian response
Hayden says no home untouched, one death reported
City of Cape Coral Councilman Tom Hayden said that one person died in Cape Coral from Hurricane Ian and no home was untouched by the flooding.
Hayden said it could be a while until power is restored following Hurricane Ian, which he said affected just about every property in the city.
“The boathouse was destroyed, the Yacht Club building is standing with some roof damage, the pier is gone,” Hayden said. “There probably isn’t a home that didn’t suffer damage.”
Hayden said there was significant damage to poles. Homes along the Caloosahatchee River and along Yacht Club area received 5 to 6 feet in some homes, with significant damage.
“Everybody was impacted by this,” Hayden said.
“Power restoration is going to take some time. We are going to ask our residents to be patient,” he said.
Hayden said the one death in Cape Coral was somebody who lost oxygen due to the loss of power.
Hayden said more than 10,000 people had power restored in the city. He said Lee County Electric Cooperative expects power to be restored to 95% of the city by Saturday.
There were still sewage issues, with lift stations having failed during the hurricane. Hayden said some city residents were reporting sewage backing up as a result of the system failures.
A fire Sunday night caused by a generator was a concern in the city, with some reports of carbon monoxide poisoning by those with generators too close to their homes.
Gas lines were up to an hour or more, with people going to Fort Myers or elsewhere to fill up on gas.
The city waived permit fees for storage units, RVs and trailers for 180 days if people’s homes are uninhabitable.
City of Cape Coral Councilmember Gloria Tate suffered 5 to 6 feet of water inside her home, he said.
Hayden said the city’s public works department did a “great job clearing debris, Cape Coral police are directing traffic, most traffic lights are out.”
Traffic was reported to be backed up 6 miles in some locations Monday.
“The key thing for us right now is making sure residents have access to food, water and ice,” Hayden said. Hayden said some Publix locations and Wawa stations were open.
“I think the message is they are working as hard as they can. We ask you to have patience,” Hayden said. “The city cares deeply.”
Hayden said he was disturbed by reports out of The Woodlands, an assisted living facility, where he said the city’s emergency medical technicians came to the rescue helped them out until next shift came after staff left during the hurricane and the home did not have generator power.
“That was unfortunate. Our EMT’s (emergency medical technicians) treated them. To have some help there, they were treated as heroes,” Hayden said.
To reach Nathan Mayberg, please email nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com