Shocked, shattered, resiliency tested on Fort Myers Beach after Hurricane Ian
A week after Hurricane Ian struck Fort Myers Beach, bodies were still being found under debris and under receding water from a Category 4 storm which brought 150 mph winds to the island, 16-feet storm surges and turned the lives of thousands into nightmares with destruction not seen on a scale in these parts in anyone’s lifetime.
There were 54 people believed to be dead in Lee County, with a significant portion in the Fort Myers Beach area where the storm’s impact was felt more than anywhere else in Florida.
On the only way by road to Fort Myers Beach down San Carlos Boulevard two days after Hurricane Ian struck, yachts and other large boats lined the sidewalks and blocked streets Friday.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Fire Department was forced to close off the island for a week to residents seeking to return to their home in order to continue search-and-rescue operations with the National Urban Search and Rescue Team.
On Main Street, a boat blocked the middle of the road that leads to Salty Sam’s Marina, single-family homes and mobile home communities.
Scores of homes and businesses were totaled on Fort Myers Beach, including most of Times Square — the town’s tourist destination. Rubble lined the streets, the sidewalks, places where homes used to stand, and even blocked the middle of roads in some locations. Destroyed boats upon boats, were left on top of each other like ancient shipwrecks.
Some bodies have not yet been identified. Most of the dead range from their 50s and into their 90s.
Among those who didn’t survive the hurricane was Fort Myers Beach resident Mitch Pacyna, who was as popular as anyone on the island and well-known for his extravagant Christmas decorations and for his sports lounge which he created in his garage.
“We’re heartbroken by Mitch,” said Sea Gypsy Inn co-owner Scott Safford. “We can replace buildings but we can’t replace somebody as good as Mitch.”
The outpouring of emotion for the loss of Pacyna was evident on Facebook, where numerous tributes flowed.
“You will be missed by all especially by us at the Library,” Fort Myers Beach Library Clerk Debby Heffner Ashby said.
Fort Myers Beach Councilmember Bill Veach lost his home, one of four council members left homeless from the savagery of the storm. Town of Fort Myers Beach Manager Roger Hernstadt’s home burned down. Hernstadt was distraught by his loss but stated he wished to focus on town recovery operations rather than speak on his own personal loss.
“As a community we have all suffered, most tragically with the loss of life of our friends and neighbors,” said Jessica Hernstadt, wife to the town manager and a participant in several goodwill nonprofits in town.
“This is a time for all of us to come together and support each other in any way we can,” Ms. Hernstadt said.
Hernstadt noted that several community organizations are working hard to help the FMB community in many ways. The Fort Myers Beach Community Foundation’s #WeAreFMB fundraising efforts are in progress at FMBCommunityFoundation.com and The Kiwanis Club of Fort Myers Beach is providing clothing and housewares to Fort Myers Beach residents outside 11050 Summerlin Square Drive.
“While I am saddened over the personal loss of my home and business, I find inspiration in one of my favorite quotes by Booker T. Washington, ‘If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else,'” Mr. Hernstadt said.
“I personally feel kind of detached from the loss,” Veach said. “The violence and destruction is almost beyond comprehension. We lost our lovingly restored, historic beach cottage, and our lifetime of collections. But we are OK. I went onto the island with Roger on day one, where we were cut off from the outside world. My 4WD truck could go no further than the Lani Kai. Cars had floated into the road, wires lay across it. We hiked it to where our house used to be, seeing friends along the way. Then we staggered around like movie zombies, and saw another friend,” he said. “It was a day later when I was driving I was surprised when my almost useless phone rang. Is was my panicking sister, not sure if we were alive or dead. I understood her relief. While checking on friends and neighbors and their houses, I was stuck by the sense of euphoria when seeing a friend among the wreckage, someone who you weren’t sure made it. It is a staggering loss, like it washed the delightful funky right off our island. But stuff is stuff, people are people. And it’s the people that make this island home.”
Veach cautioned residents against wading into the water due to the high-level of pollutants believed to have entered the bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Nearly every building in town has suffered some type of flooding damage and countless amounts of debris were scattered along the streets. Some streets were blocked off with debris.
“We took a real bad shot. A real hard hit,” Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy said.
“There is a lot of destruction. The island was devastated and now the cleanup begins.
The U.S. Coast Guard, which has a base in Fort Myers Beach, has reported rescuing 255 people as of Saturday in operations which extend from the coasts of the waters around Lee County and Collier County. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said there have been more than 800 rescues in all.
“It’s going to be a long recovery,” Fort Myers Beach resident Kevin Cochrane said. Cochrane said he and his wife Theisen’s home was flooded onto the second floor. They lost their appliances, television and their laundry machines. Cochrane said a neighbor was watching the home for them while they evacuated and reported a 10-feet surge of water.
Cochrane has been on the island about 35 years after moving from Buffalo, where the hazards are blizzards of seven to eight feet of snow. His wife Theisen was born on Fort Myers Beach 60 years ago during Hurricane Donna. Theisen teaches physical education at Cape Coral Elementary School while Mr. Cochrane is a retired special education teacher from Royal Palm Exceptional Center.
“We will start over from scratch,” Mr. Cochrane said.
Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce President Jacki Liszak and husband Scott Safford said nothing was left of their business the Sea Gypsy Inn, on Estero Boulevard. Most of the dozens of vacation rentals they operate, were totaled or heavily damaged, they said.
“It’s like you came back to another planet,” Liszak said. Liszak said Hurricane Charley in 2004 was like a “rainstorm” compared to Hurricane Ian.
“I wouldn’t even call it a hurricane after this,” she said.
“This community is going to change. A lot of people aren’t going to come back,” Safford said.
“Together, we will figure our way through it,” Liszak said.
Liszak said the website for the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce will be providing information to people and businesses looking for help and assistance. Liszak said her chamber team is still working and the chamber is receiving support from other chambers who have been through hurricanes in the panhandle.
Liszak’s first floor of her residence was “decimated,” she said. The second floor took about a foot of water, she said. Safford said there was a 15-feet surge of water during Hurricane Ian. They are hopeful they can save some artwork. They were able to save wedding photos.
Among the businesses totally wiped out by the hurricane were Shucker’s at the Gulfshore and Cottage Bar, The Salty Crab, The Beach Bar, Junkanoos, The Pierview Grill & Famous Blowfish Bar, Sunset Beach Tropical Grill and others.
The Red Coconut RV Resort was particularly hard hit, with much of it wiped out.
Liszak, who owned the Sea Gypsy Inn for 10 years, said she has started a GoFundMepage to assist staff at the inn. The GoFundMe page is one of a number of such pages for area businesses. The Pink Shell Resort, Sunset Beach Tropical Grill and Sandpiper are among the other businesses with GoFundMe pages to assist staff.
Pink Shell Resort owner Robert Boykin said his hotel was structurally sound though it did sustain a lot of water damage. Boykin said water even reached the lobby, which is 22 feet above the ground. Some glass on the first floor was broken. He said the key was to dry out the resort before mold could grow.
Boykin is hoping he can gain permission from authorities to bring on a large electric generator truck to power his resort and help restore it quicker and get it up and running in order to use the hotel to house workers repairing the island. Boykin said workers at his property had to go almost two hours north to Sarasota to find lodging.
“We’re in the best position to get back up and running,” Boykin said. “We could be lodging search and rescue (personnel).”
“We’re mostly new construction post-(Hurricane) Andrew. This is my seventh hurricane,” Boykin said. “We don’t have any structural damage,” he said. Boykin said the resort held up the way it was designed to. “We’ve had contractors inside assessing the situation,” he said. “We can serve an important function to the rest of the community.”
The damage from the hurricane caused the closure of Big Hickory Pass Bridge, which is the only connection to Bonita Beach from the south end of Fort Myers Beach.
At a press conference in Fort Myers Saturday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he believed county officials were ready for “some level of displacement” among residents.
“These are resilient folks,” he said. “They will bounce back. We just have to pave the way for them.”
S’iva Goodman, who lives on Palermo Circle, said her home sustained major flooding damage and she lost a large number of belongings.
“We live on the bottom floor so it was flooded to the ceiling,” Goodman said.
“It was definitely over 12 feet,” Goodman said of the storm surge. Goodman said her sailboat cut loose and drifted down the street but was saved. Goodman said she stayed with her mother during the storm. Goodman was able to save some clothes and personal items such as some seashells.
Goodman works at Dixie Fish Co. and Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille. Marty Harrity, a partner in the ownership of the restaurants, said the restaurants incurred “major flooding damage.” Harrity called the situation “an enormous disaster.”
Off island, two friends described a last-minute escape from a flooding home. Ally Caudill, of Iona, said she drove her car to pick up her friend Cole Mazza but soon found her own car flooded. Mazza said he escaped from his home with a suitcase and two cats and had to swim to safety. A bartender at Shucker’s, he said he lost his car. “We’re doing our best,” Caudill said.
“I can’t really find words for it,” Mazza said. Just a few days earlier, he said he was prepping Shucker’s for a major storm, not knowing it would cost him his home.
“It was like a tsunami hit,” Mazza said. Mazza said he worked at Shucker’s for five year. “It was like a family,” he said.
Dave Nusbaum, president of the Island Winds Condominium Association said the building took a lot of water in the first floor.
“We got hammered,” Nusbaum said.
Power and water was lost to the island for days and could be out an extended time. Cell towers were also damaged, leaving limited cell phone coverage.
DeSantis encouraged those considering joining in volunteer efforts to go to volunteerflorida.org.
“My favorite party place and it’s gone,” said Angela Wingate, of San Carlos Boulevard.
“My pier is gone. The Dairy Queen. My old stomping grounds from the ’70s. A lot of memories are wiped away with my grandkids,” said Angel Roman, of Fort Myers. Roman said he once put in irrigation pipes on Fort Myers Beach near Times Square.
Town of Fort Myers Beach Councilmember Jim Atterholt stayed on the island throughout the hurricane and only recently left because his condo became uninhabitable.
“We are so very thankful to our public safety professionals as they risk their lives to protect us. It has been a very difficult time for our island but as long as I have breath in my lungs, I am going to fight for an even bigger and better Island Renaissance in our future,” Atterholt said.
Atterholt said damage on the south end of the island “has a wide spectrum. Most of the condo buildings had their first floors almost completely wiped out with the upper floors fairing relatively well. Structural engineers are going to have to make the ultimate decision on if the condos are safe. The homes on the south end also have a wide range of damage levels depending on when and how they were built.”
It appeared that the Margaritaville construction was largely still standing.
Asked why he wants to return to Fort Myers Beach and rebuild after such a hurricane, Cochrane said “I just love the island. I love the history and the fact that my wife was born here.”
Cochrane said they wanted to redo their home “better so that we can survive if it happens again.”
Cochrane said they loved the town’s “quaintness and the history and the weather, of course, until now.”
To reach NATHAN MAYBERG, please email news@breezenewspapers.com