County officials urges residents to stay off the beaches
Lee County officials urged residents and visitors to stay off the roads if possible today and to stay off the beaches for the next couple days in the wake of Hurricane Milton.
Milton, which made landfall at Siesta Key as a Category 3 storm Wednesday, brought extensive flooding to Lee County, downed power lines, loss of power, debris as well as at least one tornado .
More than 200,000 homes and businesses remained without power Thursday afternoon.
“We are asking you today to stay home,” Lee County Public Safety Director Ben Abes said during a press conference early Thursday. Abes said debris in the roads and downed power lines necessitated that residents stay home if possible.
Abes said the approach to the Blind Pass Bridge in Captiva was damaged. Other roads were damaged as well and the county was assessing all of its bridges.
More than half of traffic signals in the county were not working at intersections.
“The longer you can stay off the roads, it is really important for you to do so,” Lee County Commissioner Kevin Ruane said. “We need your cooperation a little bit longer.” “Stay indoors. Let us restore power,” he said.
Ruane said there were numerous road issues throughout the county including on Captiva and Boca Grande.
The county’s barrier islands took on a lot of flooding, he said.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said there were no reported deaths from Hurricane Milton in Lee County.
Marceno also urged residents to stay off local roads, if possible, until conditions improved.
“If you don’t have to be outside, don’t come out just yet. Let us do our assessments,” he said.
Marceno said there was “significant surge in the coastal areas” during Hurricane Milton last night.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to more than 600 calls during the storm.
Marceno there was significant tornado activity in Lee County Wednesday, including one tornado that Marceno said ripped through Matlacha and went through Fort Myers Beach to Big Hickory Island.
More than 9,000 people were in the county shelters overnight.
“This is when strangers help strangers,” Marceno said.
U.S. Senator Rick Scott said he was thankful there were no deaths in Lee County during Hurricane Milton but said residents had to be extra cautious not to get hurt while recovering from Milton and repairing damage.
“Don’t use a chainsaw if you don’t know how to use it,” Scott said. “We all have to be careful. Take your time.”
Scott said there was bad storm surge throughout the barriers islands of Lee County and other parts of the state.
Unexpected tornadoes throughout the state led to deaths including several in St. Lucie County, Scott said. “We had some horrible tornadoes.”
The National Weather Service in Miami set a record for the most tornado watches it issued for the state and the National Weather Service in Tampa also approached record reports of tornado activity for the west coast of the state.
Scott said he spoke with President Joe Biden this morning.
“He agrees that Congress needs to come back and make sure federal agencies are fully funded.”
Scott said he has spoken with Biden about getting block grants to farmers and ranchers and getting FEMA centers open as close to impacted residents as possible
Scott called on the public to contact his office if they have any issues with FEMA.
“Be a little patient,” Ruane said in a message to the public.
“Let’s be really grateful for what has occurred,” Ruane said. “We could have really been hit a lot harder.”
Fort Myers Beach Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt said the early analysis was that Milton was “worse than Helene but not as bad as Ian.”
Attrholt said there was some “exhaustion” among residents having to go through another hurricane but said islanders were showing “resilience.”