Sanibel, Captiva reminded to secure hurricane re-entry passes for season
The islands will again reuse the 2016 hurricane passes for the upcoming storm season.
Residents and businesses should apply for Sanibel’s Hurricane Reentry Pass Program in case an evacuation is ordered. Those already enrolled should make sure they still have their passes.
The city cited continuing efforts to control costs for keeping the 2016 ones active.
The passes help to aid security, speed up re-entry and provide traffic control.
For residents, a limit of two passes are issued per address. The 2016 passes are purple.
For businesses, only enough passes are issued to facilitate the damage assessment process, which officials previously reported typically means one pass. The 2016 commercial passes are tan.
Any older hurricane passes can be discarded.
Sanibel and Captiva are broken down into a number of re-entry zones.
The zones are numbered from the re-entry access point – the Causeway – then from Sanibel through to Captiva. Typically, a couple of zones are worked on at a time during the re-entry clearing process.
A second situation is an all-zone re-entry, which was used following Hurricane Irma.
Upon re-entry, two lanes will be opened at the toll plaza.
One will be for pass holders, and the other for those without them.
For those with passes, they may need to provide a photo ID with their pass.
Those without passes will be required to provide a valid photo ID, preferably a driver’s license bearing an island address, and one document with an island address, like a utility bill or vehicle registration.
The passes are issued Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sanibel Police Department, located on the Second Floor of City Hall, at 800 Dunlop Road. Applications can be submitted via the mail, fax or email. Acquiring either pass requires a short application and specific documentation.
For more information about the Hurricane Reentry Pass Program or to print an application, visit the “Emergency Management” link found under Sanibel Police Department at “http://www.mysanibel.com”>www.mysanibel.com.