Floridians wait for OK to survey storm damage
FORT MYERS BEACH, FLA. — William Wellema has been living under a bridge for four days, waiting to get to Fort Myers Beach on Florida’s Estero Island to see if his vacation home survived Hurricane Ian. On Friday, he was beyond frustrated as he continued to await permission to drive across.
“They’re saying it’s because of the rescue and recovery efforts,” Wellema said of the closure. He drove from Little Falls, N.J., with a pass he got at the start of hurricane season that was supposed to allow him onto the island after a storm.
Wellema said he’s considering crossing by kayak at night. He is in touch with friends in other parts of the country waiting on his word to make their own journeys south.
Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy has said no one will be allowed back until emergency services crews finish “searching for people who are hurt or might need help amongst the rubble, and people who have passed” in the town of just over 7,000.
First responders need space and time to do their jobs and “any extra vehicle and pedestrian traffic hampers and prolongs their efforts,” the statement said. They have not set a date for when residents can return.
The Florida Medical Examiners Commission has reported 92 storm-related deaths in Florida so far. Most them were in Lee County, which includes the greater Fort Myers area and Gulf Coast islands. Five people were killed in North Carolina, three in Cuba and one in Virginia.
Fort Myers Beach residents James Berry and Jeff Silcock, like Wellema, have access passes to the island and were also waiting under the bridge to get home, but neither was as upset as Wellema. “They’re still looking for bodies out there and there’s an investigation process,” said Silcock. “I totally understand why they’re not letting anyone on.”