By Steve Almasy and Melissa Alonso, CNN
Sanibel Island residents on Wednesday have been crossing the causeway for the first time since Hurricane Ian broken the solely highway onto the common Gulf Coast vacation spot.
“The causeway is our lifeline, and without it we have no opportunity to get back to the island, to get back to our homes,” stated longtime resident Troy Thompson, who manages the Lazy Flamingo eating places. “We’ve been stranded in town for three weeks now and it means everything to get back.”
The causeway, which contains three bridges and highway over two tiny man-made islands, opened weeks sooner than first predicted and two days sooner than latest forecasts.
“We had an ambitious agenda and ambitious roadmap to get this done,” Gov. Ron DeSantis stated at a news convention in Fort Myers, noting 100 crews labored for some 36,000 work hours on the causeway.
At least 5 sections of the causeway, which connects Sanibel to the mainland, have been washed away by Hurricane Ian, Lee County officers stated.
Florida Transportation Department Secretary Jared Perdue stated the bridges have been largely undamaged however some “portions of the causeway that connect bridge structures had been washed away.”
“A project like this, under normal circumstances, could take months. However, FDOT, along with our law enforcement partners at the Florida Highway Patrol, Lee County and Florida Department of Emergency Management made use of strategic and innovative techniques to rebuild the causeways quickly,” Perdue stated.
But De Santis stated the present repairs are a short lived repair. “We are going to continue to work with the county on plans for permanent repairs to the causeway… but we’re happy to be able to take the lead on the restoration,” he stated.
Two weeks in the past, island residents have been allowed to go to Sanibel by boat for the first time since the Category 4 storm made landfall September 29. Hurricane Ian killed not less than 115 individuals in Florida, 55 in Lee County, in accordance to state officers.
Julie Emig — who returned to Sanibel together with her spouse, Vicki Paskaly, on October 5 — told CNN that day they couldn’t consider the destruction.
“It’s incomprehensible that a storm, a hurricane, can wipe us all out like this in just a few hours,” she stated.
Until Wednesday, solely a one-time caravan of tons of of utility vehicles had been allowed over the causeway.
About 25% of Sanibel Island ought to have energy again this week, whereas northern components of neighboring Captiva Island could not get energy restored till November, the governor stated.
Power to a college, a water plant and fireplace stations might be again by Thursday, Lee County Electric Cooperative stated Saturday on its web site.
Sanibel Mayor Holly Smith advised CNN affiliate WBBH returning residents ought to include cheap expectations.
“We still do not have water. We don’t have sewer. We don’t have power,” the mayor stated. “So, to think that you can come and live here as you normally did before is really a topic that I want people to be very cautious of.”
A curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. stays in impact for the island.
The-CNN-Wire
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