Sanibel recovery efforts seven months after Hurricane Ian

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Friday marks seven months since Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida, and in that time many people have done what they can to help others in their community. The Barrier Islands are an exemplary demonstration of this effort.

Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach, in particular, since those communities have become almost unrecognizable after overwhelming flooding, damage and devastation. The remarkable grit and decisiveness of the people of Sanibel are evident once you see how the island has come back.

The amount of traffic on Sanibel and the Causeway, rebuilt in less than a month after Ian, it’s clear the people of Sanibel can and will do whatever it takes for their community.

After Hurricane Ian, many people wondered how Sanibel and its Causeway would get back and how long would that take?

“Seriously, every time you say that, I still get chills,” said Council Member Holly Smith.

On Friday, perhaps for the first time, we know what happened behind closed doors in the days following Hurricane Ian. In the room, then-Sanibel Mayor Holly Smith and Governor Ron DeSantis.

“He turned to me and said we need to build that bridge,” Council member Smith said.

Smith, now a former mayor of Sanibel, loved the governor’s idea but didn’t know how to implement it.

“In my conversations with the Governor, we talked about having a ferry. We didn’t know it would take months, it could take a year, we didn’t have a timeline, really,” said Council member Smith.

It would be an understatement to say they went on a mission.

“Two days later, they started digging that land and four days later they got the electric trucks going,” said board member Smith.

On October 19, 2022, three weeks after Ian wiped out two major parts of the Causeway, Desantis announced it would reopen to the public.

“There were about 5,500 cars arriving on the island. They were construction workers, residence clerks and stuff like that. Right now. They come in at around 8,000 a day,” said Marcus Preece, managing director of Cielo.

Since the Causeway opened, places like Cielo have been given a new life.

“One of our dumpsters floated out of its cage across the parking lot and was about 10 feet away in the trees,” Preece said.

When he returned to the island, Preece didn’t even know if his restaurant would still be standing.

“Just got dropped off and walked up and down Periwinkle. Everything was brown, dirt, mud everywhere. It’s stunning to see,” Preece said.

After the cleanup and less than two months after the storm, Cielo became the first restaurant to open on Sanibel. So people like Keith Isaacson could sit back and enjoy a good meal again.

“The business community has really dug in and made things work quickly,” Isaacson said.

WINK News asked if Isaacson was going anywhere soon.

“No,” Isaacson said emphatically.

Perhaps more incredible than the story of the Sanibel Causeway and the state of local businesses are the stories of the people who weathered that storm on the island and had to fend for themselves and each other to survive. Like the story of Trace Tillo, who only had one leg and had to leave the house surrounded by water and debris before calling for help.

When the Coast Guard arrived in southwest Florida, Tillo was one of the people who needed rescuing.

“I watched out my window at ground-level homes go completely under water,” Tillo said. “I had 15 feet of water and other parts of my property. It was crazy.”

Tillo, who has spent his life dedicating himself to his artistry, has weathered every major storm to hit Southwest Florida in recent decades.

“He was very similar to Charlie, he changed at the last minute. We were told he was going to Tampa for every day,” Tillo said.

Thus, Tillo decided to stay. And while the water hit his house, Tillo fought to survive. He made it through the night and the next morning. But, as he passed through his house …

“Sliding in the damn mud trying to clean my downstairs,” Tillo said.

He broke his foot while picking up the pieces of his life.

“I knew I had to go off the island for medical treatment,” Tillo said.

And Tillo continued to limp to safety.

“I am praying out of nowhere a car stops right after I finish praying just where a car stops out of nowhere. And you can tell the car was under had been under water. And somebody had put a new starter and a new battery in the car, and they rolled down the window, and they said, Excuse me, sir, do you need some help? And they said notice that I have a limp, and I have all these heavy bags. And I said, yeah, that would be great,” Tillo said.

And seven months later, Sanibel is starting to feel familiar.

After the Causeway reopened, 5,500 people came to the island each day, and now that number has risen to 8,000.

WINK News asked the City of Sanibel about the estimated population on the island, but due to the number of people who live there part-time, it’s difficult to estimate an exact number.

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