Lee County making preparations ahead of storm, businesses say they’re not worried

In Lee County, crews are already out doing what they can to prevent major flooding.

Lee County Public Works spend time Friday clearing swales, making sure drains in Buckingham are ready for a massive downpour that comes with a tropical storm.

Out on Sanibel, co-owner of Bailey’s General Store, Richard Johnson, says they’re prepared. The store is no stranger to storms. It’s operated on the island for over a century.

“We don’t have enough electrical power to run the entire store,” Johnson said. “We have emergency power, but you need more than that with all the refrigeration and such. So we rented a generator large enough to run the entire store. It’s a ‘biggin.'”

She Sells Sea Shells is monitoring the storm, ready to put out the shutters, but as a shell lover, Tamara Joffe can’t help but think of the positives.

“The storm will mix everything up in the ocean, and certainly not the day of the storm, that would be very dangerous, but aftermath is always a bonus. The shells come in and the gift of the seas are right there for us,” she said.

On Fort Myers Beach, businesses we spoke with are just riding the wave.

“It’s not that threatening,” said Lauren Bradley with Bella Mozzarella. “Honestly we’ll still probably be open unless it’s really really really windy…If anything, like a one or like a tropical storm, you know, it’s just a rainy day really.”

Bella Mozzarella is not alone. Other businesses on the beach are not ready to get ready, believing this storm is not a threat.

Storm veterans say that’s a mistake. It’s easy to scale back on preparations, but hard to do it last minute.