Vanderbilt Beach still without power 2 weeks after Ian

Roasting in the heat 14 days after Hurricane Ian.

That’s the reality for people living on Vanderbilt Beach in Collier County.

The storm hit the area especially hard.

So why, two weeks later, is the area without power?

If you look around Gulfshore Drive, you’ll notice there are no powerlines.

That’s because they’re actually underground.

It’s an aesthetic thing.

Jamie French, department head of Growth and Management, said: “In this particular area, most of the infrastructure is underground so FPL has to come through, and it’s their utility, so they have to come through. They need to assess it. And before they can reenergize that, they want to make sure that no one gets hurt, there’s not going to be any fires. So there’s been a pretty good coordinated event, and we’re in constant communication with them, so again, as soon as we receive the OK from that building that FPL has flagged to say listen, we know the branch circuitry, we know the electrical system went underwater. Especially with saltwater intrusion, please get it checked out so we can go ahead and clear your building.”

French said the number of people is still in the hundreds, but again, things cannot get repaired until they go through every one of those steps.