Sanibel Air and Electric sends work trucks over to help rebuild

Sanibel Air and Electric sends work trucks over to help rebuild their headquarters so they can get back to servicing the people on the island.

The company has worked on the island for over 35 years and they aren’t letting Hurricane Ian run them away.

They spent an entire day working on their headquarters and brought trucks over to Sanibel Island to start doing what they do best, air conditioning and electrical work.

Todd Hayes, owner of Sanibel Air and Electric said, “Everybody’s pulled together to help people in Fort Myers, and now it’s time to start helping on Sanibel. So, once we get out here full-time and try to get everybody up and running as quickly as possible.

Hayes said he knows everyone is anxious to get out to the island.

“We’re getting lots of calls every day, hundreds of calls saying ‘inspect my electrical and inspect my air conditioning,'” Hayes said.

Sanibel Air and Electrical was started by Hayes’ dad in 1988 and is now run by his sons, Todd and Bryan.

They’ve never faced challenges like Ian but both of the sons know what their dad would do in this situation.

“My dad always had a saying, ‘there’s never enough time to do it right but there’s always enough time to do it over again,’ so it’s probably what we’d be doing, just trying to do it right, ” Hayes said.

Through all the rubble and debris Hayes found a little sign of hope.

“There were a few mementos of my dad, I had a pocket watch that I’d given him quite some time ago and a lighthouse he had made with his own hands and he gave one to each of my brothers, so that was still in there but it survived, ” Hayes said.

Leaving Sanibel Island is something that never crossed the company’s mind and the legacy of this company is something that can’t be wiped away in one storm.