Fort Myers Beach recovery efforts seven months after Hurricane Ian

One of the places severely damaged by Hurricane Ian was Fort Myers Beach, and seven months later, there’s still more to do, but they’ve come a long way.

La Ola is one of the places on Fort Myers Beach that’s open for business, and they know how to have a good time.

“We have fun baby,” Isabel said.

After having fun you chat with locals like Sandra and Bob Cook, who’re still struggling seven months after Ian.

“We lived in our car for a few days, then we moved to the east coast now we’ve been in an rv for the past few months,” Sandra and Bob said.

But as long as they’re together, they’re happy. If you want a real taste of Fort Myers Beach, find Pirate Keith Moses.

“They’re both rescues. So it was kind of a social experiment for me to socialize him because he was antisocial. And then three years later I got her and I’ve been coming down to the beach for about nine years now with these guys,” Moses said.

Moses has a way of making you feel like Jack Sparrow.

If you drive around, you’ll see people living in campers. Publix and CVS are still shut down. And there’s still plenty of rubble around.

Melody King is one of the people who has tirelessly worked to rebuild the town.

“I see things, and I see rebuilding. And I kind of love it. I love the idea of people working together to create bigger and better,” King said.

Despite neighbors’ positive attitudes, there is still a lot of work to do and they’re taking it one day at a time.