The state of Fort Myers Beach 10 months after Hurricane Ian

Friday marks 10 months since the ruin of Hurricane Ian, and the people of Fort Myers Beach have been picking up the pieces ever since.

Yes, there’s a long way to go, but also, Fort Myers Beach has come a long way in 10 months.

“We’ve come a long way,” said Jacki Liszak, president of Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce. “I don’t think that 10 months ago, we would have thought we’d be here. I think naively, we thought we would be much further along. What we didn’t recognize is that it would take longer to get accommodations back up and open to go through the permitting process, you know, supply chain issues with all kinds of parts of things and pieces of things, finding contractors. I mean, I don’t think anybody could have anticipated just how long this rebuilding process really was going to take.”

While most of Times Square looked hustling and bustling just months ago, now it looks nearly abandoned.

The food trucks, the people are appearing less and less frequently.

WINK News asked Liszack why.

“The problem with Times Square is what can you build back?” Liszack said. “And that’s happening with a lot of smaller parcels on the island, as well. You know, just trying to understand if something is completely gone, you have to follow now rules and regulations, and what can you put back there, what’s going to be able to go back there that makes financial sense for the property owner?”

Bella Mozzarella co-manager Carlos Chavez was at Fort Myers Beach when Ian hit.

“Good days, bad days, horrible days, but I have to be an optimist, and I kind of feel lucky that I have this structure, and I was able to remodel and rebuild,” Chavez said.

But business is still booming at the beach, especially real estate.

The Outrigger Resort and Charlie’s Boathouse have been sold for an historic amount of $38 million. It’s the biggest sale on Fort Myers Beach in two years.