Labor Day visitors enjoy Fort Myers Beach, almost a year after Ian

The weather is perfect and lots of people spent the day on Fort Myers Beach where Hurricane Idalia uncovered a slab of concrete that was part of the pier damaged by Ian.

The county has caution tape surrounding it because they want people to enjoy their outing away from any hurricane damage.

“It’s beautiful,” said Dan Otto, of North Fort Myers. “I cannot complain. I have no complaints.”

For others, the trip to the beach means remembering what Fort Myers Beach was like before Ian.

“It’s just difficult because so much devastation, and it’s, you know, all the processes to putting your home back together,” said Paul Snyder, a Beach resident.

Marsha McCulloch said she used to stand on the pier.

“That’s very sad,” McCulloch said. “You wonder when it’s going to be rebuilt.”

Larry Trimmer, of Lehigh Acres, said he has seen improvements.

“It’s been worse since we’ve been here,” Trimmer said, “but every time we come down and get a little bit going back to life.”

People should also be cautious about finding anything unusual in the water.

“I mean there is like a couple of like sharp things like shells and stuff but not things that shouldn’t be there,” said Raquel Mejia, of Fort Myers.

“It’s a great place to be,” said Snyder. “Why would you live anywhere else?”