Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites

Writer: Camila Pereira
Published: Updated:
Construction still underway at the Big Carlos Pass bridge (CREDIT: WINK News Drone).

Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.

“Same as we’ve always done in the past, just, we have all the supplies that we need on hand, we go shopping for the things that we need, we check on our neighbors and our friends,” said Fort Myers Beach resident Melissa Daily. “And we just hope for the best.”

Nevertheless, Lee County reminded everyone on Sunday how important it is to make a plan early.

The biggest is ensuring you have everything you need, from bottled water to canned goods, stocked up.

But Southwest Florida also needs to ensure that construction sites are ready for a hurricane this season.

According to Lee County and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), they’ve got a preparedness plan.

For construction sites like the Big Carlos Pass bridge, the Sanibel Causeway, and all the condos along Estero Boulevard, still being rebuilt after Hurricane Ian, contractors are expected to lower crane booms and secure materials and equipment in the event of a hurricane.



“You’ve got a lot of people that are still halfway through their rebuild process,” Daily said. “You just hope that another big storm doesn’t come along and destroy all that they’ve worked so hard to do up to this point.”

Like Susan Haynes, a Fort Myers Beach resident who lost her home during Ian.

“Devastation, it took everything that we owned,” she said. “So, yeah. Yeah, it was rough.”

WINK News first introduced you to Susan less than a year ago when she hoped to have her home rebuilt within a year.

But on Monday, there was some progress, just not enough to make Susan feel ready this hurricane season.

“I mean, just that last windstorm we had, like, three weeks ago, took our fence out again,” she said. “It’s like, I don’t know what I’m doing to prepare for one yet. We just got our permit to start rebuilding and we’re already at the season again.”

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.