Restoration efforts begin in the aftermath of Helene in Collier County

Hurricane Helene caused flash flooding and debris in Naples Beach Thursday night, making driving difficult for commuters.

One of those commuters was Greg Beall, a home builder with BCB Homes. He said he was not able to drive through the damage near Naples Beach.

“I was trying to come down here early in the morning, and I was unable to,” said Beall. “The police had it blocked off because all the sand, as you see, coming in now excavated off of the road. But, yeah, it was impassable.”

Helene clearly blew in more than water; it brought about 1 to 3 feet of sand on Gordon Drive, Gulf Shore Blvd, and Vanderbilt Beach Road.

Helene also did some work on several beach homes on Gordon Drive.

“It’s pretty devastating because it’ll have new landscaping, new irrigation,” said Beall. “The inside of the pool is filled with sand and new shutters, so it’ll be some time to get all this back together.”

Home builders like Beall build custom homes in Naples. He said the rebuild process after Helene takes additional time in terms of supply and demand.

“Trying to get people back in their homes, remodeling them, getting them back up to code, takes longer,” said Bell. “It’s just that everything’s longer, just a little little more difficult. But we get through it. We get organized and make it happen.”

Times like this also bring back sad memories for people like Janice Miller and Maureen Brunbach, who have lived in Naples for over 50 years.

“The devastation now, it’s very sad,'” said Brunbach.

“It’s been so hard on people, because this is just two years tomorrow from Ian,” said Brunbach. “So much destruction was down here in Naples itself and across the whole south part of the state of Florida. Wish it can be something we can do. We just hope and pray the people can get through this.”

The city urges anyone who does not need to be in the area, to stay away during Hurricane Helene cleanup efforts, especially near the beach.