Sen. Rick Scott visits Fort Myers Beach in the wake of Helene

Sen. Rick Scott traveled to Fort Myers Beach to survey the damage following Helene.

Alongside Scott were Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno and Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers.

Helene came through whether everyone was ready or not.

On Fort Myers Beach and much of Southwest Florida, people are still rebuilding from Hurricane Ian.

Scott said he knows all too well that hurricanes come to Florida.

“Fortunately, people evacuated,” said Scott. “I know the sheriff had to rescue people, but he gets 6000 rescues with Ian, and they had a little over 100 with this. So I think people listen. Unfortunately, people get good at this, which is too bad, right, but they’re resilient.”

Helene brought back scary memories for a lot of people.

Stan Hirt, living in Indian Creek right outside Fort Myers Beach, stayed home during Helene and took care of his wife, enduring hours of worry as the water rose.

“It was scary, as it was getting heavier, I was looking at her a lot, and I was nervous,” said Hirt. “When it just stopped. I was happy, very happy.”

And even though he didn’t have to be rescued, many people on Fort Myers Beach did.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office guarded the island to make sure no one else got stuck in the floods and responded to calls of service.