Cleaning up after Helene on Fort Myers Beach

Hurricane Helene brought havoc to Florida, especially on Fort Myers Beach. Residents were forced to evacuate, and homes even flooded. It also triggered anxiety from Hurricane Ian.

Homeowners are over all of this clean-up and mess.

One man WINK News spoke to told us he thought they were finally catching a break this year, but the storms have proven him wrong.

There was a lot of flooding covering Fort Myers Beach, especially in low-lying streets, which were underwater from flooding and the surge.

Now the cleanup has begun, and we went to several homes to see what Fort Myers Beach neighbors are doing throughout this cleanup, which is mostly power washing, throwing out moldy furniture and having demolition and construction companies remove any and all
affected structures in their homes.

We spoke with Rick Christenson, who has a home on the island.

“It’s just really frustrating to be out here on the water and stuff like that and have a house down here, especially when you live out of state too,” he said.

Jim Dunlap also lives on the island.

“I’m very pragmatic about that this home was built in 1954, so this home has been through more things than you and I know about, and it’s still here,” he said. “It was still here looking like this after Ian. There is a resiliency that comes from being here on the island and being committed to it.”