City of Cape Coral isn’t offering sandbags, but one Cape Coral local is

One Cape Coral resident saw a need during the approach of Hurricane Milton and decided to do something about it.

Ronald Selway, owner of Weinmeister Roofing, took his trucks and bought as much sand as he could. He then took it all back to Cape Coral, a place he has called home his whole life.

The City of Cape Coral is not providing sandbags for Hurricane Milton. They haven’t in 15 years.

“Research shows that sandbags are not very effective against storm surge. Most homes require over 300 sandbags to have them properly secured, so we would recommend that you look at other resources to do that,” said Ryan Lamb, the Cape Coral Fire Chief & Emergency Management Director.

While the city has recommended using other commercial devices, Selway decided to provide hundreds of Cape residents with sandbags. Selway’s team estimated they gave out over 40,000 pounds of sand on Monday.

“I seen a need. I seen people panicking. I seen people in need. I was in Home Depot Saturday, and everybody was in a panic, and then Cape Coral wasn’t going to be providing them,” said Selway.

He brought trucks and trucks full of sand to his community in Cape Coral.

“I’ve been here my whole life, since the ’80s, and I said, ‘Let’s help what we can and do what we can,’ and started trucking the sand from all over,” said Selway.

He rebuilt his home after Hurricane Irma.

“Our sliders got two inches of water. And you know, we didn’t have sandbags last storm. It’s a good feeling that there’s people gonna benefit from this,” said Selway.

He spread the word through Facebook. Hundreds of people came and gave their thanks to Selway.

He said he doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.

“Just stay safe and stay dry. If you guys need anything, we’re here,” said Selway.

The sandbags are done for Monday but more sand will be back 10 a.m. Tuesday.

You’ll find Selway and his sand at the intersection of Del Prado and Savona Parkway.