First look at Sanibel after Hurricane Milton

Sanibel has been closed to the public for days because of Hurricane Milton.

On Friday, WINK News visited the island for the first time since the hurricane.

• RELATED: Blind Pass Bridge opens to residents amid cleanup

WINK News Reporter Olivia Jean saw the damage, which was not as bad as Hurricane Ian but worse than Hurricane Helene.

On the island, you’ll see debris and garbage from the wind and water lines and street water still pooling from the storm surge. Some still don’t have power.

Some residents and business owners have returned to their properties already. That’s in comparison to Ian, where people couldn’t get to Sanibel for days.

Those with properties got to work on Friday. Drywall was ripped, water was swept from inside buildings, garbage was stacked and generators and fans were on.

This comes after the wind, storm surge, and the tornados Southwest Florida faced on Wednesday and Thursday.

“We are dealing with water in the building, no power, trying to do what we can with. Just manpower,” Rachel Pierce, who owns three businesses on Sanibel, said. Two of them faced Hurricane Milton damage.

On Friday, Pierce spent her day cleaning up her art gallery, which had several inches of water inside. Luckily, she said, she was prepared and moved everything up and out. She even hired a moving company to help.

Pierce, during Ian, lost her home on Sanibel and has been living off the island ever since. She said that as soon as she can, she is moving back.

“What made it where this was a place we cannot leave is the people I’ve never met. Such a group of altruistic, selfless, kind, unassuming people in my life, like very successful people, have done amazing things that you never know because they’re so humble. That’s what we have out here,” Pierce said.

Pierce said she learned many lessons from Ian, and installed special flooring and walls in her art gallery, which she said greatly helped in preventing more Milton damage.

Pierce’s close friend, David Haas, has a home in Sanibel. WINK News watched as he surveyed the damage.

“We have kids, we have pets and there’s no real reason to stay out here during the storm and risk their lives,” Haas said.

Haas evacuated his home in Sanibel. All of Sanibel is in evacuation Zone A, a zone that had a mandatory evacuation. Many listened and evacuated.

When the Sanibel Causeway reopened on Thursday at 2 p.m. for those who had hurricane passes, Haas came home and got to work, ripping out all of his drywall on his first floor.

“I think you just have to have a level of acceptance if you want to live on a barrier island in this world with rising sea levels, you either have to adapt and accept where it is and move on, or you have to leave,” Haas said.

Haas continued to say, “Mother Nature is helping us grow in certain ways. It really brings out the best in us, really. I know we have stories of looters and stuff, but the overwhelming story, even after Ian and after this is people helping each other out and people coming together,” Haas said.

“What made it where this was a place we cannot leave is the people I’ve never met, such a group of selfless, kind, very successful people that have done amazing things that you never know because they’re so humble. That’s what we have out here,” Pierce said.

Many said Sanibel prepared much more this time in comparison to Hurricane Ian, and it worked.

Next Monday, trash collection will start again only for household trash. The city asks residents not to use showers or toilets because the sewer system is filling and may fill into their homes.

Overall, the damage is nowhere near Ian, and the resilient island is already in recovery mode. They just keep taking hit after hit, but a lot of them told WINK News, it’s worth it to live here.