Drove through Fort Myers Beach today

[303squadron]

It's been 78 days since Ian hit SW Florida. We have held off going to Fort Myers Beach because we didn't want to be in the way of clean up efforts. But there are a couple of restaurants opened there and they are begging for patrons so we went for lunch.

HOLY SH!T!!!!!! I can't describe the destruction. You've seen the pictures and the video - neither do the destruction justice.....I don't have words.....

I grew up in SW Florida. I've fished, swam, snorkeled, and shelled here. We honeymooned on Sanibel. It will never be the same. Never!

There were many houses on Fort Myers Beach that were built in the 50's and 60's. These were built way before hurricane Andrew showed the state of Florida how inadequate the building codes were. Those houses didn't stand a chance. Wooden construction collapsed. Concrete block construction caved in. There are huge mounds of debris up to 30 feet high in some places. It will take months and even years to remove the boats and debris from the back bay mangroves.

I had to hold back tears several times.

Reminds me of words to a Crowded House song:

"And I must be wise somehow
Cause my hearts been broken down."

[Walleye]

1. I witnessed the aftermath of Katrina. Pictures never do it justice

[303squadron]

7. We visit the Mississippi coast often

Concrete slab after concrete slab all along the North side of highway 90....17 years later!

[Phoenix61]

2. Four years out from Michael and the city is still fighting

FEMA to get the funds they were promised.

[malaise]

3. Two of my siblings visited Sanibel earlier this year

One can't believe the destruction

[malaise]

4. Two of my siblings visited Sanibel earlier this year

One can't believe the destruction

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. I drove through Greensburg, KS about two months

after an F5 tornado destroyed the town. And you're right about pictures not really conveying the destruction. Two months and it looked the tornado had passed through only two days earlier. In the downtown, only one building was not completely destroyed.

The town rebuilt, although the current population is about half of what is was before. I wonder if some of the places so badly hurt by the recent hurricanes there will likewise lose population.

[303squadron]

6. Population decreased in Homestead after Andrew

Saw a lot of houses and lots today with "for sale" signs.

[rubbersole]

8. Many wonderful memories of fishing and shelling the barrier islands around Sanibel.

Caught my first snook in Redfish Pass (Captiva) in '72. Was obsessed with that pursuit for 20 years....The whole area was paradise. The poor man's Bahamas. The pictures of the devastation are beyond heartbreaking. These monster hurricanes will probably become the norm. Very sad.

[Ford_Prefect]

9. A friend went to Sanibel Island to study the birds and other wild life in the early 70's

and fell in love with it. I hear her stories of how it was then as you recall yours.

The storm did the damage but DeSantis and the legislature are amplifying it even more. They see Climate Change is one more "us versus them" political battle to score points on but never to take seriously. Just as they are thoroughly bashing public health officials and agencies rather than realistically approaching the genuine problems faced in Florida.

There ought to be a law against the propagandistic exploitation they so love to indulge in.

[maxsolomon]

10. Building on a low-lying coastal island has inherent risks.

This is Exhibit A. Pure luck that Sanibel hasn't been hit this hard previously.

[peppertree]

11. But as Crowded House might put it:

[Warpy]

12. When I was in second grade

I remember being in awe of the root systems of the oak trees that had fallen on my school while I was in it. They'd decided to open schools that day because the kids would be safer in sturdy, brick buildings. We were, until...

That was when I learned about Murphy's Law, the Law of Unintended Consequences, and that huge, old oak trees had as much going on below ground as they did above it and it was utterly fascinating.

Other than that, my memories are of downed trees, no power for days, expensive sailboats piled up on bridges that were then damaged too much to use because rich guys can't be arsed to rig for a storm, of helping my mother to stuff towels in windows on the windward side of the house, and to stuff them on the other side of the house once the eye had passed, and of shingles, boards, sheet metal, and downed tree branches that stayed piled up at the curb for weeks while trash collectors worked overtime to try to deal with it. Hurricanes suck, even when you're not rich enough to have a sea view.

Oh, and of getting new garbage cans because somebody within a quarter mile or so hadn't taken them in because they didn't smell very nice.

[markodochartaigh]

13. My house is fifteen miles from the coast

in Naples. There were about twelve hours of strong wind and the canals were filling with water flowing in from the coast. What I really found unsettling was that the models were so wrong and the course of the hurricane changed in the last few hours. The models based upon old parameters are proving to be less accurate as anthropogenic climate change changes the parameters. When I moved here I briefly considered moving to Pine Island, a barrier island, but my Grandmother's family was in Galveston in 1900 for the hurricane. Those stories still resonate with me after a century.

[locks]

14. I spent many hours long ago

on Ft Myers Beach and Sanibel with my inlaws, husband and then my children both before the bridge and after. Loved every minute: especially the shells, animals and birds. I was sorry that Sanibel was overbuilt but maybe this is a good time to keep both beaches as places for a limited number to visit them only for the joys of nature and never build back all those awful buildings and boats. Thank you for bringing hope despite the tears I have shed when I saw the pictures.

[kimbutgar]

15. And do they have leadership in that state to rebuild?

DeSatan is only out for himself and those residents are on their own. The Florida legislature is not doing anything to control the insurance industry from denying claims.

[Joinfortmill]

16. Yes, Florida is beautiful, but it won't last if folks don't vote for people who will protect it.

[DownriverDem]

17. Perhaps it's time

to leave Florida. Folks will not be able to rebuild without insurance. Their state government sucks too.

[CaptainTruth]

18. Our homeowners insurance company just went bankrupt.

I'm considering not having homeowners insurance at all. Being a contractor, I've never filed a claim, I just fix everything myself. And I paid cash for my current house, there's no mortgage that requires collateral to be insured.