Mike Walcher
Instructor, FGCU Journalism Program-
FloodGate Medical, a recruiting company headquartered in Tampa, has adopted a hurricane-ravaged community 120 miles away. Volunteers from FloodGate are helping Suncoast Estates, often called the world's largest trailer park, come back from Ian's damage and destruction.
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Hurricane Ian blew over about 4 million acres of farmland in Florida, according to the best estimates of those in agriculture. The storm uprooted citrus trees and tore away vegetable plants on its path from the Southwest Florida coast northward over the peninsula. One former extension agent said agricultural losses could approach or top Irma's roughly $2 billion.
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Governor Ron DeSantis has issued an executive order to allow election rules changes in Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota Counties. The changes could make it easier for displaced voters to get mail-in ballots.
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Anita Cereceda, a native of Florida and former mayor of Fort Myers Beach, spoke of what she found when she returned to her home Sunday. Cereceda also owned three businesses of the island, and hopes one can be rebuilt.
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Suncoast Estates, the community composed of mostly mobile homes in North Fort Myers, is coping with difficult living conditions and uncertainty after Hurricane Ian. But hundreds of people are getting help from the community center and other resources.
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Pet owners who need care for their animals may feel lost right now, because so many local veterinary clinics are closed. But free emergency care is being offered at Terry Park in Fort Myers, thanks to a mobile clinic from the University of Florida.
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Clean-up is beginning in earnest in downtown Fort Myers, flooded by Hurricane Ian. Another restaurant is open, and people are clearing water-logged items from buildings. At the same time a man in North Fort Myers is warning looters to stay away from vacant and damaged homes.
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Thousands of Southwest Floridians are getting water, ice and food at distribution points and give-away locations across the region. The local government and some volunteer groups are operating the distributions of emergency supplies after Hurricane Ian.
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Residents are looking at mobile home damage caused by Hurricane Ian. In North Fort Myers, site of a number of mobile home parks, the initial take is positive in some ways. However some manufactured homes did not survive the pounding wind of the storm.
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To evacuate...or not. That's the dilemma facing thousands of people in Southwest Florida as Hurricane Ian approaches. Some decided to ride out the storm, while others loaded their cars and headed for higher ground.