Hurricane Recovery

Beach Pottery Etc. was one of many Fort Myers Beach businesses impacted by Hurricane Ian’s destruction. Alanna Osborne is the owner of Beach Pottery Etc. and has lived in the neighborhood behind the store for over 11 years. She purchased the store in April of 2019, two years after Hurricane Irma.

FEMA Public Assistance has approved two grants of more than $14 million to reimburse the Lee County School District and Lee County Sheriff for emergency costs responding to Hurricane Ian.

Lee County property owners whose residence was uninhabitable for more than 30 days in 2022 can apply for the refund on the Property Appraiser’s website (www.leepa.org).

Rubble and debris on Fort Myers Beach leftover from Hurricane Ian have been reimagined as unique paintings and mermaids.

The service had been suspended in 2022 after Hurricane Ian trashed the island.

The Insurance Journal story said that at least two insurers in recent months — one in Lee County and another in Charlotte County — are seeking to eliminate one-way attorney fees.

Authorities have moved people out of tents and campers under the Matanzas Pass bridge leading onto Hurricane Ian-damaged Fort Myers Beach. About a dozen people had been living under the bridge. A few claimed they'd been there since October, right after Ian.

Karen Moore, publisher of Southwest Florida Business Today attended a commercial real estate professional meeting where she sought a response from Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers about recent comments from TPI Hospitality about their goals for the barrier island.

The responsibility to carry the legacy of the Fort Myers Beach community lays on three Estero Island Historic Society board members. And they're looking for help.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development came to Fort Myers Beach Wednesday to make the announcement: Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian may have an opportunity to rebuild the homes and lives with a federal infusion of $2.8 billion in cash. Of that, Lee County will get $1. 1 billion.