Fort Myers Beach Florida - Driving Through 

I know there was so much damage, but I truly believe the spirit of the community is string. I Believe they will rebuild and have better homes and businesses with time. I'm very impressed with how far they have come in a month!! Great job Fort Myers!!! I'm anxious to come down and spend money. Lots if love from Illinois

All things considered they are doing an amazing job of clearing up -- at least you can see fort myers beach again !

They are doing an incredible clean up job. Astounding.

Thank you for the up close and personal view. I couldn't have imagined what it truly looks like. Heartbreaking.

Thank you for the updates…

Thank you for the update, nice to see some progress.

Such heartbreaking coverage of this horrible disaster. I was so happy to see that Casa Playa was still standing. We were there the week of Sept. 5th...Hard to imagine that several weeks later this beautiful area would be devastated. My heart is with the people and their recovery.

We stayed at and near Fort Myers Beach many Februarys up until about 3 years ago. So many memories of walking, bike riding and enjoying the many restaurants. Saw in the video what has happened to Nervous Nellies where we enjoyed extended family lunches, and to so many other places. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for this video. My brother lived on Fort Myers Beach for many years until he passed away from cancer in November 2018. I would visit him every spring. He lived in an apartment in the 2300 block of Estero Blvd above a bike shop and he worked at Fun Rentals. I heard from his friends that those places were destroyed by Ian. I remember my brother rode out Hurricane Irma back in 2017 by sleeping in his truck with his dog at the top of the Matanzas bridge. Only my brother would think of doing that! I miss him bad. May he rest in peace!

Unfortunately it will take years for this place to look somewhat normal, but it will never look the same. There are just too many homes that will have to be demolished and rebuilt and it’s so hard to find contractors or the materials nowadays unless some investors step in. And, it’s not only FMB but all other coastal communities north and south. Plenty of debris not only in water but also buried in sand or the mangroves and who knows when that will be cleaned up. Such a shame, an uphill battle for years to come.

Driving in from Lovers Key shows there is still alot of clean up to do ,but there is alot of work trucks and people getting to it thanks for the drive from that end a lots been done but still alot to do looks like they are giving there all.!

Incredible footage. Well done. I drove that exact root just days before. Including the main street area. Thank you for capturing the magnitude in a way that tv doesn’t. Amazing.

God be with these brave folks as they recover from this disaster. Shows the devastation in a whole new dimension. I am overwhelmed by the effects this weather tragedy had in the beautiful palm trees. May this be rebuilt.

such a beautiful place under the sun but so devastated....good luck to all 🙏

Thanks for the update! Looks like the structures built to code did well.

Thank you, most of the videos I see don’t show the south part of the island. My in-laws had a condo near Santini. We spent so much time down there. Truly devastating to see it like this.

Looks like a twilight zone movie set!

Charlies Boat House completely destroyed. So sad.

😔 So overwhelming, just even watch the video! I cannot imagine having been a homeowner , an employee or even someone who had cherished vacation memories. I'm so happy that the State of Florida and Federal government, Regional volunteers and Etc have poured in to help. Considering the amount of devastation does look like work is getting done. As for the people who are doing the work, hats off to them it, must be like spitting into the wind!

Nice view of the road

Floridians are some of the most resiliant people in America.

Ian obviously reaped havoc with the direct hit of 150+ mph winds and devastating surge. Just the shear & utter devastation @ catastrophic levels will more than likely take 5 to 10 years to rebuild. My heartfelt thoughts & prayers go out to all who were affected. I know these strong willed determined Floridians will persevere and won't stop foraging ahead till the transition back to normalcy has been completed.

Ultimately we ALL pay through higher insurance premiums for these people living in a hazardous place. That's why, in saner times, beach houses were nothing but shacks. Privatizing profit and socializing cost and loss is now the norm.

We went in Aug. it sure is different. Saw the Giraffe it took a beating.

Always loved bike riding on the beach here, tough to see this now.

I’ve been going here since 1973. Looks like there’s been a few changes.

The destruction & debris is so overwhelming, where does it all go? I mean not just furnishings, but appliances, cars, boats...wow! Heart breaking, it looks like a war zone. A long time to rebuild. Even some of the beaches are gone.

All that nasty debris headed for landfills...What a big job, such a massive mess. Good documentation of what people down there are dealing with in Fort Myers - we wish them the best.

09:23 construction crew is like " where the fuck do we start?"

they have done a good job of pushing the trash and debris off the roads and good start towards starting to rebuild long way to go though

What happened to the Privateer Condominiums at 6500 Estero Blvd? My brother lived there for over 25 years until he passed in 2009. Great times there! Also The Dolphin Inn that was across the street from the Privateer. Any pictures would be greatly appreciated!

Looks beautiful

We retired my hubby and I chose to live in Arizona it's booming here, well it looks like snowbirds will be heading to Arizona, it's sunny here like Florida, but not humid and unbearable like Florida

Many structures on pilings on the beach side are gone... Flood insurance elevation requirements to change?

How is the Publix, in Ft Myers Beach? And the condos in front, like Seaside Condominion? I don’t see it

A long way to go ,to get back to normal

We have visited here many times, the last time 3 1/2 years ago. We've stayed at the Pink Shell, Gulfview Manor , Wyndham and another hotel which was quite noisy near San Carlos. I think I have seen the Pink Shell which was on stilts so maybe thats ok but I presume none of the other places are here now as they were all on the beach side. We have wonderful memories from these holidays over the years, hopefully one day we will return, in another life I would have lived here! Very special place and people.

This is going to take a long time just to clean up the rubble piled along the roads. Then they will be able to come in and start tearing down so that they can then think about rebuilding. I hope that when and if they do rebuild, that way more stricter building codes will be in place. They have years ahead of themselves all along the gulf coast down there before they get back to even a fraction of what it once was.

such great smooth coverage from a remote controlled camera on your roof?

How did the baseball spring training grounds make out?

It's truly horrible but we will be back, and we will be better. Gulfshore Strong.

Why do they always shoot these videos during siesta time?

❤

I’m wondering if any of the homes are occupied and if not where is everyone ? This is so sad to see , sending positive vibes ❤❤

looks like it may be years before even getting close to back to normal.

And this is just one road.

Looks like a Boliver did when Ike hit Texas 2008

I can see the old buildings that were damaged and new structures are in pristine condition. Fort Myers Beach has very old buildings and those are the buildings that are destroyed. They needed to tear down the old buildings years ago.

Have they started picking up the debris on the sidewalks piled up? I know that can take months to happen.

My heart aches for the beautiful palm trees. Will they come back to life? I have never seen a powerful storm like that. Only the Nor Easter we get once in a blue moon. The hurricanes of Florida must be so scary when the water is slapping on the side of your home. The noise must be overwhelming and pets must be so scared. Poor stray cats and new mother cats must be so confused. But they are pretty smart and know how to survive.

One month later and it feels like nothing has been done. Where are all the debris removal trucks? Can't they bring more down from the north?

Why is there nothing getting hauled away??

All these drive by videos are to fast and concentrate more on the road then the outside. We spent several vacations at the Castle Beach Condominium and also once at the Neptune. Really sad to see the destruction.

Why doesn`t the federal government REQUIRE jettys, bulkheads and sand dunes here? Failure of government from top to bottom in my view. Here along Absecon Island at the Jersey Shore, we now have sand dunes along the entire length of the island due to Sandy and this isn`t even a cat 5 zone either. At the time of the installation of dunes here, we were told by engineers that should there be a major storm here the dunes would hold up for approx. 15 minutes to allow for evacuation.

You should have gotten off the main drag and showed us a little more of the side roads and interior a little more. It would have given us a little better idea of what the whole area looked like.

Looks like the North part of the Island took it worse than the south part

10 years...at least

Hey how the worker Bees going to survive to serve these folks OMG you might have to take care of your selves, what are you doing for these people?

Is anyone removing the rubbish piles?

SEVERE

Storm surge is nothing to play with.

A 3-year recovery like Galveston after Ike in 2008.

I am saddened

Until the next hurricane, this scenery is not paradise anymore

So sad

I don't think the in-between nagholes level of chosen to this 2 100 generations ago world, are more than negative to sharing desperation, when a personal point could eradicate a concomitant higher sumptuous choice as correctly immeasurably blessed, so as to encompass truer than all landscapes' motifs, undefended from vanishing.

I noticed very few children lived in these parts of town - only the triple pensions social security generations of yester year were able to pull this off temporarily - Gone with the Wind - II - next time invest in the children and grand children -

✝️🔥✝️ JESUS Christ--YES ✝️🔥✝️

Your going to fast to be able to see anything

Gta 6 is coming

Ft Myers is finished. All that remains is the demolition.

I know this trek so well... I sold MILLIONS of dollars of impact windows and doors on FMB

Is the island still closed off to drive through?

Terrible. So terrible. From Leesburg Florida

Building highrises makes no sense knowing it will get destroyed along with new builds, get out while you can, it's s sinkhole, this is a sign, you can't live on the beach

decades, why rebuild? It will happen again.

Total insanity to rebuild this place. Its located in a severe hurricane hazard zone.

We are seeing the results of our 150 year binge on fossil fuel. Climate change is irreversible and will continue to worsen throughout the world. Only Love will take us home. ❤

Why aren’t debris trucks running? It looks like Mexico!

10 years my estimate