Amy Bennett WilliamsFort Myers News-Press
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− This story has been edited to clarify the number of Fort Myers Beach people who died as a result of Hurricane Ian.
Scalped trailers. Baby clothes in sodden heaps. Gutted beach cottages Tear-streaked hugs in roofless wreckage. Hurricane aftermaths are heart-wrenching to document. hard to see, yet we ignore them at our peril.
Had some of the 500 or so Fort Myers Beach residents who stayed on the island for 2022’s Ian heeded earlier storms’ warnings, those who died might have survived.
Lesson learned. Two years later, when Milton menaced the region’s barrier islands, those told to leave mostly did.
As Southwest Florida ended a week of all-Milton, all the time, some of us are navigating uprooted lives while others are just shaking off hurricane migraines. It may have been no Ian, but in terms of anxiety, the lead-up to Milton was every bit as bad. Worse, maybe, because Ian taught us what might be coming.
Which leaves many wondering how much more of this they can take. Some already have decided. Enough’s enough. They’re out of here. Still, others aren’t budging.
On Facebook, reporter Amy Bennett Williams asked Southwest Floridians whether Milton and other storms helped them make up minds. Often the answer was yes, with several mentioning also another kind of storm surge: swelling development. The question: Was Milton the tipping point for a decision to leave Southwest Florida? A selection of the answers are below.
You really can’t escape natural disasters
Everywhere eventually gets hit with something. The good thing about Southwest Florida is our building codes continue to improve. There are also ways to protect against flooding. But all of this requires having money to do the upgrades and do it right.
Many people who live in the most vulnerable areas of Southwest Florida can’t afford that. Being a Realtor I see firsthand the decrease in property value after a property has been flooded. I push for people that wish to stay in their properties to find a way to seal it in preparation of flooding. We have days before storms to prepare. (Duct tape worked for the jewelry company in downtown Fort Myers!).
Maintain your property, use local contractors who have experience with our building codes. For most of us, the benefits here outweigh the inconvenience and expense of proper preparation. The people in low-lying areas need to make some decisions about whether they can adequately make changes to their property or not. That’s a tough place to be and I feel for them. Blessings to everyone in our community … More than anything my heart breaks are all of the people who left here after Ian to escape to the mountains and lost more than they ever could’ve lost here. Some of them don’t even have the land to rebuild on.
– Carleen Murone, Cape Coral
Why should we leave?
Good people are being pushed out of their homes because they cannot afford to repair or rebuild. Then the developers move in, McMansions built high up all over the place, putting their flood water on others with no regard for their neighbors. Where do we go? The Great Smoky Mountains? Out west to the fires? North to the flooding in Vermont? Why should we leave? We leave and our home will become a playground for the rich and famous. We want to tell our story of why we flood so badly and how our natural defenses such as mangroves and wetlands have been destroyed by greedy over-development, Florida is a land of water, we have to live in harmony with nature, not try to change her. Nature bats last.
– Dona Knapp, Naples
My pockets aren't that deep
I left after Ian and am glad to not have that stress in my life. I do miss a lot about Florida and really wish I could afford to rent three months a year. Insurance prices were a big piece of it. My home had extensive damage after Ian and even with good insurance the amount paid by insurance wouldn't have covered the amount of work needed to repair. So you pay top dollar for insurance and still have to come up with money for repairs! My pockets aren't that deep. For the price of insurance I could rent for three months and have peace of mind.
– Martha Huard, former Pine Island resident who moved to Austin, Texas
This hurricane pushed us over the edge
This was the tipping point for us. We're currently trying to figure out where to move to and whether to sell our house or buy a new one first. Other factors already had us 90% of the way to leaving this state, but this hurricane pushed us over the edge and was the sign we needed that it's time to go. Our home fared very well and is in the highest part of Lee County, a very secure home for storms so if someone wants to buy it let me know, but we're gardeners and are tired of watching our plants get walloped twice a year.
– Kara Tyler-Julian, Lehigh Acres
Looking to move a couple miles inland
Years ago, if you asked me where I’d move, it would be to the safety and community of the Waynesville/Asheville area, which I love. No more, no more! My flooded house lost a third of its land value a few days after Ian, and although un-flooded after Milton, it will drop probably another third. This old codger loves the Naples-Fort Myers region, and I’m gonna be looking to move a couple miles inland to higher ground, as are no doubt, thousands of others, raising the prices of “higher ground.” The real difference is I’ll be truly downsizing and getting rid of a lot of books and other treasured “stuff” so I will have less to move, or “cry over” if it’s all flooded again. Family photos and documents will be digitized … placed in the cloud, so all that’s really valuable to me fits in one car.
– Ivan Seligman, Naples
Choose your disaster
We left Pine Island after losing most of our possessions. In my view, the islands have become a zero sum game; eventually, you leave with nothing. After Ian, it became apparent that these types of storms are now a way of life. I would recommend Jake Bittle’s book, "The Great Displacement," as a must read for anyone today (heard him on NPR). He describes exactly what is happening today: a quarter of a million people are “displaced” by these types of events in the U.S. every year, covering brushfires in California, floods in cities like Houston (horrendous lack of city planning), rising waters in Virginia, huge tornadoes in the Midwest, and hurricanes in Florida.
The typical process is people “move to the center” from the coasts, raise their houses, or build something “storm proof.” We did the first one and had no damage – just power outage. I think you have to 1) choose your disaster because there will be one everywhere now; 2) research what spot in that area is least likely to flood or catch fire; and 3) build a strong sense of community around you because we are going to need each other moving forward.
– Marty Ambrose, Fort Myers
Who would’ve thought?
Never thought I would leave Florida after 56 years. (36 years in Naples). I sure wasn’t planning on missing the hurricanes – or the unbridled urban sprawl and traffic. Wemoved 11 months ago to (drumroll…) western North Carolina. Now we are helping clean up and supply many victims from the devastation caused by HELENE! Who would’ve thought a storm that would landfall 600 miles south of our new home would be so deadly and destructive?
– Tim Thompson, former Naples resident, now of North Carolina
It’s going to take all of us
We still live in one of the most desired states in the country. Kindness is abundant. We are resilient. We are#SWFLStrong. Besides…. There are no safe spaces in the world that are not impacted in one way or another from climate change and naturaldisasters. Worse than the storm is the thought of not having clean, healthy and abundant water that is drinkable, swimmable or fishable. Storms and rain events such as the one we just experienced create water runoff, polluting our water resources even more. It’s going to take all of us to protect and restore our waters. To get involved visithttps://calusawaterkeeper.org/
– Connie Ramos-Williams, Fort Myers
Prepare yourselves for the climate you live in
Where are folks gonna run to? I'd rather deal with 'canes opposed to blizzards, mud slides, massive fires, major crime, yearly tornnados, landslides, falling space debris, alien abductions, etc. Folks, you can't "run" anywhere. Prepare yourselves for the climate you live in.
"Weather" it is climate change, climate control, Mama Nature or a pissed-off God, it's really outta y'alls hands.
– Debi-Lee Coulombe Powers, Alva
I wouldn’t trade it for the snow
No – I won’t leave, ever! I have lived in Southwest Florida since 1959 and lived through Hurricane Donna, which I still contend was worse than Ian. We lost our home in that bad girl and have taken precautions ever since (shutters, living higher, walkable neighborhood to necessities). I’ll admit, the traffic and heat get to me sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade it for the snow and difficulty driving in it. I understand the frustration so many folks feel, but this is not the time to sell unless you’re willing to settle for half the price it might have been worth pre-Milton. Wait a couple of years until prices rebound.
– Susan Bennett, Fort Myers
It’s not like you can outrun the disasters
Before Ian, we lived on Pine Island for 20 years. We moved down from Michigan to keep the property my spouse’s grandparents owned in the family and be here for my in-laws. After riding out every storm from Charley through Irma we had decided to sell our place in St. James City.
Rising water was a factor but the bigger factors were where the market was at and the amount of money we could sell it for, the price of the sale of the mobile park that sold adjacent to our property only boosting the value of our's more and the biggest factor of all, the cost of insurance! We closed on the sale of the place on September 12, 2022. Ian hit just over two weeks later. Our old house had chest-deep water in it and has been torn down since. I feel confident that had we stayed, while having flood and wind coverage we would have ended up ruined. We are so, so fortunate!
We live in a condo in North Fort Myers now and did fine in Milton. We didn’t even lose power. So far we continue to love where we live despite the storms. But again, the cost of insurance is quickly becoming an issue … And it’s not like you can outrun the disasters, but maybe (you) might be able to outrun exorbitant insurance costs depending on where you go.
– Dan Palma, North Fort Myers
None of us should be here
Should we leave? Maybe. We live in a place founded using Indigenous slaughter on uninhabitable swampland that was propped up by drug money and real estate scams. None of us should be here. But for those who are, we have to live with this. It’s the way things are now. We have to change to survive. Move inland or build higher. I’ll be staying. It’s my home. For better or for worse. My family is here. My daughter is here. I can’t leave her and I don’t want to take her away from the family we have in Southwest Florida. If it were not for her (and my job) I wouldn’t be here. But I’ll be on Main Street, Fort Myers Beach for now and for the future.
– Tyrone Landers, Fort Myers Beach
I looked at all the data, and sold my house
I had developed deep Florida roots during my 10-year residency. However, I looked at all the data, and sold my house over a year ago. Take a look at my talk and panel at an environmental film festival and sustainability conference in Whitefish Montana on Sept 27th (the day after Helene). https://youtu.be/Y5UMbMjjO6Q I am currently living in Oklahoma where I am developing a project with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.
– K.C. Schulberg, formerly of Naples, now in Oklahoma
Considering moving hundreds of miles away?
Has anyone taken a good look at the famous Mound House area, walked Pineland in the Randell Research site, or had the privilege of visiting Mound Key? The Calusa lived for centuries under similar – but less toxic/ industrial – circumstances. They livedand built on their elevated “middens” – trash heaps, actually. The mound building Indians built on higher ground that they designed upwards in the face of floods. Meanwhile, have you ever stood atop our own midden-mounds – the Lee County landfill…god-awful smelly, but no flooding there…and the vistas are “breathtaking” sorry! … I couldn’t resist! Considering moving hundreds of miles away? Consider moving ten yards UP. We just have to tackle the odious –toxicity problem, and the Calusa, the late Dr. Dex Bellamy, and Americycle have already blazed the trail.
– David Meo, Fort Myers
My tipping point: when I can no longer make a living.
No. If we rebuilt from Hurricane Irma, (my husband) Allen and I can do anything. I’m fifth-generation Cracker. All regions have weather calamities. I’m federally weary. If I leave Florida, it will be to leave this country we love and so many family members have fought for. And that is my tipping point: when I can no longer make a living.
– Patty Thielen Register, Palmdale
This one may be the breaking point
I’m considering it after 5. This one may be the breaking point. However given the real estate market it might be, practically speaking, undoable.
– Lynda Fay Braun, Naples
I’m getting too old to go through this every year
We evacuated to Georgia in our RV this time — we’ve been here almost a week — according to FPL we still don’t have power. I don’t want to go home. I want to stay here. And it’s not just the hurricanes — it’s the overdevelopment, the traffic, the extreme red politics, the water issues, the unbearable heat — the only thing that I would miss is the people; my friends.
– Stephanie Davis, Fort Myers
I thought I found a forever home
I plan to put my house on the market sometime between January and April. Clearing clutter out of the yard and cleaning up my yard, which is pretty much devastated, as we speak.I live right next to a swale that Bonita hasn't cleaned out for as long as I've lived there, which is six years … I know too much about climate change as well as what is coming.
Our storms are going to be Cat 4 and 5's from now on with storm surges. I can't stay and have to clean mud, muck and water out of my beloved little piece of paradise. After Ian, it took me nearly a year to clean out all the debris that collected in my yard, most of which did not belong to me. I thought I found a forever home when I bought my house and proceeded to make it all that I ever dreamed of, which isn't like any of the mansions in Naples or like the houses in the newer part of Bonita. I live within walking distance of downtown. My daughter and her husband lost their home on Lakeview Drive in Naples during Ian. I helped clean up that mess. They lost nearly everything and had to start all over again. I don't want to do that.
– Linda Sechrist, Bonita Springs
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