5 Months After Ian, Battered Florida Beach Town is Abuzz by Day, Empty by Night

SAN CARLOS ISLAND, Fla.—The sun is sinking into a bruised plum horizon and eastbound traffic is thickening on the Matanzas Pass Bridge as beachgoers head home from Fort Myers Beach on Estero Island before nightfall.

“When the sun goes down, the beach shuts down,” Tina Tomasino is the owner of Hurricane Tina’s 5-Star Dive Bar, located on San Carlos Island at the east end. “You can’t see any light out there.”

Ft. Myers Beach was a construction zone within a large disaster area that stretches north and south along Southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast.

The Places Where Lights Do Not Shine

In the middle of a swarming mound of trash, twisted metal, splintered planningking, and downed electricity poles is Estero Boulevard, an assortment of mangled condominiums and multistory hotels are framed by boarded and damaged businesses. You must remove all debris as soon as possible, because Florida’s Division of Emergency Management will not accept any more until March 29.

After being flooded by an 18-foot storm surge the beachfront strip was left without any road signs and traffic lights. All 131 street lamps have been destroyed. They will be replaced and 249. It will cost $8M. All of them will be subject to new soft-light codes in order to preserve sea turtle habitat.

The town’s retail and nightlife heartbeat, Times Square—an iconic pier destroyed, its shops, restaurants, bars devastated—remains dark at night but some businesses open by day, using generators to power makeshift operations.

The Lighthouse Tiki Bar & Grill is open and crowded in the afternoons, Cabañas Beach Bar & Grille is operating out of Cōste Island Cuisine until 8 p.m., La Ola Surfside Restaurant is serving out of a food truck, and Yucatan Beach Stand Bar & Grill and Wahoo Willie’s are open until nightfall.

Fantasy’s at the Beach was reopened March 3, as Vixens Fort Myers Beach. This, however, is temporary. “strip club in a tent,” While work has started on Gulfside Twelve (a condominium complex which will be built from the rubble left behind by the Carousel Inn),

In February, the 45-year-old Island Pancake House was reopened. Bella Mozzarella and 2000 Flavors Ice Cream are just a few of the restaurants and shops that were rebuilt.

This may be true for several months.

Florida Power & Light says it has restored power in nearly 1000 Ft. Myers Beach properties, but Times Square will not be wired up until June 1. This is because Florida Power & Light wants to. “underground” Electricity lines

The Lee County Tourism office reported that Ft. Myers Beach boasted nearly 2,400 hotel rooms prior to the storm. By February end, only about 400 rooms were still open.

They are gradually increasing. Soon, the Matanzas Inn is expected to reopen. DiamondHead Beach Resort reopened at mid-December. Edison Beach House reopened at January. Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina reopened on March 1. All of these places warn guests about the lack of amenities and construction activities.

Although there is no curfew in place since November, Estero Island can be accessed via Matanzas Pass Bridge only by those who have proof of residency and hotel reservations.

Each morning at dawn, the westbound traffic on San Carlos Boulevard that links San Carlos Island to Estero Island and San Carlos Island into Ft. Myers Beach, is jammed w