Shortly before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that emergency road and bridge repairs to Pine Island had been finished ahead of schedule on Oct. 5, cheers and laughter greeted some of the first motorists to cross a temporary bridge built to restore a link from the mainland to the island, hammered Sept. 28 by Hurricane Ian.
The island lies just to the west of Fort Myers in Lee County, one of hardest hit areas by the hurricane, and east of Cayo Costa, where Ian first made landfall as a Category 4 storm. Ian's powerful storm surge and relentless winds washed out roads and bridges, isolating residents who rode out the storm on the 18-mile, mangrove-wrapped Pine Island.
Before Ian, the island was home to fishing villages, snowbirds from the northern states and long-term residents, who now face the long road to recovery.
FDOT Quickly Erects Temporary Bridge to Island
At a press briefing Oct. 2 in Arcadia, Fla., DeSantis said that he had directed the FDOT to build a temporary bridge from Matlacha to Pine Island to make the area accessible by vehicle. Since the bridge was down, many residents have hailed boats to get them to the island.
Work on the bridge that connects Matlacha to Pine Island began Oct. 3, and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) crews finished the repairs in less than 36 hours, DeSantis and FDOT Secretary Jared W. Perdue said in an FDOT statement from Tallahassee.
"Within 24 hours after I asked FDOT to get involved, we had more than 130 trucks rolling in and crews got to work," DeSantis said in the statement. "We made it a priority and we didn't just get it done — we got it done quick. I want to thank the dedicated FDOT crews for working around the clock to restore the community's access to Pine Island."
Despite its completion, the bridge to Pine Island has not yet opened to the public, according to the Miami Herald; instead, priority access will be given to emergency vehicles and first responders, noted Michael Williams, FDOT deputy communications director, in an email to the news outlet. He did not say when the bridge would be open to the 9,000 residents who live on the island, many of whom fled before Ian and have been anxiously waiting to return to see how their homes fared.
Among the first to pass over the water on wheels, as seen in a video posted Oct. 4 by Brandon Lynaugh on a closed Pine Island Facebook page: A police car and a Publix truck carrying supplies to help a community largely cut off from civilization.
"What an extraordinarily beautiful sight to see. Rejoice!" posted Christian Conner after viewing the video on the Facebook site.
"Hundreds of loads of sand and rock, various pieces of heavy equipment, and dedicated crew members have literally helped pave the way to recovery for this community," Perdue explained in the statement. "The [FDOT] was honored to be called to help support Florida's communities in their greatest time of need. We are proud to have worked alongside our partners, Lee County, and deliver on our promise of reconnecting this community to the mainland as quickly as we possibly could."
Before convoys of emergency crews, police and grocery deliveries could gain access, some frightened residents also took to social media to plead for aid.
"We do not have any help in St. James City, there are so many people here that have completely lost everything like elsewhere," Denise Martinez posted the weekend after the storm on a Pine Island Facebook group. "As of this morning, nobody has brought in supplies besides the people trying to get to the island themselves to check on loved ones or if they still have a home. All the people on the island need food, water, gas, propane, they do not even have a roll of toilet paper. Something needs to be done today or more people will die. It is a complete war zone down here."
According to the governor's office and FDOT, permanent repairs to the Pine Island bridge will be made after immediate recovery efforts subside.
"While the permanent replacement is expected to take some time to complete, the work completed this week provides safe and immediate access," the statement said.
Sanibel Island Causeway Rebuild Now Underway
Additionally, DeSantis announced Oct. 4 that a contract to begin immediate repairs to the nearby Sanibel Causeway, five sections of which were washed away by Ian, has also been awarded. He did not release the name of the contractor in charge of the project, however.
The Herald reported that equipment has been mobilized on the mainland earlier and a team is on the ground to start the repair process. The reconstruction to the Sanibel Causeway is projected to be completed by the end of October, DeSantis's office said.
The three-mile-long causeway sustained major damage during Hurricane Ian as the storm barreled across coastal areas of Southwest, and made the only link between Sanibel, Captiva Island, and the mainland impassable.
Multiple sections of the bridge, carrying Florida Highway 867 across San Carlos Bay, collapsed into the water, leaving anyone who did not evacuate stranded, according to MSNBC.
"We are counting five major breaches," U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds told the news station in the hours after the storm's passing.
One of those causeway breaches measured approximately 50- to 65-ft.-wide, according to NBC affiliate WBBH-TV in Fort Myers.
The multiple cuts in the bridge will keep Sanibel's roughly 6,700 residents from direct access to Sanibel via cars and trucks until the causeway is repaired. In addition, the fixes ordered by DeSantis are much needed for first responders as Hurricane Ian recovery efforts such as power restoration and debris removal continue.
"Access to our barrier islands is a priority for our first responders and emergency services who have been working day and night to bring relief to all Floridians affected by Hurricane Ian," the governor noted in one of several statements he has released since the storm.
WTVT reported that all accessible state-owned bridge inspections have been completed, and the governor's office said FDOT is helping with inspections on locally owned bridges in the area.
Once immediate recovery efforts have subsided, DeSantis said permanent long-term repairs will be made to the Sanibel Causeway. The emergency repairs currently being performed will allow the bridge to be safely passable for immediate access and be incorporated into long-term repair plans.
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