William Wellema has been living under a bridge for four days, waiting to get to Fort Myers Beach on Florida's Estero Island to see if his vacation home survived Hurricane Ian. On Friday, he was beyond frustrated as he continued to await permission to drive across.
“They’re saying it’s because of the rescue and recovery efforts," Wellema said of the closure. He drove down from Little Falls, New Jersey, with a pass he got at the beginning of hurricane season that was supposed to allow him onto the island after a storm.
Wellema said he’s considering crossing by kayak at night. He is in touch with friends in other parts of the country waiting on his word to make their own journeys south. Their wait is a reminder that the death toll, already at 101, could still grow.
Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy has said no one will be allowed back until emergency services crews finish “searching for people who are hurt or might need help amongst the rubble, and people who have passed” in the town of just over 7,000. First responders need space and time to do their job and “any extra vehicle and pedestrian traffic hampers and prolongs their efforts,” the statement said. They have not set a date for when residents can return.
The Florida Medical Examiners Commission has reported 92 storm-related deaths in Florida so far. Most them were in the worst-hit Lee County that includes the greater Fort Myers area and nearby Gulf Coast islands. At least half of the confirmed victims in the state were 65 years and older and more than two-thirds were 50 and older. Five people were also killed in North Carolina, three in Cuba and one in Virginia.
Ian, a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour), unleashed torrents of rain and caused extensive flooding and damage. The deluge turned streets into gushing rivers. Backyard waterways overflowed into neighborhoods, sometimes by more than a dozen feet (3.5 meters), tossing boats onto yards and roadways. Beaches disappeared, as ocean surges pushed shorelines far inland. Officials estimate the storm has caused billions of dollars in damage.
Fort Myers Beach residents James Berry and Jeff Silcock, like Wellema, have access passes to the island and were also waiting under the bridge to get back home, but neither was as upset as Wellema.
“They’re still looking for bodies out there and there’s an investigation process," said Silcock. "I totally understand why they’re not letting anyone on."
