The Town of Fort Myers Beach opened the Matanzas Pass Bridge to contractors with re-entry passes Friday at noon.
The line to get onto Estero Island stretched on for nearly a mile.
Once on the island, the sights and sounds of recovery from Hurricane Milton were everywhere.
“So far, so good,” said Daniel Clarkston, owner of Mr. Waves Island Bar at Times Square. “The water was pretty much up to my chest on the outside.”
Thankfully, the bar, which opened in November of last year, is elevated.
Clarkston says only a couple inches made it inside the building, with no severe damage.
“It’s not fun to have this whole mess to clean up. On the other hand, we knew what we were getting into. Fort Myers Beach is prone to storm surge,” Clarkston said.
Plywood was removed from many business windows.
Flood waters were wiped away.
Cleanup crews used construction vehicles to scoop up several inches of sand that covered Estero Blvd. and the nearby parking lots.
“The island community is very resilient,” said Clarkston. “As soon as we have power back we’ll be open.”
