FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — People on Fort Myers Beach woke up to piles of sand on Estero Boulevard and on side streets just hours after Hurricane Helene.
"We were expecting sand, we weren't expecting this much sand," said Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers.
Storm surge brought in the sand from the Gulf, coating Times Square.
Watch below to see the aftermath of Helene on Fort Myers Beach:
"It's going to be a long day," said La Ola owner, Thomas Houghton. "There's a lot of erosion. A lot of pavers washed out."
That's what he found when he got back to his restaurant on the island.
Some businesses didn't take on too much water, Allers said.
"Most of the people have said it hasn't affected their equipment," he said.
A pretty lucky reality because the surge forced people to stay in their homes. Some couldn't stay, though.
"I will tell you that many, many rescues took place," said Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno.
He said they got about 100 calls for service. This is between assisting other agencies, taking calls about storm damage, requests and things like that.
Marceno said they took out boats and a swamp buggy to help people.
"People were stranded and thank God, no fatalities," he said.
At one point, LCSO's buggy took on water in the engine because of the storm surge.
As people made their way back on Friday morning after the bridges to the island opened, they were met with traffic as crews worked to clean up the sand.
They were either vacuuming, moving or sweeping it. A good portion was right next to Times Square at the split between Old San Carlos Boulevard and Estero Boulevard.
"If you can stay in place and you don't have to be out, stay in place," Marceno said.
The mayor says it's going to take some time to get it all cleaned up.
"The next couple of days, the more of what you got — as the wind blows, it's going to help dry up the sand," Allers said. "It's going to be muddy, it's going to be dirty, it's going to be crowded."
And in just one day, that marks two years since Ian.
The town canceled its remembrance ceremony Saturday morning as it cleans up from yet another hurricane.
"It's the day before that two-year anniversary and here we are again, not as bad, but we'll get through it," Allers said.
