FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — 6 months after Hurricane Ian we have seen a significant amount of work between San Carlos Island and Fort Myers Beach when it comes to the shrimping boats that were in piles but now back on the water.
All the captains we spoke with after Hurricane Ian thought this whole process of getting the boats back into the water would take possibly years but it took less than 6 months and that's because of all of the extensive hard work day in and day out to try to get our shrimping industry back.
This comes as The Florida Division of Emergency Management says they've been able to refloat the 36 shrimping boats and it cost $9.6 million dollars to get done.
Some boats are already back out shrimping while others according to a few of the shrimp boat managers had to be taken to other states because of the lack of docks in the area that Hurricane Ian tore apart.
The Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management exlains the boats were way too heavy to do by helicopter so they used those specialized cranes and barges.
FDEM Director Kevin Gunthrie, "Let me be very Frank the division of emergency management nor the state agencies have ever done a mission like this before in fact we’re going to be putting out a new contract as a standby contract on transportation and re-flotation of boats and vessels that’s something that we learned from this disaster that we need to have in our quiver of arrows if you will to be able to use in the future."
If you are wondering where that $9.6 million dollars comes from - Director Gunthrie explained it comes from the emergency response preparedness trust fund that is a trust fund that was set up with state legislature last year.
There's $500 billion that’s put into that fund and then the legislature can determine if they want to go back in there and give more funding - in this case they have... 3 times for about $800 million dollars.
FDEM says we are already approaching $3 billion dollars in state resources and funding that’s been allocated for this particular disaster.
And when we are talking about trying to get the shrimping industry back on track - it helps people like Captain Ricky get back to work as many of you have asked how he's doing today...
Captain Ricky, "We’re not in the tents anymore as you can see we’re staying on the boat and trying to get everything ready for us to get back out shore. It’s been hard but we’re OK just wanted to get back to work."
With that being said Ricky's old boat that you saw from our original report Shrimpers who survived Hurricane Ian on their boats waiting to get back to work is heading to Alabama as the fleet manager told us it's because of the lack of docks here that Hurricane Ian ripped apart, but Ricky is not heading back on the Galant this time...
"I don’t want to go to Alabama I’ve been here for 35 years and I don’t wanna go to Alabama I’m a stay right here in Fort Myers it’s home for me," says Ricky.
So he'll be heading out on the Renee Lynn... He thought it would take at least a year to get these large vessels back in the water.
"I’d be saying God is good because this company came in and they put us back in the water and it was exciting to see. It gave me hope that we could get back on out," says Ricky.
But reflecting back on the past 6 months it's been hard on all of us and just like Ricky told me months ago about that sound that Hurricane Ian made it continues for him today... "This dream I’ve been having something running me through the woods I can hear it and I can’t look back I just keep running but I wake up and that’s what I feel like this thing catches me that sound I’ll never forget I’ll never forget that sound, You still here it? yeah I still hear that sound."
Ricky says he hopes by telling you all of this that people will understand just how serious Hurricane Ian was.
"When something like this is coming we have to run from it I don’t want nobody to stay here and be in the same situation that I was in what I saw here I don’t ever wanna see it again I hope people will leave people get away from that storm don’t stay don’t stay," says Ricky. Adding, "I want to thank everybody for their support and help a lot of people came down and helped us while we were over there in that camp and the tents I would like to say thank you to everyone I called them my angels and they came in and supported us in our time of need I really appreciate that."
Ricky says he and the other shrimpers have a closer relationship and if they hear of any hurricane heading this way they are getting away as they wish they didn't stay this last time.
And as for heading back out - The Captains and crew hope to get their boat back out shrimping this Friday.
