BOKEELIA, Fla. — The century-old Bokeelia Pier has taken a beating after Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene.
Fox 4's Bella Line has been on Pine Island almost every day since Hurricane Helene passed by and now she's looking to the historic sites of the island that were taken by the storm.
A view like this…
Brings people from all over to the Bokeelia Pier to soak in the sunset, but after winds and water from Helene and Milton ripped through the island town the pier will once again need a remodel after having just been rebuilt from Ian.
Watch Bella's full report below.
"It's sad because those of us who live here on this island utilize that pier a lot," said Donna Gilles, who lives in Bokeelia. "It's a gathering place every night for people who live here and people who don't live here to come here just to watch the sunset."
Along with some of the other historic sites along Main Street that have damage from the recent hurricanes. Gilles says it has been heartbreaking watching her home take its turn with devastation.
"All the homes that are on the ground, a lot of them, they got flooded with both of the storms. Those people have lost everything here in Bokeelia, just like the people in St James did with hurricane Ian," said Gilles. "With Helene, we got water, and the water flows through, but with Milton, we got all this muck from the harbor that came in, and that's a bigger mess than water."
It has been a long week for this tight-knit community as they try to restore what they had built.
"Right now we have so much mud and debris. We don't need people driving down here who don't need to be here. They can look at the news and see what's happening here with people like you, who are reporters to see what's going on without interrupting our cleanup process," said Gilles.
On Tuesday, the National Weather Service was surveying the island and we will bring you their findings as soon as they are available.
