FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Tropical Storm Elsa has left her mark on Fort Myers Beach, leaving standing water behind past the shore, right in front of the Outrigger Resort.
The standing water left on Marty Bartow’s street brought him deja vu.
“Every time it rains, it fills up,” he said.
The standing water on his street, Bahia Via, took him back to November 2020 when Tropical Storm Eta flooded his entire street.
“You can literally kayak from one end from the Gulf to the Estero Bay. The whole entire block was a foot under water. It was amazing,” he said.
He says this flooding didn’t start until about a year ago.
“It’s crazy. Ever since they did the construction project for the new road, side streets flood our terribly. I just drove across the country, and the worst part of the drive is trying to get down your own block,” he said.
He says it started happening after the city finished a road construction project on Estero Blvd. where they added sidewalks and drains.
Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy says he also deals with flooding in his neighborhood.
“I empathize with the people and just want them to know that help is on the way. We are going to correct it. It’s just going to take a little bit of time,” he said.
Bahia Via is one of fifteen streets the city’s Storm Water Management Program has listed to install drainage systems for.
“It takes that water off of Estero Blvd, filters it’s and sends it back to Estero Bay, clean,” said Murphy.
Mayor Murphy says the drainage pipes should be installed on Bahia Via next year, pending permit approval from the Army Corps of Engineers.
