10/4/2022

Governor Ron DeSantis Gives Updates on Recovery Efforts in Lee and Charlotte Counties

Today, Governor DeSantis visited the City of Port Charlotte in Charlotte County and the City of Fort Myers in Lee County to give updates on recovery efforts in the area and across the state. While there, Governor DeSantis opened the Disaster Response Center where multiple agencies are gathered to provide resources to Floridians, and distributed hot meals and met with survivors, delivered food and water to Pine Island with the National Guard. To watch the Governor's full remarks, click here.

The Disaster Recovery Center is Located at Lakes Regional Library, 15290 Bass Road, Fort Myers, FL 33919, and will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Additional Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) are being established by FEMA and FDEM and will be announced in the coming days. Locations will be updated in real time at www.floridadisaster.org.

State of Florida recovery efforts in these counties include:

• All Lee County hospitals are open and operational.
• A mobile, public fueling station opened today in Lee County at the Stars Complex to provide fuel for vehicles and gas cans for generators to impacted residents.
• Area Agency on Aging service providers in Charlotte and Lee counties have resumed delivering meals to home-delivery clients. These are shelf stable meals to ensure those without power can store them. Providers are also delivering hygiene products that were donated by organizations in Central Florida.
• All accessible bridges have been inspected in Lee and Charlotte counties. FDOT continues to assist with inspections on locally-owned bridges.
• 98% of cut and toss operations are complete in Lee County.
• Debris removal has begun, most heavily focused in Southwest Florida.
• U.S. 17 through Wauchula to Arcadia, has now been cleared and was reopened last night, Oct. 3, a major thoroughfare through the area.
• DOE has deployed staff to visit Charlotte County to further assess damages and provide assistance with reopening.
• The School District of Miami-Dade County has dispatched an experienced emergency operations expert to assist Lee County School District as they work to reopen schools.
• FDLE is establishing an additional base camp in Lee County providing housing, food, showers and laundry services are available for U.S. Coast Guard members deployed in post hurricane response.

PINE ISLAND AND SANIBEL BRIDGES

Governor DeSantis has directed the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to send more than 130 trucks to construct a temporary bridge to Pine Island by the end of the week.

Governor DeSantis also offered to help Lee County with transportation to Sanibel Island and directed FDOT to begin working on a plan for a temporary bridge to Sanibel Island as well. FDOT has already issued a request for bids on this work.

FWC officers are conducting nighttime waterborne safety and security patrols around Sanibel Island and other barrier islands to protect people and property on the islands. They are also using vessels to transport additional rescue personnel, supplies and equipment to all affected barrier islands inaccessible to vehicles, including Sanibel, Captiva and Pine Island.

POWER RESTORATION

Lee County (excluding Pine Island and Sanibel) is estimated to be 95 percent restored by end of day Saturday, October 8.

• Pine Island estimated restoration time will be determined once access to the island is established.
• Sanibel and Captiva Islands estimated restoration time will be determined once access to the island is established.

Earlier this week, Governor DeSantis called on the Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) to utilize additional mutual aid to expedite power restoration efforts. Since then, LCEC has worked in close partnership with the Florida Electric Cooperatives Association and other partners to expedite restoration of power to the area.

The Florida Electric Co-Op is readying an additional basecamp to support over 1,000 linemen that are mobilizing to help the Lee County Electric Co-Op. Since mutual aid efforts to restore power began, the Lee County Electric Co-op has already moved up their timeline from October 23 to October 8 for all impacted areas except for Pine Island and Sanibel. Additional power companies, including Duke Energy, are also shifting resources to Lee County as they finish in other areas of the state and utilizing aerial assets to fly crews into Sanibel and Pine Island to begin work on substations.

RESTORING WATER

To support efforts to restore running water in Lee County, the Army Corps of Engineers has been brought in to identify and assess several fractures in water infrastructure.

Lee County has been approved for Individual Assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. For those in need of individual and household assistance, visit DisasterAssistance.Gov or call 1-800-621-3362.

Boil Water Notices have been issued for 9 areas in Lee County and 6 areas in Charlotte County, following the impacts from Hurricane Ian. DOH continues to monitor and maintain a comprehensive statewide list of notices for residents to access online.

MASS CARE

FDEM and the Florida National Guard have established 13 points of distribution across Lee and Charlotte counties that are providing residents with food, water and ice:

• Coral Oaks Golf Course
  • 180 Northwest 28th Ave.
  • Cape Coral, FL 33993
• Old Bonita Springs Library
  • 26876 Pine Ave.
  • Bonita Springs, FL 34135
• Kelly Road Soccer Complex
  • 10750 Kelly Road
  • Fort Myers, FL 33908
• Cape Coral Sports Complex
  • 1410 Sports Blvd.
  • Cape Coral, FL 33991
• Cape Coral Leonard Street
  • 4820 Leonard Street
  • Cape Coral, FL 33904
• Estero High School Ballfield Park
  • 9100 Williams Road
  • Estero, FL 33928
• North Fort Myers Rec Center
  • 2000 N. Recreation Park Way
  • North Fort Myers, FL 33903
• Fleamasters Fleamarket
  • 4135 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
  • Fort Myers, FL 33916
• Veterans Park Rec Center
  • 55 Homestead Road S.
  • Leigh Acres, FL 33938
• Muscle Car City 
  • 10175 Tamiami Trail
  • Punta Gorda, FL 33950
• Charlotte Sports Prak 
  • 2300 El Jobean Rd
  • Port Charlotte, FL 33948
• Tringali Park
  • 3460 N Access Rd.
  • Englewood, FL 34224

PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERS

Private sector partners have contributed supplies and manpower to helping Lee and Charlotte Counties.

• Publix has 4 locations open from 7am to 8am exclusively for first responders to shop:
  • 5781 Lee Boulevard, Lehigh Acres, FL 33971
  • 13650 Fiddlesticks Boulevard, Fort Myers, FL 33912
  • 15880 Summerlin Road, Fort Myers, FL 33908
  • 5997 South Pointe Boulevard, Fort Myers, FL 33919

• For two weeks starting Wednesday, Chick-fil-A will deploy an 18-Wheeler Food Truck to Fort Myers at McGregor Baptist Church, 3750 Colonial Blvd, Fort Myers, FL 33966, serving up to 1,000 sandwiches per hour to impacted residents.

• Starting Wednesday and going until Saturday, local Florida McDonald’s restaurant Owner/Operators and McDonald’s USA are serving thousands of free, hot meals to Southwest Florida residents impacted by Hurricane Ian, at the McDonald’s McRig stationed in Charlotte County. The McRig is stationed at 13418 S. McCall Road, Port Charlotte, FL 33981 to serve from 10AM to 4PM.

• Verizon had deployed three Wireless Emergency Connection Centers (WECCs) to assist Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian with wi-fi, phone batteries, and charging stations. These stations are available to help any customer of any carrier stay connected.  WECCs are available at the following locations:
  • Port Charlotte Town Center Mall, 1441 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte, FL (open daily 10:00am – 6:00pm)
  • Ft. Meyers Town Hall, 2525 Estero Boulevard, Fort Myers Beach, FL (open beginning Oct 4. 8:00am – 5:00pm)
  • Lakes Regional Library 15290 Bass Road, Fort Myers, FL (open daily from 9:00am-6:00pm)

• T-Mobile is providing wi-fi and charging stations to assist Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian at the following locations daily from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.:
  • West Florida State College, 8099 College Pkwy, Fort Myers FL
  • Port Charlotte Town Center Mall, 1441 Tamiani Trail, Port Charlotte
  • Fort Myers Town Hall, 2525 Estero Boulevard, Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931