Nearly a week after Hurricane Ian hammered southwest Florida, once tony Fort Myers Beach is a nearly deserted disaster zone where destroyed beach houses now mar the postcard views that made this stretch of the Gulf Coast famous.
The town on Estero Island facing the Gulf of Mexico was one of the communities hit hardest by the Category 4 hurricane, whichFort Myers Beach, a barrier island that stands between the Gulf and the city of Fort Myers, has a population of 5,600, living in bungalows and posh multistory beach houses. Many retirees living here have second homes elsewhere in the United States.
"It’s going to be a long recovery," said Ignatius Carroll, a representative of Florida Task Force 2, a search-and-rescue unit that is part of FEMA's efforts. Steve Duello, 67, a retired grocery store executive from St. Louis, said he was devastated on Tuesday to see the damage to his Fort Myers Beach home for the first time since the hurricane hit.
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