Sanibel & Captiva Island lovers can rest easy as the Island’s survived the storm without structural damage of any significance. Sanibel Causeway Re-Opens at 3 p.m. Today.
Lee County and the Florida Department of Transportation inspected the Sanibel Causeway early Monday and passed structural inspection and will have no restrictions when the island is re-opened.
Hurricane Irma officially made landfall at Marco Island near Naples at 3:35 p.m. Sunday afternoon, Sept. 10. Irma’s eye quickly fell apart and the storm weakened to category 2 by the time it reached Lee County. Sanibel and Captiva has some down trees and branches but was not impacted directly of a well-formed eye wall.
“The storm took a turn to the east at the last minute,” Judith A. Zimomra, Sanibel City Manager stated. “There are a lot of trees down on the bay and there are downed power lines. But our structures did extremely well. There is no structural damage of any significance.
Islanders will return to homes without power and a boil water order from Island Water Association will be in effect. Sanibel will not be alone in its lack of electricity – 95 percent of Collier County is without power today and more than 5.5 million Floridians are in the dark, more than 80,000 of them in Lee and Collier counties.
Because the damage was not devastating, Zimomra said once the causeway and island open that no hurricane passes will be required for entry.
City of Sanibel updates can be found here: mysanibel.com
Prayers answered! We are so grateful…could have been so much worse!
You said it! I prayed for my relatives there 1st and Sanibel Island 2nd! It’s my favorite place in the world. I couldn’t bear it if it had been destroyed. So grateful!!!
Do glad there us little damage. I plan to attend the Sanibel Writers Conference in Nov. Love my annual visit.
Brilliant job with the cleanup and power/water restorations! I have never seen the likes of the city’s responsiveness to our needs. I am not surprised, given the way I have seen things go since I moved here in 2008. It is incredible in my view. I could never leave Sanibel now knowing what I know! It will be my home forever, and I trust that we will all be looked after and our needs addressed. It’s s great feeling!
We agree! Everyone did an amazing job!! Sanibel is a very special place with residents who love it!
Very nice post! Thanks for sharing this information.