DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS
Times are tough for the popular spot that offers anything from a slice of pizza to a scoop of ice cream to even a cigar.
Hurricane Ian clearly caused damage in downtown Fort Myers.
But businesses there are wasting no time in their recovery efforts.
As Southwest Florida recovers, contractors and builders are working around the clock in the area to help businesses get back to where they were before.
Devin Johnson is one of those people, and he is the Project Manager for Disaster Recovery in Flood Zones.
He was at First Street Restaurant and Bar on Wednesday.
“The First Street Restaurant and Bar and every other business here on First Street was affected by the flooding from the hurricane. So the floodwaters came up six to eight inches and we had to remove the damaged material,” Johnson said. “This is the third category, water brings with it many other things. So when you’re taking the material out, make sure it’s a very safe and healthy environment.”
While Johnson’s work will be done on Wednesday, he said the work to repair all of the damage caused by Ian will not be done for some time.
“Each project takes a very short time, to be honest, with the end of the restoration, we come in, clean, dry immediately. Unfortunately, there are a lot of businesses that haven’t been considered yet,” Johnson said. “So there are some other issues. As the water stagnates in the building, it will cause more and more damage.’
Johnson told WINK News that the biggest obstacle to renovating and cleaning the buildings will be the storage of the contents. That’s because, even though we’re only two weeks into Jan, that kind of storage is hard to come by.
“You obviously need to get all the equipment out to deal with the construction site inside. And then the materials, all those things have to be cleaned before they’re put back in,” Johnson said.
And if that wasn’t enough, there’s more.
“We probably have some supply chain issues. It may affect people for a while, but hopefully everyone will be able to get back on their feet as soon as possible,” Johnson said.