Two and a half years after Hurricane Ian dramatically impacted Florida, the Sanibel causeway is finally rebuilt.
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00:00It's been two and a half years since Hurricane Ian slammed in the southwest Florida.
00:06Sanibel Island was one of the areas hit hard and is still rebuilding.
00:12Today, AccuWeather's Leslie Hudson joins us from Sanibel, Florida with more.
00:16Leslie, what can you tell us?
00:19Hey, Ari. Yeah, it's hard to believe that when you take a look at what's going on around me
00:25that Ian was almost three years ago.
00:28That'll be the anniversary at the end of September.
00:30Now, over my shoulder is that Sanibel Causeway.
00:33You may recall how this was one of the major headlines that came out of Ian
00:37because it completely collapsed, which landlocked and stranded thousands of people
00:42on the other side of that causeway.
00:44So a multi-year, multi-million dollar rebuild has been underway.
00:49And this area of Sanibel sees about 150,000 to 200,000 tourists every year.
00:55So it's a huge part of their commerce.
00:58As you take a look at some of the video from Ian, you can see that complete collapse.
01:02There were multiple fractures along the causeway, not just one.
01:06So it was a very long, protracted event to rebuild this area.
01:10Now, the actual causeway itself was rebuilt in about four weeks to at least get some of the rescue crews over there.
01:17But it wasn't until just about 10 days ago that this entire causeway opened up
01:22and the beaches that line either side that straddle here, the bay and the gulf, were fully functional.
01:28And that's only phase one here in this multi-year project that they're trying to get Sanibel and Captiva back up and running.
01:35A lot of folks tend to forget about these storms.
01:38But Ian really put a huge dent in the commerce here.
01:42And we talked to the city of Sanibel mayor yesterday.
01:46And he told us some of the resiliency efforts that they have done to try and avoid this type of disaster again.
01:54They elevated the roadway by two feet.
01:57They protected the shoreline by putting in sheet pile walls, by putting in what's called gavion baskets,
02:07which are also called marine mattresses, just wire structures filled with rocks,
02:12and then boulders riprap on the outside of the shoreline, all to maintain greater resiliency on the part of the causeway.
02:19Hasn't been tested yet, but we think it would be much better than it was.
02:22So to give you some perspective, they're only about 50% up and running,
02:31all of the restaurants and the hotels and the condos in this area.
02:35Their goal is to get at 70% capacity by the end of this year.
02:39So it has been a slow build here.
02:42A lot of folks left the area.
02:44Many, of course, stayed because this is a very sleepy part of Florida that is very popular.
02:49But we'll be talking to other folks here that have come up with some innovative ways to try and rebuild among all of this destruction.
02:56Reporting live from Sanibel Island, Florida, I'm Leslie Hudson.
02:58Back to you.
02:59Leslie, we appreciate the report.