One year later Ian | Cape Coral is still healing its wounds

When the hurricane Ian makes landfall in Cape Coral on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, winds of 232 km/h furiously sweep the coast. Houses and buildings are flooded and blown away. The storm surge caused the waters to rise 1.8 to 2.7 m. A year later, the city of some 220,000 inhabitants is still healing its wounds.

“ Ian was the costliest and most lethal hurricane in the city’s history, says Cape Coral City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn in an interview with The Press. After the hurricane hit, the state of emergency was maintained for 14 days. More than 1,200 employees were deployed in the field. Thousands of homes were damaged. And as we are the city with, in length, the most canals in the world [plus de 643 km], countless boats were damaged. »

The debris has been cleaned up. Part of the damage has been repaired. Life has resumed its course. But not everything is back to normal in Cape Coral. Starting with the seaside, where the beach has still not been reopened. And the old wharf which was the pride of the community must be rebuilt.

“When a hurricane passes, the tide pulls the sand out to sea. We thus lost [66 cm] sand and we need to restore the shoreline, says Mr. Ilczyszyn, who is of Ukrainian origin. We are aiming to reopen the beach in November, in time for the return of tourists. Here, in winter, the population increases by 20-25%, including many Canadians. »

Like other cities in this region of the west coast of Florida (Sanibel Island, Naples, Fort Myers, etc.), Cape Coral, which is more than 200 kilometers south of Tampa, was hit hard by Ian, a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. In its path, the hurricane caused at least 150 deaths and tens of billions in property damage. Everywhere, there is still work to be done before erasing all traces of its passage.

Even inland, the damage was significant. Thus, 80 kilometers from the coast, hundreds of houses in the town of Arcadia were flooded by the swelling of the Peace. Many citizens were taken by surprise.

“Many plants intolerant to salt water have died”

In the first weeks following a disaster, city authorities first ensure the well-being of people, make an initial assessment of damaged infrastructure and begin cleaning up the debris, a colossal task.

In the city of Cape Coral alone, 2.25 million cubic yards (1.72 million cubic meters) of plants and nearly 456,000 cubic yards (348,611 m^⁠3) construction debris. “Many plants intolerant to salt water have died,” notes Mr. Ilczyszyn.

This organic waste could, however, be recycled, adds the Director General of the City. “Plant debris was transformed into nutrient material for agriculture or was burned in energy plants,” he says. As for the construction debris, it had to be buried because everything was mixed up: plastic, televisions, cement, sofas, etc. »

This task is complete. The City is now ready to begin reconstruction. The permits have been issued. Around a hundred municipal employees coordinate everything. The rest is given on a fixed price basis.

Build Back Stronger

The money comes from the City, which had an emergency disaster fund, insurance companies, the state and Washington, notably via the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the agency responsible for ensure the deployment of relief in the event of a disaster.

Obviously, here as elsewhere, we want to rebuild better and stronger.

“Several houses destroyed during the passage of Ian had been built before 1981, when the building code was different, recalls Michael Ilczyszyn. Since then, we have adopted new rules to have buildings better adapted to the passage of hurricanes. »

The latter was not able to give a precise figure as to the number of buildings damaged or the total bill for the work, because some owners are still in negotiations with their insurance company.

A certain number of owners who saw their homes reduced to piles of debris have also decided to leave camp. “Often, new buyers tear down what’s left and rebuild,” notes Mr. Ilczyszyn.

With The New York Times and NPR