In this aerial photo taken in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, parts of the Sanibel Causeway are washed away along with sections of the bridge.
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In this aerial photo taken in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, parts of the Sanibel Causeway are washed away along with sections of the bridge.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Hurricane Ian destroyed several portions of the Sanibel Causeway, the series of bridges that connects mainland Florida to Sanibel Island, home to some 6,500 people and located just south of where the storm hit. touched down.
Officials characterized the extent of the damage as going beyond simple repairs.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed in a Thursday morning briefing that the Sanibel Causeway is one of at least two bridges (along with the bridge that connects to Pine Island) that are “impassable” and “will require structural rebuilding”.
He said on Friday that the three-mile causeway “has broken into several parts.”
“That wasn’t where the water and the pylons were, those held up very well,” he said during a Friday morning briefing. “It was where you had it on the sandbar, and it got washed out from below.”
Homes in Sanibel, Florida were damaged by the hurricane. The island is home to around 6,500 people year-round.
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Homes in Sanibel, Florida were damaged by the hurricane. The island is home to around 6,500 people year-round.
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Lee County had ordered island residents to evacuate before the storm hit, but not everyone did. Sanibel Mayor Holly Smith said Thursday that occupants of about 200 homes remained behind and authorities had already confirmed two injuries and 12 deaths in Sanibel.
It appears that other residents are indeed stranded on the island, either because they have refused offers to evacuate from rescue teams or because they are missing.
DeSantis said the same day that an unknown number of people had been safely evacuated from the island and rescue efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard, local law enforcement and state crews were underway. Classes. The Coast Guard has shared photos of crews airlifting people from flooded parts of the island.
Officials are using barges in order to ferry heavier supplies and equipment to the island (whereas emergency responders initially traveled lighter and by air), DeSantis said Friday.
Smith had requested barge service for short-term recovery, as well as “possibly long-term access to the island due to roadway conditions”.
Smith is urging residents to provide authorities with the names and addresses of any loved ones who may have remained on the island, saying “our first priority is getting those stranded to safety” and reporting missing persons.
No electric customer on Sanibel Island had power as of 11 a.m. ET Friday morning update of the Lee County Electric Cooperative.
Shocking footage of the shattered pavement circulated rapidly
The Sanibel Causeway Bridge collapsed in places as Hurricane Ian swept through Southwest Florida.
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The Sanibel Causeway Bridge collapsed in places as Hurricane Ian swept through Southwest Florida.
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At least three sections of the causeway were washed away by the storm surge, CNN affiliates WBBH and WPLG report, cutting off Sanibel and Captiva islands from the rest of the state.
The pavement damage was first reported in the early hours of Thursday morning by local reporters, who shared photos of the bridge with missing parts.
Among them were Tampa Bay Weather journalist Zachary Sampson and photojournalist Douglas Clifford, who ventured out of their hotel room in Fort Myers in the early hours of Thursday morning to check the damage and post eyewitness accounts on the Times website.
In a dispatch at 2 a.m. ET, they reported that the half-mile of road to the Sanibel Causeway was impassable.
Hurricane Ian brought high winds, storm surges and rain to the area on Wednesday.
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Hurricane Ian brought high winds, storm surges and rain to the area on Wednesday.
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“The sidewalk is folded like an accordion, torn into ribbons by a mighty storm surge,” they wrote. “Nearby, a spiral staircase was left in the brush next to a white pick-up truck. The storm also threw up a boat trailer and other debris.”
They say they saw patches of sand scattered on the sidewalk and observed around 1:30 a.m. two cars trying in vain to access the island. One was full of young men trying to reach a friend, they added.
At 4:15 a.m., the journalists confirmed that a section of the roadway had been swept away by the storm:
“An endless alarm sounds at the Sanibel Causeway tollbooth. Pass just beyond it, and the road soon gives way. Where the bridge rises from the mainland to the island, one of the first sections of the span has The crumbled roadway lies near the water’s edge, the rest of the bridge stretches forward, inaccessible.
