Sanibel, hit hard by Ian, withstood Hurricane Milton with little to moderate damage

Sanibel, the quaint barrier island just west of Fort Myers Beach, appeared to have withstood the winds and surge from Hurricane Milton reasonably well.

A day after it opened to residents and the public and three days after the storm and its 120 mile-per-hour winds passed through, the vast majority of buildings on the spit of land in the Gulf of Mexico had little structural damage. Its roadways and sidewalks were cleared of sand and only some interior sections had standing water.

Electricity poles remained upright and signs were still in place. The bridge to the island had been closed for two days as the water receded and workers cleared the roadways.

“It looks okay,” said Wade Daniels, a cashier at Huxter’s Liquor and Wine on Periwinkle Way. The store was still closed because electricity had not returned, but it suffered no water damage. “I was here after Ian and there wasn’t even a sign standing.”

Scenes from Sanibel, Fla. in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
Scenes from Sanibel, Fla. in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

A trip around the perimeter of the 33-square-mile island showed most of the damage was at its northern end and on the western shore. Condos there were still upright and no windows appeared to be blown out.

On Saturday most residents had not yet returned and those who did were removing sandbags or sweeping away what mud remained.

The island protecting the Fort Myers area seemed to have fared much better than Fort Myers Beach across the inlet, which was still digging out of its muddy mess on Saturday.

On Sanibel, piles of sand lined the side of the road before the bridge leading to the smaller Captiva Island. Some pools at homes were filled with sand. But even the homes built on ground level, not on pilings, appeared to have withstood the storm well.