As Hurricane Helene was gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday, residents of Fort Myers Beach were getting to work to prepare for impacts from the powerful storm.
One of them was Debbie, who was among those who were filling sandbags.
"Better safe than sorry, and once we are done with this, we will evaluate whether or not we will get off the island. Because safety is the main concern," she said.
HURRICANE HELENE
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Debbie said she’s learned not to underestimate a storm the hard way.
"Ian, I lost my house on Hibiscus [Street] completely and last week my new house was finished," she said.
She shares the same story as Don Hunter, who lost everything in Ian.
“We had to gut it, it was, we had water all the way to the ceilings," Hunter said.
Hunter showed off his new home that he will move into Wednesday, to brace Helene.
He was asked whether previous storms, Ian specifically, have made him more precautious moving forward.
"Absolutely, if we hadn’t lifted the house, we would’ve sold it," Hunter said.
The island was quiet Wednesday except for cars making their way off it. And on the side of the road, NBC6 found Mayor Dan Allers.
"You know, the three storms we have had over the last two years have been a wakeup call. When we tell people it’s time to go it’s time to go," Allers said.
The streets of vacation homes were vacant, but some owners came just to guard their properties. One homeowner said that even smaller storms like Debbie impacted her home.
“We had eight feet in our house. Yeah. So, we got it all done, it’s ready to go, and we don’t want to start over again," she said.
