Sanibel Island Leaders Say Recovery Efforts Gaining Pace, But Affordable Housing a Growing Concern

After being broken in multiple spots by Hurricane Ian, the Sanibel Causeway Bridge was reopened Tuesday afternoon to essential personnel and emergency work crews.

On both Tuesday and Wednesday, hundreds of electrical trucks, dump trucks, and tractor-trailers were brought onto the island by way of the bridge.

Richard Johnson, Sanibel Island’s vice mayor and owner of a family business on the island dating back to 1899, says the bridge is playing a pivotal role in the recovery effort.

“It's a very dangerous environment, having the causeway open to our utility crews so we can get the infrastructure repaired and back up and running is critically important,” Johnson said.

Major tasks for relief crews include restoring power to the island and repairing infrastructure.

Prior to the reopening of the bridge, relief crews were limited to traveling to the island by barge or helicopter.

Director of the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge Society, Birgit "Birgie" Miller, says she’s lived on the island for decades.

“I've not been through a war, but from the pictures I've seen, from the television reports of war zones, it looks like that,” Miller said.

People living on Sanibel Island won’t get a chance to cross the bridge themselves until Oct. 21.

Community leaders are urging residents to have patience as relief crews work to restore electricity and infrastructure on the island.

“As soon as we are able to get things a little more settled, and as soon as it's ready, we'll be able to welcome everybody else back on,” Johnson said.

Johnson and Miller say businesses, public agencies and nonprofits are working in tandem to restore the island as it was before.

But they told NBC 6 it’s becoming harder for residents and relief workers alike to find affordable housing after the storm.

“Affordable workforce housing was a huge challenge for us before the storm," Johnson said. "We've now just made that 100-fold more difficult for folks."

“It's nonprofit workers, it's our police, it's our fire, it’s our teachers,” Miller said. “… Our staff at the Ding Darling Wildlife Society, 70% of them lived on the island and they've lost everything.”

Since Hurricane Ian left many homes destroyed, and many local hotels are at capacity, community leaders are turning to the public for help in finding additional affordable housing.

“If we have anyone that's listening to this newscast that has a home in Southwest Florida, and maybe it's their second home and they'd be willing to house some of those folks temporarily, that would be wonderful,” Johnson said.

They’re asking anyone who may have affordable housing available to offer or donate to residents and workers in southwest Florida to contact Miller via email at director@dingdarlingsociety.org.