Jim and Susan Helton sit in the back of a car outside a hotel in Fort Myers, Fla. Their Fort Myers beach home was destroyed by Hurricane Ian.
Carlos Osorio for NPR
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Carlos Osorio for NPR
Jim and Susan Helton sit in the back of a car outside a hotel in Fort Myers, Fla. Their Fort Myers beach home was destroyed by Hurricane Ian.
Carlos Osorio for NPR
FORT MYERS, FLA. Nowhere in Florida appears to have suffered more damage from Hurricane Ian than the town of Fort Myers Beach, located on Estero Island along the southwest coast of the state.
An official who flew over the community estimated that 80% of the structure would have to be rebuilt. Ian knocked down the barrier island with 12-foot storm surge and winds of nearly 150 miles per hour. The bridge leading to the island was damaged in the storm and is now closed. The people who were evacuated and were able to return home in a short time could not help but be stunned because the number of remains was so small.
Susan and Jim Helton are currently at Fort Myers, at a hotel with no electricity or running water. But they feel lucky to have a room here after their house was destroyed in the storm. It was Ian’s storm that caused the damage.
That’s what Jim Helton said, and the boat he found was in the middle of his house. It destroys his solarium and opens the house to the elements. He doesn’t know whose boat it is or what to do to get rid of it and the remains of the wreckage that used to be his home. “It will probably be there for six months or a year,” he said, “because so many places have been hit.”
The Heltons’ home is on the back bay in Fort Myers Beach, part of a now-disappeared boating community. They left the island before the storm and stayed with a friend. The next day, Jim returned, afraid of what he might find.
He tried to stay optimistic, but when he saw the boat inside his house and the damage caused by the rising water, his heart sank. “It’s hard to get in there because of the couches and everything that comes up, it’s all mixed up.”
“And the washing machine,” his wife Susan adds. “All my books,” says Susan, the increase has swept away everything in the house: furniture, heavy equipment, golf carts “and books.”
Jim Helton has been in Florida for over 40 years. He built a successful business on Captiva, another nearby island devastated by the storm. He is 84 years old, long retired and now doesn’t know what to do next. Like the house, all the plans of the couple were knocked down and destroyed by the storm.
“We will sell [the house] this winter,” said Jim. I went there today and there was a note by the coffee machine, ‘Call the sales lady.’ And that was painful. “It was a blow he wasn’t sure he could recover from.” I’m trying,” he said. I am battling depression. I can cry right now but I’m not. “
Destroyed homes and buildings are visible in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., on Friday.
Tom James for WGCU / NPR
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Tom James for WGCU / NPR
Destroyed homes and buildings are visible in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., on Friday.
Tom James for WGCU / NPR
Tens of thousands of people in Florida have been displaced
Across southwestern Florida, there were tens of thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Ian with stories like those in the Heltons. In some communities, homes unaffected by the storm are now being flooded by rain-soaked rivers. About 10,000 people are still in shelters.
A disaster modeling firm estimates that insured losses will be more than $60 billion, and total losses could exceed $100 billion. If these numbers hold, Ian would be the fourth-biggest hurricane in US history.
On Fort Myers Beach, Jim believes it will be at least a decade before the island community is rebuilt. He didn’t expect to be around to see it. In the meantime, he and his wife are thinking about Texas. “I have a son there,” he said, “and he doesn’t like Florida.” Susan said, “I don’t have much today either.”
Susan Helton had an injury. She is a former New Yorker and was in Manhattan on 9/11. “I thought, you’ve given me a disaster, don’t push it. But guess what, a higher power stepped in and said, ‘Go ahead, hit that button again and see if she can. Can’t stand it.’ ”
Jim says he also thinks about God, the challenge he was given and whether he would still carry on with it. “I had a good life and he threw me this curve. I’m alive,” Jim said, then laughed. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Because I’m running out of gas.”
The Heltons say they will stay in Florida only until they can make the necessary connections with FEMA. They said they would be dealing with a property they loved, but the thing, like so many other things on Fort Myers Beach, is now gone forever.
