Journalist Charlie Whitehead can be found sitting in his front yard outside his motor home.
The tall man with salt and pepper hair and wide, red suspenders attached to blue jeans has lived in the town of Fort Myers Beach for 40 years.
And the yard is on the same lot his grandparents bought back in 1966. The property is surrounded by water with a bay that connects to the Gulf out front, and a manmade saltwater canal out back.
He and his wife were almost finished fixing up their double-wide manufactured home five years after Hurricane Irma when Hurricane Ian made landfall in September of 2022.
The Category 4 storm brought up to 15 feet of storm surge and moved through the area slowly — beating on it for hours.
"The home got picked up and moved sideways and dropped," he recalled.
It was a total loss. Nearly every building on Fort Myers Beach was damaged, and 16 people were confirmed dead.
As hurricane season starts again on Sunday, residents across the greater Tampa Bay region are still recovering from last year’s major storms, while many in Southwest Florida have been rebuilding for nearly three years since the direct hit from Ian.
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Homes and businesses built right on the sand helped to define the funky, eclectic identity of Fort Myers Beach.
It’s partly why residents suffered so much devastation, plus, warming waters are fueling storms and making them stronger.
Flooding solutions
After couch-surfing for a while, Whitehead and his wife purchased a motor home.
"I'm ready now, because when a storm comes, I get in my house and drive away, but that's not really a long-term solution," he said.
So, what does a long-term solution to surviving stronger storms look like?
"It looks high," said Anita Cereceda, chair of the Fort Myers Beach planning board.
She was the first mayor of the town when it incorporated in 1995.
"It means that almost every building that's built is going to be 15 or 20 feet off the ground to start with," she said.
You can see it right now in the homes and businesses that are going up in Fort Myers Beach.
“All of my neighbors are 15, 16,18 feet off the ground. It's a real dramatic difference,” Cereceda said.
It's happening along the Tampa area’s coast, too, after Hurricane Helene flooded it with storm surge.
Some Fort Myers Beach businesses that are staying at ground level have to flood-proof their buildings.
"It's a very expensive endeavor, but it's good for retail, because... you'll walk up some stairs or go up an elevator for a restaurant, but you probably won't do that to buy a blouse or a dress," Cereceda said.
And there’s all kinds of red tape and zoning issues that go into rebuilding after a hurricane, she said. Many residents in the Tampa region are learning that now.
Recovery lessons
Fort Myers Beach Councilman Scott Safford said this rebuilding process takes money and time.
"After the Hurricane, we thought that we could rebuild in three to five years and everything would be back to normal. But that's not the case," Safford said.
More like 10 to 12 years, he said.
Some folks are still trying to get paid out for their insurance claims nearly three years after Ian.
And many who finally rebuilt, but at the ground level, got flooded again and again by Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year.
"There's a lot of people that are just throwing their hands up, going, 'Man, I don't know if I can do this,’” Safford said.
On top of that, residents and tourists — even now — don't have access to necessary goods and services in town.
"We don't have the dog groomer. We don't have a doctor. We don't have a chiropractor,” he said. “We just had a bank open...our first bank."
In some ways, Ian’s damage was a worst-case scenario. Helene skirted the coast and Milton broke apart when it came ashore.
Safford said there are lessons to be learned from their experience with a direct hit.
“I think the towns need to look, especially in the Tampa area, of how do you get these small businesses back and open as quickly as possible, so that your residents and then future guests can have those conveniences,” he said.
Remembering home
Hurricane Ian forced residents there to take storms seriously and showed them that water is their biggest threat.
Longtime journalist and Fort Myers Beach resident Charlie Whitehead said there are popular places on the beach that are "just gone."
"And will not be back,” he added.
The beachfront cottages, mother-in-law apartments, and Mom and Pop businesses — all right on the sand.
"It's going to be a different place, and I will forever miss the old place," Whitehead said.
"I remember walking to the dock over there, and getting in a little flat-bottom boat with a kicker, and my grandfather taking me out fishing when I was not 10 yet. It doesn't make any sense, but this is still home, such as it is."
