Lee County coastal businesses evacuate merchandise as Hurricane Milton approaches – Gulfshore Business

As Hurricane Milton began making its way across the Gulf of Mexico to a precise destination yet unknown on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Lee County business owners on Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and other coastal areas weren’t waiting around to find out. They were at work evacuating not just themselves and their employees, but their merchandise. 

“We’re packing it up, and we’re getting everything off,” Tunaskin apparel owner Bill Bronsford said, meaning off Estero Island and away from Fort Myers Beach. “Last time, we lost it all.” 

When Bronsford rebuilt his brand’s flagship store at 1300 Estero Blvd., after Hurricane Ian ruined it Sept. 28, 2022, he did so with some reinforcements. 

“We put a lot of work into this building, to make it hurricane proof,” Bronsford said. “These windows are watertight and calked. We’re putting plywood up over the front doors. We’re sealing it up tight. 

“We can get everything to higher ground and live another day.” 

Multiple business owners said they learned lessons the hard way from Ian and put into place new plans for Milton. 

“I think we were just caught off guard,” Bronsford said of Ian. “I’m seeing this time is 50 times more than what it was last time in terms of preparation on the island.” 

After packing up the rest of his store, Bronsford planned on helping Anita Cereceda finish packing up hers. 

Just last weekend, Cereceda reopened The Islander Gift Gallery & Boutique at Santina Marina Plaza on the southern end of Fort Myers Beach, two years and a few days after Ian. 

On Oct. 7, Cereceda arrived at her store in a U-Haul truck as her employees and friends packed up just about everything inside the store. After they loaded the truck, she planned on driving the U-Haul to higher ground until after the storm. 

“We’re going to get as much as we can onto this truck,” Cereceda said. “I just really made up the plan not last night but the night before last.” 

Cereceda did not have flood insurance for Ian and does now for Milton. But she did not want to put her new merchandise at risk. 

“I lost all of my merchandise, and I had to pay for it too,” she said. “I can’t afford to lose new stuff and have to pay for it. 

“You can only do what you can do.” 

Cereceda installed porcelain tile flooring inside the store, which she hopes will allow her to reopen much faster even if surge gets inside. 

“And if it does, we will reopen again and have another party,” Cereceda said. 

At Bike Bistro, a bike store located near the Sanibel Causeway in a Publix-anchored shopping center, owner Steve Martin moved most of his new bikes above ground onto racks, and he moved the electric bicycles out of the store altogether. He planned on sealing the doors. 

After Ian sent about 30 inches of surge, mud and sludge into Bike Bistro, Martin rebuilt the interior of the store and reopened within about five weeks after Ian. He hopes the work won’t be as intense following Milton. 

“We’re doing everything we can possibly do based on our past experiences,” Martin said. 

The lessons learned from Hurricane Ian were many, said Marty Harrity, owner of the Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille restaurants on Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island. 

“We’re battening down the hatches,” Harrity said, noting Fort Myers Beach had a 3 p.m. mandatory evacuation Oct. 7, and Sanibel Island had a 10 p.m. deadline to be off the island. 

“I can tell you the anxiety level is extremely high compared to past incidences,” Harrity said. “And I think that’s a good thing.” 

On Sanibel, artist Rachel Pierce moved everything out of her gallery. Some of it she moved to higher ground. Some of it she moved off the island. And some of it she put in her Bell Tower store in south Fort Myers. 

Pierce said she hopes to be crying happy tears of a surge that doesn’t come. But she doesn’t want to lose everything like last time. 

“I’m doing everything in my power to know I did all I could,” Pierce said. “Way better prepared. I guess that’s what experience gets you.”