Senator Marco Rubio on Sunday asserted that Fort Myers Beach has sustained irreversible damage from Hurricane Ian after the ‘superstorm’ ripped its beloved pier from its hinges, saying the historic town ‘no longer exists.’
The stark declaration from the Florida official came as officials continue to assess the damage wrought by the hurricane, which made landfall last week in Southwest Florida before sweeping across the middle and upper regions of the state. Fort Myers Beach, a Gulf Coast town that bore the brunt of the storm, was hit particularly hard by Ian, with homes leveled and ships swept onto land in feet of overflowed floodwater, leaving dozens of residents stranded awaiting for rescue – or worse.
The scale of destruction has since left the town’s beloved pair unrecognizable – and at least 81 confirmed dead, many from the small Florida city. Speaking on ABC’s This Week Sunday morning, Rubio, 51, detailed the extent of this destruction, saying there’s no ‘comparison’ between the deadly hurricane and past storms. Meanwhile, two more weather fronts whipped up concern as they moved westward across the Atlantic and threatened to turn into tropical storms.
‘I don’t think it has a comparison, not in Florida,’ Rubio, R-Fla., told co-anchor Jonathan Karl of the recent storm in comparison to its predecessors. The former presidential candidate would also add that despite being in close talks with Governor Ron DeSantis and federal officials about recovery efforts, Fort Myers’ beloved beach will likely never be the same again.
‘Fort Myers Beach no longer exists,’ said Rubio, who has served as senator of the Sunshine State since 2011. ‘It’ll have to be rebuilt,’ he continued in regards to what he asserted was irreparable damage to the once scenic city. ‘It’ll be something different. It was a slice of old Florida that you can’t recapture.’
The remote interview saw the senator joined by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell, who is playing a crucial role in the government’s cleanup and rescue efforts. Criswell added of the lasting effects of the then-Category 4 storm: ‘There is a lot of devastation. Significant damage in the point of impact on the west coast of Florida.’
Search-and-rescue operations in Fort Myers – as well as other stricken cities such as Naples, Naples, and Orlando, are still ongoing, Rubio noted in the interview, before emphasizing that federal officials have been working closely with Gov. DeSantis due to the direness of the situation.
Those efforts, Rubio said on Sunday, have so far been successful – but both the Senator and head FEMA official said there was still an enormous amount of work to be done before the city even starts to resemble a semblance of its former self.
‘FEMA has — they’ve all been great,’ Rubio said of the recovery campaign, which he conceded will take a long time. ‘The federal response from day one is very positive,’ the politico added. ‘And we’re grateful for that.’ Criswell, a former emergency management chief of New York City and the first woman to head FEMA after assuming the title last year, reiterated that both her in Rubio were in direct contact with DeSantis as the cleanup continues. (SOURCE)
