Two worlds emerge after Hurricane Ian: one for those moving on, another for those who can't

Brian McGee shades himself in the driver’s seat of his hastily packed pickup truck in the parking lot of Hertz Arena, Southwest Florida’s largest hurricane shelter and his only real home for now.

Hurricane Ian chased him and his roommate from his rental at the Sea Chest Motel on the Caloosahatchee River in downtown Fort Myers, a storm he said he barely survived. His future remains uncertain. 

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“I don't know. We've been looking for FEMA for days," said McGee, who says he's a drywall finisher. He wants to eventually find work and a new home, though he doesn't know where. "They're not here yet. Hopefully, we'll get some help."

Two days later, on the other side of a retention pond at Miramar Outlet Mall, shoppers are starting to return, and its luxury clothing and jewelry stores are or will soon open. Most signs of storm damage are long gone.

It was enough to prompt Laurie and Dietrich Kruger of Estero to get out of their home to peruse the shops. The couple said their power was out for a week, though a generator helped to keep the lights on. Their house is otherwise OK.

“We're out here today because it's a beautiful day, our house is in good shape and we want to see what the status is here," Dietrich Kruger said. "We were surprised that most of the stores are open."

As the cleanup and rebuilding continue after one of the worst hurricanes in U.S. history two realities are emerging in Southwest Florida: one for those ready to move on from the storm and resume normal lives and one for those who wonder if life will ever be the same for them again.

While there are no reliable numbers on how many people have been temporarily or permanently displaced as a result of Hurricane Ian, residents throughout Lee County have recounted stories of losing their homes, being forced to move in their cars, moving in with relatives, being forced to move in with friends or rethink their decisions to live in Florida.

Conditions are also widely variable depending on where you live here.

Gas station lines have largely disappeared in most of Lee County. Grocery stores inland are open and are stocked with food. Traffic signals are slowly coming back online in most of the non-coastal areas. And even the seeming luxuries of cosmetic, clothing and jewelry stores in inland malls are reopening.

And, as anyone here or who has watched or read the news would know, barrier islands like Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach and Pine Island bore the brunt of the devastation and may never be the same.

Blake Wagner owned a tattoo and piercing shop on Fort Myers Beach out of a space he rented there.

"Yeah, that's gone," he said, as he dug through the remnants of his rental mobile home on San Carlos Island, just before the Matanzas Pass Bridge that leads to Fort Myers Beach. His home is gone too. He's living with family now in south Lee County.

He's not sure what his next move is. "It all depends on how fast it all gets cleaned up and we can rebuild again."

Pine Island residents Dee and James Brennan hold out hope that they will be able to keep their home, but they acknowledge it will be a challenge. It held during the hurricane but it was damaged.

They say they plan to remain on the island, despite the lack of power and easy access to the mainland.

"It's going to be months," James Brennan said. 

Back at Miramar Outlands, the Island Shaved Ice stand is getting set up — though owner Dawn Dault hasn't been able to procure enough ice yet to get things up and running. She said she's sure she'll be open on Friday.

She said she just returned home to the area after being stranded out of state and is doing double duty of cleaning up around her home, which was largely undamaged, and setting up her business here at Miramar Outlets.

Dault is sure business will soon be booming.

"I think people are going to want to get out of their homes. Just like when COVID lifted, it was busy," she said. "People are looking to get out and walk. And where else can you walk where it's as beautiful as this?"

A little further south at the Coconut Point Mall in Bonita Springs, business is even brisker. Here, you can even get coffee at the bookstore Starbucks, the only one in the area seemingly open and able to provide a hot brew.

Store manager Sheila Verth said her home is also OK. But her 78-year-old mother's 30-year home off of San Carlos Boulevard near Fort Myers Beach was totally destroyed. The two are now living together.

"I got her out of there but, you know, 30 years of her life is just down the toilet," Verth said. "She literally walked out of there with a couple of pair of clothes, a dog and a cat and that was it. I don't think it's even hit her all the way yet."

Frank Gluck is the health care reporter for The Tennessean on special assignment for The USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at fgluck@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FrankGluck.