School District, county release Hurricane Ian videos
With the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Ian impacting Southwest Florida falling this week, the School District of Lee County, as well as Lee Board of County Commissioners have produced videos to share the impact.
“Every student and every employee was affected by the hurricane, so we felt it important to mark the anniversary by telling the story of how we all came together in a time of need to support one another,” School District of Lee County spokesperson Rob Spicker said. “We look back as a reminder of what was happening before and after the storm, but more importantly we demonstrate the efforts of so many people to make sure our students, staff and community were able to recover.”
The video will be debuted on the district’s Facebook page, as well as its YouTube channel today, Sept. 27. Both channels can be found through its website, leeschools.net.
The 25-minute video will highlight the story of a teacher, whose home was badly damaged by the storm, unable to find a temporary place to live.
“The principal of another school heard her plea for help and offered her a solution. It’s really touching how much these acts of kindness made so much more possible,” Spicker said. “We have come a long way in the last year, but we still have a ways to go. We are grateful for the way our community responded for our students and staff and for the way our students and staff responded for each other. “
The district experienced an estimated $230 million in damages from Hurricane Ian, with $56.8 million reimbursed so far, only $10.9 million from FEMA.
Since Hurricane Ian, 74% of all school district maintenance service requests have been completed. Only two permanent repairs remain, which include the covered walkway at Pine Island Elementary School and the flooring at Cypress Lake Middle School.
There are also seven roof replacements nearing completion, with two set to finish next week and the remainder by the end of the year. Two of the hardest hit schools, Fort Myers Beach Elementary School, will reopen this fall, and Hector A. Cafferata Jr. K-8 will open in 2025 at a new location.
Lee County also decided to publish a video series for the anniversary of Hurricane Ian, with the first shared on Thursday, Sept. 21. The county produced five more videos that will be posted to youtube.com/c/LeeCountyFLBOCC, from Sunday, Sept. 23, through Thursday, Sept. 28.
“Over the last 12 months, Lee County staff, residents and our partners have worked tirelessly before, during and since the storm to rebuild our community” Chairman of the Lee Board of County Commissioners Brian Hamman said in a prepared statement “In recognition of Hurricane Ian’s one-year anniversary, Lee County is publishing a series of videos on its social media channels to honor our community’s response to this tragedy.”
The series is to honor the community’s response to the tragedy Hurricane Ian left behind through a variety of videos featuring county employees exemplifying the spirit that has fueled a vast array of progress, as well as what is still to be completed.
“Featuring a variety of county employees and departments, the videos exemplify the spirit that has fueled so much progress, while emphasizing that there is still much to do,” Hamman said. “By working together we will build our county back to be even more resilient.”
The little more than two-minute videos begin with a message “Hurricane Ian impacted every corner of Lee County. This series is intended to tell Lee County government’s story from the onset of the storm through the first year of recovery.”
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com