FORT MYERS BEACH –
With tropical weather aimed straight at Southwest Florida,
all eyes are on a Fort Myers Beach condo building that is
“one storm away from devastation.”
The last line of
defense for the Leonardo Arms community are massive
sandbags. They’re here to protect Building #2 from the
impending Gulf of Mexico.
While this storm isn’t going to wallop them, a bigger one
this season could cause devastating damage, or ever cause
the condo building to collapse.
“Let’s be perfectly clear, it’s very serious,” said
President of the Leonardo Arms Condo Association Gene Duffy.
They spent big bucks on putting the
sandbags here, but it’s not all they wanted. Originally they
asked to protect their entire beachfront area. |
|
|
“The (Florida) Fish and Wildlife
Commission only granted permission to only go halfway,” he
said.
While they shore up the beach that used to extend a football
field into the Gulf, it’s really only a bandaid. The real
solution to keep water from coming any closer is a seawall.
“It would be nice to have it done now before a hurricane
hits us,” Duffy said.
Here’s the thing, it’s currently turtle season. Without an
emergency approval on their permit application, they
wouldn’t be allowed to start construction until November
2022, and that might
be too late.
“We need to get that seawall in now,” he said.
One of the closest units to the water belongs to the
Laurenson family.
“Yeah, we’re really close,” said Elizabeth Laurenson.
Their condo has been passed down through the family. As the
years progressed, their vacation spot shrunk.
“I’ve been a little anxious, but when I see it I’m hopeful
that it will be fine,” she said.
These sandbags will have to do the job until they can build
the seawall. If they get emergency approval, that would
start the process now.
If not, they’d have to wait until November 1, 2022.