SOUTH FORT MYERS, Fla. Island Park Road is safe for all drivers again, the San Carlos Park Fire Department said.
The road and the neighborhood were hit hard by recent flooding, forcing the evacuation of 310 people since Sunday, according to the fire department. Two people voluntarily evacuated Thursday.
Only large trucks and SUV were able to navigate the road, which had waist-deep water at times. Multiple cars that attempted to go through the intersection of Island Park Road and U.S. 41 got stuck.
WINK News reporter Kelsey Kushner spoke with residents in Island Park assessing the floodwater damage in their homes for the first time:
Still, other places in Southwest Florida remain underwater. Quinn and Dean streets in Bonita Springs were flooded when the Imperial River overflowed, sending muck and sludge into homes.
Click here to view an interactive road flooding map of Lee County.
“This is going to be weeks of cleaning up and and washing the ground off and getting all the sewage out of here,” Bonita Springs resident Marty Mack said. “Everything’s wet under my houses. That’s got to dry out and stuff and there’s going to be moisture damage; you’re going to see it in the drywall.”
WINK News reporter Taylor Bisacky was live in Estero:
Professional storm-water engineers analyzed areas of Estero heavily affected by floodwater due to poor drainage, the Village of Estero said. Thursday’s analysis will help develop short-term and long-term improvement projects.
Although most residents are relieved to get a minor break from the rain, they remain weary of what’s ahead.
“I mean its not as bad as it could be, but it’s not over either,” Bonita Springs resident Israel Alvarado said.
Tropical Storm Irma rapidly intensified into a major hurricane in the Atlantic Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.