NORTH PORT, Fla. — Nearly a year ago, many parts of Southwest Florida were devastated by Hurricane Ian including the City of North Port. As the first anniversary of the storm draws near, city leaders are taking stock of the progress they've made with the recovery.
The hurricane which made landfall in the Fort Myers area on Sept. 28, 2022, was one of the strongest storms to hit the United States. It brought 22 inches of rain to North Port, killed 7 people, and destroyed many homes and property.
The city was overrun by floodwaters in the days that followed and is still struggling to pick back up to where it once was but leaders said they remain resilient.
"A lot of people are still demoralized by what happened, a lot of people moved away, a lot of people are not here," Jerome Fletcher, manager of the city of North Port, said.
Fletcher said for those who stayed, the rebuilding continues even today. The city has issued more than 19,000 permits and carried out more than 93,000 inspections. It also recovered about $27 million of $85 million dollars worth of damage assessment through FEMA funds.
So far, $15 million in reimbursements remain outstanding while more than 1,200 local businesses were connected with resources as part of recovery, according to Fletcher.
City leaders hope more recovery funds from federal grants through Resilient SRQ also come through.
"We are going to have to make sure that we do a very heavy amount of outreach so that money does not get unspent and used somewhere else and is used for the residents who are impacted here in North Port," he said.
The storm and its aftermath are still a fresh reminder of the critical need for investments in storm-ready infrastructure.
"This government like many governments kicked the can of infrastructure improvements down the road for far too long and now we're having to be paying for that right now. Whether it is our streets, whether it's our buildings, we were not in a position to sustain that type of a storm, and to be honest, based on it being a 500-year storm, we may not have been able to sustain it anyway," Fletcher said.
One idea being considered is a possible reservoir in the northern part of the city.
"It could help with flooding, but it could also possibly forget additional water sources for long-term growth," Jason Yarborough, assistant city manager, said.
City facilities sustained some $7 million in damages including to buildings at Warm Mineral Springs Park.
As North Port continues to look toward the future, leaders say they'll continue their private-sector partnerships on resiliency plans and keep engaging with the public through workshops.