The recovery efforts in southwest Florida are still underway as the state bounces back from the powerful Category 4 storm that smashed the coast last week. One the main highlights of the recovery efforts, thus far, is the construction of a temporary bridge connecting Pine Island to the mainland, which is now fully operational, providing access to countless residents, emergency responders, and linemen.
“Construction on the Pine Island bridge has been completed today – just three days after construction began. Happy to have the state step in and help get our Pine Island residents back on their feet,” DeSantis said, sharing a video showing Publix trucks making their way across the finished bridge:
DeSantis announced the bridge’s completion during a press conference on Wednesday.
“I’m happy to say that we’re able to be here today and emergency vehicles are going to start going across, probably in about an hour,” he said at the time.
“They’re doing the final run-through and final inspections. And then later today, the public will be able to access this bridge and be able to get back,” he said, adding that Publix trucks were “staged and ready to go.”
“And they’re going to be bringing their trucks across and reopening their store,” he said, noting the impressive speed at which this major project was completed.
“Just knowing how government is, it takes them a week just to even have a meeting usually about stuff like that. But our view is, you know, we need to respond very quickly,” DeSantis added, noting that efforts are also underway to make the Sanibel Causeway, wrecked by Hurricane Ian, accessible as well.
This is just a small example of the massive recovery efforts seen across the state in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Power has been restored for millions of Floridians, and the bulk of those left without power are in Lee County and Charlotte County, which will largely require the rebuilding of infrastructure, the governor explained last week.
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