Fort Myers Beach announced evacuations and declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Milton bore down on Estero Island. It’s the fifth such order since 2022 when Hurricane Ian smashed the town, which is still in recovery mode.
Councilors met Sunday afternoon to discuss the storm, which is expected to arrive as a dangerous Category 3. In cooperation with Lee County, said Town Manager Andy Hyatt, residents should be off the island by 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Sandbags will be available for Estero Island residents only until Monday afternoon at a pile across from town hall.
But once properties are buttoned up, people should leave, he said. “This storm has a lot of unknowns … right now the cone is still the entire west coast of Florida (and) we don’t know what we don’t know.”
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Are there evacuations on Fort Myers Beach ahead of Hurricane Milton?
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