FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Lee County has seen a record-breaking number of tourists as spring break gets into full swing this week, according to the Lee County Chamber of Commerce.
However, more people on the beach can mean more trash as well. Gale Seabrook said she hasn't seen that while visiting Fort Myers Beach Monday.
“It’s my first time at the beach since 2019, but it’s pretty clean and people see pretty well behaved.”
In fact, Kelly Oddo said she and her family were among the many vacationers caught in Saturday's EF-0 tornado on the beach.
“I’m pulling this wagon, it’s flying in the air," said Oddo. "I’m pulling to Shuckers over there. Luckily, everyone made it out ok.”
Even after that, Kelly and her family went back out to the beach to clean up after the storm.
“We haven’t seen a lot of trash actually. Even during the tornado cleanup, it was basically our own stuff we were cleaning up.”
Even the town of Fort Myers Beach said they haven’t noticed any trash issues with this boom of vacationers.
"We take pride in a clean beach and, as always, have appropriate staff and operations in place to handle trash pickup no matter the size of the crowds," said Communications Director Jenny Dexter with the Town of Fort Myers Beach.
She added people can help keep the beaches clean all year long by participating in beach cleanups hosted by Keep Lee County Beautiful, Inc.
