LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Cranes are starting the removal process of the shrimping boats near San Carlos Island and Fort Myers Beach.
Ricky Moran, along with many of the other shrimpers, survived on his boat during Hurricane Ian.
Moran, who's been shrimping for more than 35 years, and other shrimpers are now being forced to live in tents.
"Pretty much why I stayed, I wanted to save my job. Yeah, if I couldn’t do anything else I had to save my job," says Moran.
He and his girlfriend survived Hurricane Ian on his boat.
As he took us around his boat and described what happened, he is still in shock.
"This is something that’s not supposed to happen. I don’t believe this," says Moran.
He's without a job right now because of the devastation and wants to get back to what he loves. The cranes are a sign that maybe soon he will be able to.
He and the other shrimpers are very close, and he says all the shrimpers have been accounted for as they wait.
Lee County officials say the Florida Division of Emergency Management is overseeing the boat removal process and have yet to provide a timeline to remove the shrimp boats.
