SANIBEL, Fla. — On Sanibel, where recent hurricanes left the island completely underwater, duplexes in Dorax Village are now getting lifted up out of water’s way. Fox 4’s Austin Schargorodski went to see the process and talk to the team, who says the goal is to keep them standing strong through future storms.
Crews were hard at work Thursday, prepping the homes to be lifted up 11 feet. That’s because Davie Shoring, the company doing the lifts, says homes saw five feet of storm surge during Hurricane Ian.
Watch to see what Davie Shoring told Austin about the project:
Operations Manager Chris Ellis said the need for lifts on islands like Sanibel is clearer than ever.
“Should we have the surge of water come through again, hopefully at the new height they’ll be resting at - safe, high and dry, no more stress or anxiety,” Ellis said.
Linda Sullivan lives across the street and remembers what happened to Dorax Village, and her own home, after Ian.
“The mold came quick, my brothers had been down two weeks after and couldn’t even be in the home for more than 5 minutes,” Sullivan said.
She showed pictures of her house where the inside was completely destroyed from the storm surge.
“You realize how sad it was, but in the same breath you count your blessings — the house was still standing and you gotta move forward with a positive attitude,” Sullivan said while showing pictures on her iPad.
Now, her home is fully renovated and beautiful again. She says seeing the lifts gives her hope that her neighbors won’t have the same experience again. Plus, she says it’s got her thinking about her own plans.
“It’ll be interesting to see how this goes. And maybe down the road maybe it is something to consider,” Sullivan said.
Back at Dorax, crews used a skid steer to place massive metal beams for the lift. Ellis says the plan is to raise all the buildings simultaneously in a four-to-five hour window, and the project will be done in three to four months.
Davie Shoring says the cost of a lift is around $110 to $120 a square foot depending on the structure. But they say it can be a third of the cost of tearing down and rebuilding.
The team says it’s all about families being able to stay on the island while staying protected. “Helping people. That’s one of the things we’re here for,” one builder said.
“Their life’s back to order, they’ve got new home and new vision going forward after the traumatic experience they had for 2-3 years,” Ellis said.
