LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- Tuesday marks two years since Hurricane Irma made landfall in Southwest Florida as a Category 3 storm. Fox 4 spoke with Lee County on what they’ve been doing since then to better prepare for a hurricane.
The county said they have a laundry list of improvements they’ve been pouring a lot of money into since Irma. Two major ones are flood mitigation and sheltering operations.
One of the shelters getting improvements is Hertz Arena in Estero. Right now they are improving the roof in case another storm like Irma hits our area.
The roof is expected to be done in December, so for this hurricane season, it can’t be used as a shelter before a major storm hits but it can definitely be used after one passes through.
The county is hardening some shelters in other ways too like adding generators. They've also added more shelters to the area.
For example, the Lee County School District is building a new high school in Gateway. That school will be another hurricane shelter too.
The county also increased the number of trained shelter volunteers.
Since Irma, the county has made huge strides with flood mitigation. On the county's website, they have a page devoted on what they’ve done so far. They have a map identifying problem areas prone to flooding like near creeks and canals.
Right now, they are making long term repairs.
Around the time Irma hit, some areas like Lehigh Acres and South Fort Myers got more than 20 inches of rain. The map shows colored spots on where they are conducting work to prevent that from happening again.
