Hurricane Ian Disaster Relief

On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian, a category 4 storm, made landfall west of Fort Myers, Florida. The strong winds caused a 12 to 15-foot storm surge in the area. The Pink Shell Resort and Marina, located on Fort Myers Beach, is a premier resort made up of three hotels/condos. Unfortunately, with the strong winds and storm surge, they sustained considerable damage to the property.

Our large loss division, SRM, responded immediately to start the restoration work. Access to the island was difficult in the first days following the hurricane. Each day as the team traveled to the resort, the last three miles took a minimum of a three-hour drive until the debris was removed.

As the team was getting into the full swing of the restoration work, FEMA closed down the island for a few days to catch up on power and trash removal needs. The SRM team quickly hired a boat captain to shuttle our essential employees back and forth to the Pink Shell. In total, 350 SRM and trade employees worked 12 – 16 hours a day on the restoration efforts.

Before they could even step inside any of the buildings to assess the damage, the SRM team needed to address the large amount of sand all over the island. Their first task included moving mountains of sand that ended up everywhere and hindered their access. Once they removed the sand, it was sifted and transported back to the beach.

We are always in awe of how quickly and efficiently our SRM team responds to disasters to return businesses back to their pre-disaster state. In this case, they literally moved mountains to get to the resort! The progress they have made in a short time is a big step toward getting the Pink Shell Resort and Marina back in business and all the employees back to work!

This news video is an excellent representation of the magnitude of the restoration efforts the SRM team has completed at the resort.