Carolyn J. Braden • 3 Minute Read
Our Sanibel Island Home Before and After Hurricane Ian
As many movies end with a wonderful closure so the audience can leave feeling satisfied, we ended our 2023 in the same fashion. After Hurricane Ian hit our house on September 28th 2022, it took us from that date until the very end of December 2023 to fix all the damage it caused our property. We learned a lot and wrote about it in this article and many others.
Carolyn and Tommy Braden with their home, over a year after Hurricane Ian
We are still learning. Between lawyers, public adjustors, and insurance, it was a lot to deal with. As I sat down to write this article, I could not believe how much we accomplished in 2023. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so this article will be mostly images, but I’ll do my best to describe each scenario. Read on to see our home before and after the Hurricane Ian repairs were made.
Our home, about a month after Hurricane Ian
Because the Sanibel Causeway was destroyed in many areas making it not drivable in any way, our house had to wait about a month before we could get back to it. Others were taking boats, but the island was full of debris, nails, mud, muck and all kinds of trash. Anyone that came to their house via boat later said it was a terrible situation. Many had to walk miles from where a boat dropped them off to their house.
Our home after all the Hurricane Ian repairs
Tommy, my husband, and I both found images of our home via some helicopter and satellite images, so we knew it was still standing. Our neighbors that stayed confirmed how high the flood waters got (about 5 feet at our house), so we were pretty certain we had no flooding inside our house. We had a roofing company wrap our roof as we could see in the images that there was damage.
This is about one month after Hurricane Ian
The causeway was repaired to be at least passable in late October 2022 so they drove from Indiana (where we evacuated to with Tommy’s family) to Sanibel. It’s a 16-hour drive. Due to the significant damage, there was no water or electricity on Sanibel Island, even into October 2022, so they were able to find a new RV for rent in Fort Myers via Airbnb. Many homes and hotels were full, so they were lucky to find that.
Our home in December 2023, post Hurricane Ian repairs
Luckily the sewers were going again, so they could at least use the bathroom at our house. It was hot though. They were taking lots of breaks while cleaning the best they could without water or electricity. Tommy took some photos during and after he and his dad did some clean up. Our roof is white in the “before” image because of the wrap we had put on. It went through several tarpings before we could actually get a new roof. We had significant siding damage from the wind sweeping it off. It was mostly on one side of our house, but it was pulled up a bit all over.
Our poor screw pines died in our backyard, but helped save our pool cage!
After letting our public adjustor go (it just didn’t work out), we hired a lawyer team and we finally had a resolution to our damage in late 2023. We couldn’t repair a lot of our damage for a long while because our lawyer team and insurance company had to see it all numerous times. This took many, many months.
Our fresh and new backyard landscaping
If you are ever thinking about moving to a coastal area or any area that is known to have severe weather, pad your bank account with at least $50,000.00+ (I’m talking liquid cash!) if you want repairs to get started right away. But, you do take a risk of not getting your insurance adjuster to see the damage in person (they like to see it first hand), so be careful about what you fix right away or else take many, many detailed photos.
This was taken in January 2023, post Hurricane Ian
As I wrote in our article about what we learned (click here to read it), FEMA was only able to help us with a loan offer, so if you own your house and have insurance (we had flood and homeowners insurance), do not plan on getting “free cash” from them. They were helpful, but you just won’t get “free money” if you have taken precautions as many responsible homeowners do.
We were able to have a landscape team help us shape up our yard in February 2023
We had to let the windswept bare side of our house go for a long while before we had insurance money to pay for new siding. At the time, full house vinyl siding (which has to be wind rated) in Southwest Florida cost approximately $40,000. We had many, many estimates, so we know what high and low pricing is and went with what was in the middle. My husband said he would have done it all himself had our house not been so tall. Those we hired had to have special ladders and more to do it. We had a handyperson staple a type of thick wrap onto the bare side to protect the wood, which was fine for many months.
Under our house, one month post Hurricane Ian
We had most of our landscaping cleaned up by February 2023. We did the clean-up ourselves, and then had a landscaping team help with tree removal, etc. We had to use some loan money, some of our savings, and flood insurance money to get our pool cleaned (oh…it was a big mess!), have our A/C units replaced and do a few other minor things.
Pressure washing helped shape up under our house post Hurricane Ian
We had three units and they were all damaged by wind and flood, despite being elevated. The water was a salty mix from the ocean so that spray alone damaged most people’s A/C units. Our flood insurance didn’t cover a lot, but they were great about getting to us quickly (our flood person took a boat to the island to get to us quickly).
Our pool had to be professionally drained and cleaned post Hurricane Ian
We hired a contract team and had a new roof put on in November 2023 and new siding in December 2023. The wait wasn’t about them not having time for us. The rush of everyone needing help all at the same time by the end of 2023 was starting to slow down. We merely had to wait because that’s how long it took insurance to settle with our lawyer team. Oh, how we learned even more about patience! The wait was worth it though.
We got our pool back to blue around February 2023
If you are in a terrible rush and want everything done right away after a storm, you will (unfortunately) pay a premium that many impose onto people after a storm. By waiting, we were able to pay more reasonable prices for help. By waiting and being patient, we were also able to get a just settlement from our insurance. If you just take whatever they give you without your own due diligence, you may not get what you deserve. You pay for insurance, so you should make sure you get what you deserve!
See my Wink News interview from December 2023 about my Hurricane Ian experience and my wish for Sanibel Island in my video below or on my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
We were able to have screens and metal work repaired in December 2023. Our front door had some issues post Hurricane Ian, so our contractor team helped us with that. Our back-porch door blew off in the storm, and we had to get a new one.
Our back porch door blew in during Hurricane Ian
Our pier house that sits up about 13 feet is built to withstand a lot of wind and boy, was our house a tank! Our 1978 bungalow coastal home shook so much, a wall crack appeared in our office. We repaired it and put shiplap over it, which is what we wanted to do before the storm as an accent wall. Other than that one crack, we didn’t have any others, which means our house was constructed very well!
Our screen team added a new door and screens for us in December 2023
Structurally, we had the house checked and it was fine. Some of our piers had been reinforced years prior, and we know this helped. We had a bit of roof leaking, and a bubble appeared above our bed in our guest room. Only a little water leaked onto our bed. Somehow the fresh paint (we had just painted the ceiling) bubbled and saved our bed and floor.
Hurricane Ian broke all our fan blades on our porch
Lots of our furniture and all of Tommy’s tools were ruined due to them being in the flood waters and muck that came along with them under our house. Our upstairs porch furniture was blown around a lot, but surprisingly held up. We cleaned what we could, and had to let a lot go.
We had to replace our sink faucet on our porch sink as the winds and salty air corroded it during the storm
Like all “stuff”, it was all replaceable. Our electric bikes were ruined, but we were fortunately able to replace them quickly. We love riding them around the island! Even if we had put them up high, I am certain the salty water that was blown everywhere by the strong winds would have ruined them. Putting them inside the house was the only thing that could have saved them, but we, among many others, had no clue the flooding would be quite as bad as it was.
Our egg chairs on our second floor porch survived, but were all toppled over
We are now doing some last-minute paint touchups, but overall, our ending to 2023 was the movie happy ending we hoped for and we are proud of what we were able to accomplish in a little over a year.
All our plants were tossed around during Hurricane Ian
We wanted to write this up and showcase our work because while we do plan to move in 2024 into a no-hurricane area of north Georgia, we wanted others to know what they may have to deal with if they move into a coastal area. We are currently both in our 40’s and it was A LOT. We both work, so juggling Hurricane stuff with life stuff with so much more was a lot.
With the help of each other, our family, our friends, our wonderful neighbors and my online community’s support, we made it to the other side in one piece! I am actually happy we were able to make our dream of moving to Sanibel happen now, and not when we are “retired.” Doing all this later in life was even harder, as many of my neighbors stated.
Our front porch with all Hurricane Ian repairs completed in December 2023
So many mature adults move to Sanibel and Florida after retirement and if you aren’t in the best of health or able to clean up extensively (or don’t have the finances for professional help), you may want to really think about whether a coastal move is for you. In talking with neighbors, Hurricane Charley and many other pretty bad hurricanes did a lot of damage to their properties and was a lot of clean up work too.
The water bubble in our guest room post Hurricane Ian
Of course, Hurricane Ian was the worst so far. Many think it probably is the 100-year storm and won’t be that bad again anytime soon, but with the weather patterns doing some shifting, I am not sure this is the only bad storm the area will see in my lifetime.
We cut the bubble out and repaired the ceiling in mid 2023
Our post caps blew off our porch, many of our porch plants were toppled, our property was full of mud, debris, shingles, nails, and more. And we were among the fortunate. So many animals, plants and people lost their lives and for those still living, their lives are changed forever. In talking with some that stayed, many almost died. Seriously. Their stories are not mine to tell, but they sure did bring many tears to my eyes.
The wall crack in our office due to Hurricane Ian
If you are ever in a severe weather type of a storm, please trust your intuition. Don’t take chances with bad weather. If you know bad weather is approaching, do everything you can to minimize your risks. We evacuated the night before it hit, and thank God we did. Those that stayed were stuck for about 4 days without electricity, sewer and water.
Our shiplap repair post Hurricane Ian
One thing I know for sure is this: a house is just a house, things are just things, but your life is not something that can be replaced. I am thankful every day for my husband, my pets, my family and my friends and I am thankful our Hurricane Ian chapter is over. Please say prayers and support the Southwest Florida area though, as it will take years for it to be back to “normal” again.
We are happy our home is finally repaired!
Neither of us are sad we moved to Sanibel Island in 2020. We made a dream come true in doing so and know we invested well. We also made our RV dreams come true as we purchased a 1995 used RV to return to our home in January 2023 because we were uncertain of mold and other issues with our house interior. The RV was fun, but we sold it in late 2023 due to not needing it and due to it not quite being what we thought it would be. Dreams that come true don’t always work out, and when they don’t, we both believe it’s God’s way of pushing you into something even better.
I will always LOVE Sanibel Island with all my heart. Despite the storm, it’s still a gorgeous place with peaceful and undisturbed beaches and lots of land. The wildlife and plants are fascinating, the sun is warm and life is overall pretty good here. It will be hard to leave, but like all beginnings, there comes an end and we know it’s all for the best. “Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.” (—Closing Time, Dan Wilson/Semisonic)
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Carolyn J. (C.J.) Braden is a regular contributor and editor for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.