The vast majority of people AccuWeather's Ali Reid spoke to in Fort Myers Beach are taking Milton seriously, packing up and seeking somewhere safer to stay.
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00:00It's been rather quiet here in Fort Myers Beach and I'm taking that as a positive sign.
00:05So many residents here in this area said we're not going to chance this storm.
00:09They are listening to local officials and they are evacuating.
00:12In fact, I want to show you this street here.
00:14This is a popular street with a number of restaurants, shops, businesses.
00:18As you can see, every single business here on this street just alone,
00:23boarded up and there is no one here in sight.
00:26It is quiet.
00:27In fact, that is exactly what we're seeing all across the Fort Myers Beach area.
00:31There are very little residents actually left here.
00:34Majority of the movement that we're seeing in this area is going to be contractors,
00:38public works officials, as they are trying to clean up as much as possible
00:42from past storms like Helene, even all the way back to Hurricane Ian in 2022.
00:48They're grabbing that debris because they know that if storm surge
00:51reaches 10 feet, even eight feet or even below that,
00:55this could be catastrophic for this area.
00:57And they are very familiar with what that could look like,
01:00that destruction left behind from previous storms.
01:03Now dealing with this once again, the people here, they're used to it.
01:07But I think that there's a feeling this time around that isn't like past storms.
01:11Now, we spoke to a business owner earlier.
01:13He says in previous storms, he's lost a number of his businesses
01:17and just says, here we go once again.
01:19Take a listen.
01:19Here we are again.
01:21It's unfortunate, but this is the cost of believing close to the ocean.
01:26The only thing we can do is just pray for the best,
01:29try to prepare as much as we can, and stay safe.
01:33I encourage everybody in the island to get out of here.
01:37This is a life-threatening storm.
01:40Everybody who can get out of the island should be doing it as soon as possible.
01:50Now, some other video that I want to show for you guys as well.
01:53This was earlier, Public Works removing the Times Square clock
01:56prior to Hurricane Milton's arrival.
01:58Again, we were talking about removing that debris.
02:00The town's contractor is working diligently to remove a lot of that from Helene,
02:06now heading into landfall for Milton.
02:07Now, they'll continue through tomorrow, weather permitting.
02:10They also implemented a curfew here in town beginning at 10 o'clock this evening.
02:14And earlier today, over at the Target here in town,
02:17the local authorities there were giving out hurricane re-entry passes
02:21that were for residents only so that when the storm does pass,
02:24they are able to get back onto the island.
02:27So they do have a number of things already in place.
02:29Now, let's bring you back live across the way here.
02:32Again, we've been seeing cars like this.
02:34A lot of them are police in this area.
02:36But in the distance, one more thing I want to show you.
02:38That is a pier there, or what used to be a pier.
02:41In fact, that was damaged back in 2022 for Ian.
02:45Again, we were talking about the destruction that this town has unfortunately faced.
02:49And many, many hurricanes in the past,
02:51these residents are familiar with what these storms can bring.
02:55But again, the overall conversations we've been having this time around is
02:58they are not sticking it out.
03:00They are leaving.
03:00They are evacuating and listening to local officials
03:03because they know this one could potentially be a lot worse for Ian.
03:09Thank you, Ali.
03:10And if I could just ask you a question really quickly,
03:13because you mentioned earlier that people are getting out,
03:18which is the good news.
03:19Do you still see people evacuating still?
03:23Do you think people are mostly taking those heed for those evacuation orders?
03:32Yeah, Bri, I would say that there are still a few people here in town,
03:35but very, very little.
03:36The people that are still here are the ones that are trying to pack up as quickly as possible.
03:40The ones that have seen some pretty significant damage in the past.
03:43They're getting friends and family onto the island here
03:47to grab their belongings to get out.
03:49And in fact, no one that we've spoken to today
03:51has said that they are sticking it out in this area.
03:54Majority of those people are leaving.