CAPTIVA, Fla. — In front of each business on Captiva Island there are mountains of debris and trash.
It’s leaving some to wonder if businesses will choose to close their doors for good, or if they will rebuild.
“It was shocking,” Sandy Stilwell Youngquist said. “It took me 23 years to build it up and eight to 10 hours… it was all gone.”
It was always a dream for Youngquist to own a business on Captiva Island.
“We have the cottages here, the Captiva Island Inn and then there’s the little Latte Da coffee shop and that’s right here,” he said.
Now, she owns nearly ten. The only problem is that since the storm, they look like this.
“That’s where the one tree went right on it and then went right through that one, so I’m not so sure about what we will have to see,” she said.
Although electricity is back on for her restaurants, that is not the case for the Captiva Inn cottages.
“This had a storm surge that was far worse than Charlie and it stayed and hovered for a longer time so the damage was more severe as well,” she said.
She told NBC2 that they will need to be rebuilt from the ground up.
But until then, they are working on ripping out everything that got wet from each storefront.
“It went up to right about midway, right about six inches down,” Youngquist said.
“They will come back,” she said. “And they might look a little different, maybe a bit more upgraded in some cases, but I do want to keep that nice island charm and that’s so important to keep this village of Captiva intact.”
She does know it will take some time to rebuild.
“It will be millions, and millions of dollars, there is no doubt,” she said. “I don’t even have an estimate right now. But fortunately I do have good insurance and that’s one good thing because I have learned the hard way.”
But she does have an idea of what will be the first to reopen its doors.
“The first one that we will open will be the Captiva Cantina.”
There is not much of a timeline just yet.
She will know more within the next few weeks as cleanup continues.
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October 25, 2022 at 10:46AM
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Captiva businesses filled with debris & trash from Hurricane Ian face rebuilding decisions - NBC2 News
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