Lee County Restoration Services

Lee County was the epicenter of Hurricane Ian’s devastating landfall on September 28, 2022, when the Category 4 storm drove a record storm surge of up to 18 feet into Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, and Pine Island before pushing catastrophic flooding inland through Fort Myers, Cape Coral, and Lehigh Acres. The destruction was historic : entire neighborhoods were leveled on the barrier islands, the Sanibel Causeway was destroyed, Pine Island was cut off from the mainland, and the recovery effort has stretched across years. With over 800,000 residents, Lee County is the most populous county in Southwest Florida, and the scale of damage from Ian alone generated restoration demand that will continue for years to come.

Geography and Flood Vulnerability

Lee County’s geography is defined by water. The Caloosahatchee River : the primary drainage outlet for Lake Okeechobee : bisects the county as it flows from east to west, emptying into San Carlos Bay between Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach. Cape Coral’s extraordinary network of over 400 miles of navigable canals creates the largest canal system of any city in the world, but it also means that virtually every neighborhood in Cape Coral sits adjacent to water that can rise during storms. The barrier islands of Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Captiva, and Pine Island absorb the full force of Gulf hurricanes, while inland communities like Lehigh Acres and the growing Estero and Bonita Springs corridor face flooding from the Estero River, Imperial River, and the county’s extensive system of drainage canals and retention ponds. FEMA flood zone designations cover enormous portions of the county, from the obvious coastal areas to many inland neighborhoods that experienced their first-ever flooding during Hurricane Ian.

Property Types and Restoration Needs

Lee County’s property landscape spans the full spectrum : from the luxury beachfront homes and resorts on Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach to the working-class neighborhoods of Lehigh Acres, from Cape Coral’s sprawling canal-front subdivisions to the commercial corridors of Fort Myers and the master-planned communities of Estero. Each property type presents distinct restoration challenges that demand professional expertise and commercial-grade equipment.

WrightWay’s Lee County Commitment

WrightWay Emergency Services deployed crews throughout Lee County in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ian and has continued restoring homes and businesses across the region ever since. From our headquarters in Nokomis, we serve every community in Lee County with full-service restoration including emergency water extraction, structural drying, mold remediation, fire and smoke damage cleanup, and complete reconstruction. Our technicians are IICRC certified, our company is a licensed Florida contractor, and we maintain the commercial-grade equipment needed to handle everything from a single-room water leak to a large-scale hurricane recovery project. We also work directly with all major insurance companies to help property owners navigate the claims process. Call (941) 379-8669 now.

Lee County: Three Years of Recovery

Lee County covers 1,212 square miles with 800,000+ residents across Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Sanibel, Captiva, Bonita Springs, Estero, and the Pine Island communities. WrightWay's Fort Myers office at 6835 International Center Blvd handles dispatch for southern Lee, with our Nokomis headquarters covering surge capacity for major events.

The Ian Reckoning Continues

Hurricane Ian made landfall on Cayo Costa at Category 4 strength on September 28, 2022, and Lee County took the brunt. Fort Myers Beach was leveled. Sanibel Causeway was severed. Cape Coral canals overtopped their seawalls. Three years later, Lee County reconstruction is still our highest-volume county. We are routinely called into Ian-affected properties where the original mitigation was incomplete or non-existent, and mold remediation work continues.

Hurricane Milton (October 2024) added wind damage on top of partial Ian repairs. Cape Coral had 80+ mph gusts that finished off roofs that had been patched but not replaced. Helene (September 2024) brought surge into Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel that re-flooded properties still under construction.

What Lee County Loss Calls Look Like

• Sanibel and Captiva: high-end coastal homes with combined wind, surge, and saltwater contamination. Long permitting timelines.
• Cape Coral canal homes: water intrusion from storm surge backflow up the canal system. Often missed in initial scope.
• Fort Myers Beach: ground-up rebuilds, many still in permitting hell. We do specific scope and documentation work for permit applications.
• Bonita Springs Estero: 1990s-2000s subdivisions with PEX-fitting failures and HVAC condensate floods.
• Pine Island: bridge access constraints during major events force pre-staging of equipment.

Communities We Cover

Fort Myers, North Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Sanibel, Captiva, Pine Island, Matlacha, Bonita Springs, Estero, Lehigh Acres, San Carlos Park, Iona, McGregor, Punta Rassa, Fort Myers Beach. Call (941) 379-8669.