Sanibel , Pine Island and Fort Myers Beach have been much in the news after Hurricane Milton’s rampage, but another Southwest Florida barrier island is reeling from the storm’s devastation: Gasparilla.
Saturday afternoon, its causeway bridge reopened so residents and some others can return to the island, Lee Sheriff Carmine Marceno posted on X.
“The bridge to Boca Grande is safe and has just reopened,” he wrote. Lee County Department of Transportation and others will let residents and “home watch” contractors return to the island, he wrote. “Residents with hurricane tags can cross the bridge. LCSO has staged at the toll plaza monitoring tags and is conducting traffic control. The Boca Grande Fire Department has personnel at the toll plaza to assist. In addition to residents and home-watch contractors, those who will be admitted to the island also include county and emergency personnel … (Deputies) will be on-site at the toll plaza overnight, and access to the island will be restricted.”