- Post Hurricane Ian
- Impacted Communities Respond
- Adaptogenic Herbs for Stress Relief
After a long road home, I finally made it back to Southwest Florida. It was almost too much to take in when I finally arrived.
With no job site left to return to, it’s no wonder I dragged out my arrival date for an additional week before I was to meet my destiny; an impossible to get out of clean-up, post Hurricane Ian.
As one makes their way south along 75, the first visible evidence was the forest. It had become so thin. The once beautiful plushness that graces the vistas of the American Tropicana that Southwest Florida offers, were greatly affected.
Branches and leaves had been swept away in the massive 70 mile an hour sustained winds. I was not present when Ian took landfall on September 28th, 2022.
I watched from afar, but now it is a reintroduction to the area and the many steps to recovery.
Our community, 30 miles inland, had flooded nearly 3 feet as the ocean surge and rainwater consumed the Caloosahatchee River corridor.
There was no escaping what was coming, sandbags or not! When it finally receded, we were left with a thin layer of river silt and mud.
And a house full of wet and mildewing clothes and furnishings as the Florida heat and humidity started to cook the environment. There would be no power to assist in the clean-up for 12 days.
We are all here living amongst the wreckage. Many are living in their yard in their RV’s. With piles of construction debris and soggy furniture strewn up and down the blocks, we start to rebuild.
My job site was swept away along with over eighty percent of Fort Myers Beach. What once was known to locals and visitors as a favorite white sand beach destination, is now a heap of rubble.
Unimaginable destruction has left the land void of life. You still see boats piled on cars one month later.
Resilience and adaptation are some of the most important traits that we can exhibit at this time of recovery. So how do we stay healthy?
We must take time to breathe our way through the mess. And that’s exactly how the community is responding.
I hear echoes of laughter with good company up and down the block as the sun descends each night. Create a little safe haven, your “happy place” within the devastation.
This is also a time to reflect on our many blessings and see the light beyond the destruction.
If you find yourself looking to supplements for support, try adaptogenic herbs like Astragalus Root, Ashwagandha and Rhodiola to give you the extra boost you need in this stressful time.
We are a gritty and spirited people, even amongst tragedy. It may be a long walk, but we will restore some normalcy to this beautiful tropical place that so many call home.
