City of Fort Myers offices are closed Thursday due to Hurricane Helene

FORT MYERS — All city offices in Fort Myers will close Thursday, a decision made by council members at a special emergency meeting.

I’m your Fort Myers community correspondent, Miyoshi Price, bringing you updates on how the city is prepared for any storm impacts.

Fire Chief Tracy McMillion and the city’s emergency management team briefed council on the direction of the storm.

They say they prepare for the worst, so they are prepared for anything.

McMillion suggests getting waterproof document containers and preparing 72-hour preparedness kits.

Additionally, take videos and pictures of your home and vehicles before the storm.

Always know your area and move important objects off the ground.

Public Works Director Peter Bieniek says that while offices will be closed, Public Works and police will be monitoring and closing roads if necessary.

He says normal flood areas are expected to flood, but sewers and drains have been cleared this week.

“We clean the storm drain grates. We’re looking through them, making sure they’re open so the water can flow,” says Peter Bieniek, director of public works for the city of Fort Myers. “We’re looking at our ditch lines and basins, making sure they’re open and clean. (The city has a number of canals that have dams on them. We rated them; we looked at the current). The water levels in them we’ve adjusted the appropriate barriers to let the water out so we have a bit of retention in them so when we have the heavier rains we can manage that.”

City officials are reminding residents not to pull their trash cans to the curb on Thursday. Friday and Saturday are designated make-up days for trash pickup.