Fort Myers Beach recovery could take a decade or two.

As many have known, there were many numerous old fashion "mom and pop" type businesses on Fort Myers Beach. Places such as Shucker's at the Gulf Shore & Cottage bar, Plaka on the Beach, Sunset Grill, the Whale, La Ola Bar & Grill, and other similar places. Places where people not only had dinner, but also visited a favorite bartender or waitress that made them continue to go back for more on subsequent days, many whom even introduced the patron to any new servers that recently got a job there.

The entire island has been decimated by the storm surge. Plaka, Cottage bar, La Ola, The Whale, Sunset Grill - Washed away by the surge. And more often than not, when that happens and such places are rebuilt, the people working there are all strangers and nothing but strangers.

There is a default ice barrier between all strangers, which will make the road to recovery all the more complicated and slow and will extend the recovery time far beyond the time when the last bar/restaurant is rebuilt and reopened. And more often than not, the new strangers are not as friendly and not as easy to get along with as the previous employees before the storm. Hence the extreme vast majority of former regulars, they see that it's all strangers and they stop going to those places for good. They just can't handle all the new default ice barriers between the new servers and the patrons. And that can in fact cause those places to lose business and close for good. In other words, the place may as well have never been rebuilt, and where the place stood would become an empty lot. And again, bars and restaurants are the only places where it's legal, as enforced by the Federal authorities in the United States, to go visit someone that's at work and/or on the job.

After a hurricane, the default ice barriers between strangers can cause entire impacted and rebuilt communities to fall completely into irrepairable ruin.

Hiring back old employees after rebuilding the bar/restaurant is a sure way to make recovery after a storm much swifter and much smoother.