Resilience and Recovery in Cape Coral, FL: The Hurricane Ian experience
Vince Cautero, AICP, Barraco and Associates, Inc., Ft. Myers, FL

4/16/24, 12:30-1:45 PM, Live in 227 Temple Buell Hall and online.

In September 2022, Category-4 Hurricane Ian struck southwest Florida with sustained winds of 150 mph. In Lee County, Ian pushed a destructive 10–15 ft storm surge into Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, and Bonita Springs. Over 50,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed at a preliminary cost estimate of $6.8 billion. This talk will show how the city of Cape Coral prepared for and recovered from this disaster, identifying successes and exploring the political forces, staffing, and interagency issues that made the county’s recovery work more challenging. 

Speaker: Vince Cautero, AICP, is Vice President of Planning at Barraco and Associates, Inc., in Ft. Myers, FL. He has been practicing urban and regional planning since receiving his MUP from the University of Illinois in 1982. Most of his experience has been in the public sector, where he served in various positions for five Florida local governments, serving as the Community Development Director in each. Before his recent appointment in the private sector, he worked earlier in his career for two consulting firms as a Vice President. He has been active in APA activities as an Officer of the St. Louis Metro Section and the Promised Lands Section in southwest Florida and served on many committees.