JUST BEFORE THE SANIBEL CAUSEWAY — Under the toll plaza sign — 1/2 a mile out — McGregor Road to Sanibel Island is impassable.
The pavement is folded up like an accordion, ripped to ribbons by a powerful storm surge. Nearby, a spiral staircase was deposited in the brush next to a white pickup. The storm flung a boat trailer and other debris, too.
Section of the causeway to Sanibel is wiped out
An alarm bleats endlessly at the tollbooth for the Sanibel Causeway. Step just beyond it, and the road soon gives way. Where the bridge rises from the mainland toward the island, one of the first sections of the span has disappeared. Crumbled pavement lies near the water’s edge. The rest of the bridge stretches forward, unreachable