The "Mainland" where Uncle Sunshine lived was a place called Pine Island. His mother in law lived on Matlacha Island. Both islands were obliterated by last week's hurricane. Looking at the zillions of photos and videos I've seen in the past few days, I would put money down that Uncle Sunshine's house is gone. As far as his mother in law's house, I'm not sure. Matlacha was destroyed. The draw bridge connecting Matlacha to Cape Coral has been reduced to chunks of concrete. However, I saw a couple of photos where her house "should" be. I'm not saying it is in reasonable condition, but it might still be standing.
No interior pictures yet on Upper Captiva (but Sanibel and Captiva Island photos are available). Given how unchartered Upper Captiva is, I'm not terribly surprised. I've seen some aerial photos. The island didn't split in two, like it did in 2004, but all the vegetation that grew back since then is completely gone. The sand made it pretty far on to the island's runway, which is that white horizontal line on the top left of the island. Looks like Uncle Sunshine's house and office are still standing too. For what it's worth. I found this picture.
For those who might be interested in pictures of Matlacha and Pine Island, this is a good link. You will see a picture of a big red roof, next to what is left of the bridge, that was the Bridgewater Inn. We stayed there. We stayed at a few places on those two islands that I guarantee aren't in existence any more. I found a photo of another one we stayed at. It no longer has a roof. Another place we loved to stay looks like a random stack of toothpicks.
I loved Pine Island. If I lived in that part of Florida, that was my first choice for a place to live. Marty's first choice was Matlacha.
https://www.news-press.com/picture-gallery/news/2022/10/01/hurricane-ian-wiped-out-pine-island-and-matlacha/8144406001/
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