FORT MYERS, Fla. (WSVN) — As the sun came up on Fort Myers Beach, Hurricane Milton’s effects became clearer. The winds that knocked out power also knocked down fences, scattered debris and tested business owners’ preparations across the downtown area. Storm surge pushed into some businesses, but the overwhelming emotion among most residents was gratitude. Those who spoke with 7News were optimistic and thankful that the storm wasn’t worse. Residents Randall Scott Martin and Kimberly Bochege rode out the storm from their apartment above downtown. “[When I saw the water], I think that we were like ‘uuuh,'” said Bochege. ‘Here we go again,’ from Ian,'” said Martin “We’ve been through this with Ian, Helene, and we were just like ‘OK,” said Bochege. Access to Fort Myers Beach reopened to residents Thursday afternoon, after storm surge ravaged the barrier island town. Much of it is still rebuilding from Hurricane Ian in 2022. Now residents are forced to start the process again, in some cases, to recover from the storm. Despite it all, Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson is optimistic. “Oh, I thought we were going to be absolutely flooded. “I thought we were going to have twice as much water as we did with Ian,” he said, “but luckily, we had just barely a little bit more than what we had with Helene.” Before the storm, 7News watched as Cal Bruno prepared his restaurant with a water barrier in an attempt to try to fight the water with more water. It seemed that their plan was effective. The water did come up the street pretty high into the night overnight, but on Thursday, people were celebrating that they had a victory over Milton. “We’re talking about degrees here of victory, absolutely,” Bruno said. “What we did was in fact successful to a certain degree. I’m being told that this was more surge than a week and a half ago, and we have less water inside.” Residents of this community didn’t cower away in fear. “Well, what else can we do?” Bruno said. “I mean, reallt, f we give up, what do we do? Go hide in our bedroom under the blankets, stick your head in the sand? No. You gotta take it on the chin, get up and ask for more. This is it.” Residents in Fort Myers Beach were proud of their prep work and are now ready to get the cleanup underway. “It’s a community, downtown, so it’s OK. We are going to help each other out, no matter what,” said Bochege. The power was restored for this area less than 24 hours after it went out. The wind and the water began to pick up at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, and that last until around 2 a.m. on Thursday, when things started to quiet down, and the water began to recede.