In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, SIBA has been reaching out to its Florida bookstores for updates on their staff and their stores. So far booksellers have reported that they and their families and friends are safe. They are now beginning to assess the damage and make plans for reopening or rebuilding.

Early updates from booksellers were reported in Shelf Awareness. SIBA also heard from stores via email and social media, as we reported in the latest edition of The Southern Bookseller Review. So far, stores are mostly contending with some minor flooding, loss of power, and sporadic utilities and internet service.

The bookstores on Sanibel Island faced the full force of the storm’s destruction. Owners and staff evacuated ahead of Ian’s arrival, and still have been unable to return to assess the damage. "Our entire staff are safe and off the island," Gene’s Books posted to their Facebook page, "but we are all reeling from the devastation."

Perhaps the most vivid and forthright account comes from Rebecca Binkowski, owner of Macintosh Books + Paper. She has been using the store's Instagram account to keep customers informed and document the storm's aftermath:

"Publix is open and a few gas stations with long lines, some have gas and some don’t, but everything else is closed. Most traffic lights are out and cones reroute you to where you’ll be safest. So much debris. So much devastation. The mission was mail, but the magic in the day was in the stories we told one another. How we endured this traumatic event, how we’re moving forward. What we hope to teach our kids, what we wish we had already known. How we still felt like we were in our twenties, working at South Seas on Captiva, were we met nearly three decades ago. We’re sad. We’re grateful. We’re scared. We need help and we want to help. It’s the same for all of us. It was cathartic and a balm, this story session and I hope that all of you have friends like this, even one, who lets you tell your raw, real, messy stories."

Binkowski has created a GoFundMe campaign to help with the expense of either rebuilding or relocating. "MacIntosh means a lot to me too," she posted in response to the outpouring of customer support, "and we will continue in some way…we’ll figure it out."