JH, a resident of Fort Myers Beach, said it “looked like an apocalyptic disaster” when she made her way there after Ian slammed the shore. Homes the storm tore from their foundations blocked the streets leading to her house, which she found ablaze when she arrived.
Later, combing through the ashes, JH found just one item unscathed: a candlestick holder her great-grandmother carried in her pockets as she emigrated from Poland to the US.
“It was the simplest, most prized possession that I had, and it gave me a sense of hope, especially today being Yom Kippur,” she said Wednesday, the holiest day of the year in Judaism. “We will survive. Our town will survive, and there’s hope to rebuild.”