Captiva Island, Florida — Debris piles up on Captiva Island as some residents return to clean up debris from Hurricane Ian.
“The sky is blue and the sun is shining…it’s just a dichotomy between the devastation you’re seeing and seeing the sunset on the beach last night. I think it’s just a sliver of hope,” says resident Chris Howard said. .
It’s moments like these that give Howard and his family hope that things will return to normal.
“It was a whole feeling of sadness. It was a house I had been going to for 75 years. I honeymooned in this house in 1983. My aunt has had the house for over 20 years now. Here.” has many family memories.
Howard’s house is under construction, but this pile of rubble is just a block away from his aunt’s house.
“Everything was soaking wet, so everything in the kitchen was gone and everything in the bathroom had to be taken out,” Howard said.
He said there are storm surges in the area, unlike Hurricane Charlie.
“There’s a water pipe here that shows how much water has gotten into the house,” he said.
Its waterline reached two feet inside the house.
“When the water receded, this green muddy silt spread all over the floor,” he said.
Deleting these items, he said, felt like deleting memories shared by the family.
“For anyone who’s been to the islands we talked about, it’s the price of paradise,” Howard said.
There are signs of hope around the island.
“We have a house like the one on the beach here, a Mucky Duck restaurant,” Howard said. “Everyone is really happy that they survived and were on the beach without water inside.”
And now many are turning it back on, and this is all a sign to rebuilding, he said.
