SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. — Darkness has not yet yielded to the rising sun, but there’s already a flurry of activity on the tip of Sanibel Island. More than a hundred island locals and public officials have gathered around the community’s beacon of light to mark five months after Hurricane Ian’s brutal arrival in this peaceful tropical paradise. In late September 2022, the Category 4 storm ravaged the coast of Southwest Florida, destroying homes, leveling businesses and damaging ecosystems.
For many who remember the hurricane’s impact and the trauma it caused, it’s an occasion worth getting out of bed for: the relighting of the Sanibel Lighthouse. The historic monument surrendered one of its four legs to the catastrophic storm but remained standing, unlike the surrounding cottages, which were flattened amid Ian’s devastating march across the island.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s a symbolic milestone and a meaningful one as the lighthouse again begins to blink, inspiring cheers and tears, shining light into a community that has experienced dark times.
