The 1884 keeper’s houses at Florida’s Sanibel Island Lighthouse that had survived countless storms over the past 148 years were no match against Hurricane Ian this past September. The buildings were completely destroyed, with almost no trace that they were ever there.
Although the tower also received some damage, the biggest concern is the erosion around the base of tower and the loss of the lower section of one leg and its support brace, which leaves the tower in a precarious situation.
With the amount of devastation to Sanibel Island and around the rest of Florida, any effort to save the tower will probably have to take a back seat. (Top photo by John Apte, bottom photo by Wilfredo Lee, courtesy of Associated Press, and inset photo courtesy Brandon Clement, AccuWeather)
This story appeared in the
Nov/Dec 2022 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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