Preserving the past before the storm: A Jewish family's guide to hurricane season

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When last year’s hurricane tore through South Florida, the devastation reached far beyond shattered windows and waterlogged furniture. For Jewish Heritage editor Christine DeSouza, it meant the total loss of her cousin’s irreplaceable family photos, records, and keepsakes —family history, gone in a matter of hours. (DeSouza’s cousin lives on Pine Island, where Hurricane Ian made landfall in 2022).

After a recent conversation with DeSouza, I found myself thinking: what if it had been me?

Over the years, I’ve carefully compiled our family’s story into several “books.” My father’s roots trace back to Bessarabia in 1885. My mother’s came from Svencionys, Poland — and remarkably, my son-in-law’s family turned out to be from that very same small town. These discoveries were moving, and unexpected. I’ve preserved marriage certificates, immigration and naturalization documents, yellowed handwritten family trees, and hundreds of photos. But all of it — those documents, those books, even the labeled USBs — could disappear in an instant.

It seems most of us don’t think about preservation until it’s too late. Storms happen. So do fires, accidents, and illness. Memory fades. Elders pass on. So, I started researching how we can all do better — not just to protect our homes, but to safeguard the stories of how we got here.

Start Here: What’s worth preserving digitally — Now, before the storm

Don’t wait until a hurricane is on the radar. Start by having a chat with aging relatives while they can still remember their early years. Then, attack those boxes in storage in the garage, closets, attic, etc. This part of your family’s history deserves year-round care.

• Photographs — Family portraits, lifecycle events, and holiday table scenes. These often provide visual clues that help identify other unlabeled photos.

• Documents — Naturalization papers, ketubahs, bar/bat mitzvah certificates, synagogue records, Hebrew school diplomas, yahrzeit lists, and handwritten letters.

• °Media — VHS tapes, cassette recordings, home videos, voice memos from loved ones.

• Heirlooms — Scan or photograph items like candlesticks, tallit, Kiddush cups, or a mezuzah once nailed to your great-grandparent’s doorway.

How to Preserve Them

1. Digitize everything now

Scan documents and photos at 300–600 dpi. Use apps like PhotoScan by Google, Photomyne, or a home scanner. Record interviews with older relatives using Zoom, your phone, or voice memo apps.

2. Back up in multiple places

Save files to an external hard drive stored in a waterproof/fireproof safe (or off-site). Upload to cloud platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, or Amazon Photos. Use ancestry platforms: Ancestry.com for building connected family trees. You can even insert documents, pictures on your tree for posterity;

MyHeritage for Jewish genealogy and photo enhancements; JewishGen.org for sharing your family’s records with the broader Jewish community

3. Involve the Family

Designate a “family archivist.” Invite your children or grandchildren to help identify faces, organize files, and pass on the stories. It becomes an act of love—and a mitzvah.

What to take if you’re evacuating: The family “Go Bag”

In a real evacuation, don’t try to carry it all. But these items are worth preparing in advance:

• A USB drive with your digitized family archive

• A printed family tree or timeline

• Key original or certified documents (ID, insurance, passports, medical summaries) in a waterproof folder

• A few irreplaceable mementos: one wedding photo, a child’s drawing, a letter from a grandparent — small things with big meaning

Don’t overburden yourself. But don’t underestimate the comfort of holding onto part of your family’s legacy in a time of upheaval.

For synagogues and Jewish institutions

Encourage your synagogue, day school, or cultural center to:

• Digitize plaques, member directories, and school records

• Photograph ritual objects and historical items

• Keep secure backups of their archives

A final word

In Jewish life, memory is sacred. “Zachor”—remember—is more than a word. It’s a responsibility. Our histories deserve protection as much as our homes do. This hurricane season, prepare not just for the wind and water, but for the stories we want to last long after the storm has passed.

Gloria Green is a Family historian and community volunteer in Winter Garden, Florida.