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

By

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...