Janine Zeitlin

Sep 26, 2024 | uuworld.org | Janine Zeitlin

Marge Gonzalez returned to a home full of muck, a muddy imprint of Hurricane Ian’s catastrophic storm surge. She grabbed a mop. We’ll just get this floor cleaned up, she thought. It was fall 2022, a handful of days after the Category 4-plus storm about twenty miles from her Cape Coral, Florida, home. Ian had rapidly intensified in the Gulf of Mexico’s warm water and devastated Cape Coral and the rest of coastal Lee County, where the storm surge rose up to fifteen feet and .

Feb 17, 2024 | wusf.org | Janine Zeitlin

A century ago, Florida's Sanibel Island was a rugged tropical outpost. Few were hearty enough to brave the heat, the isolation and mosquito swarms. Yet a husband and wife saw potential in the salty soil. “Isiah and Hannah Gavin came to Sanibel around 1917,” said Kenneth Gavin, one of their grandchildren. “At that time, Sanibel was known for farming tomatoes and collard greens and beans and potatoes. And then, of course, you had the hurricanes that destroyed Sanibel for farming.

Dec 25, 2023 | wusf.org | Janine Zeitlin

The Gavins grew up on Sanibel Island and are now in their early 80s. Their grandparents were among the first Black families to settle on Sanibel. Kenneth Gavin described how their grandparents chose the island. "Isaiah and Hannah Gavin came here to Sanibel around 1917. At that time, Sanibel was known for farming tomatoes and collard greens and beans and potatoes and things like that," he said. "And then, of course, you had the hurricanes that destroyed Sanibel for farming.

Dec 16, 2023 | wusf.org | Janine Zeitlin

After years of delays and debates, the Margaritaville Beach Resort in Fort Myers Beach opened last week with a promise of driving economic recovery in a town still hurting from the devastation of Hurricane Ian. The 254-room resort with a coastal cool vibe inspired by the late Jimmy Buffett opened for stays Monday after a locals-only weekend. “There was a lot of controversy about it, but the island is so stressed right now that I think Margaritaville might be the savior of the island.

Nov 3, 2023 | wlrn.org | Janine Zeitlin

Sea turtle nesting season ended in October and it was a record season for loggerhead sea turtleson Sanibel and Captiva Islands. The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation counted more than a thousand loggerhead nests on the islands. SCCF analyzed data and found that Sanibel is averaging about five times more loggerhead nests compared to the 1970s and ‘80s. “These trends could be a result of successful initial conservation efforts,” said Savannah Weber, a sea turtle biologist for the foundation.