Let’s take a moment and mourn for the lives lost in the tragic disaster of Hurricane Ian. This year a couple of months ago on September 23 to September 30th, a category 4 hurricane which now goes by the name of Hurricane Ian struck Florida. The hurricane first made landfall nearby Caya Costa in southern Florida traveling through the Caribbean with winds that went over 150 mph it brought nothing but destruction and heavy rainfall along its path. Surrounding areas such as Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Western Cuba suffered detrimental effects because of this natural disaster. A hurricane like this hasn’t been seen since the 1935 Labor day hurricane. After what seemed like forever Hurricane Ian’s final landfall was near the city of Georgetown at around 2 pm. Even though the Hurricane has finally stopped its damage was far beyond what we could’ve imagined. Houses were torn apart, streets were flooded, and the lives lost in this event totaled at least 148 people.
Hurricane Ian is now currently the deadliest hurricane in the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The hurricane caused by the rising of sea levels and the higher temperatures in the last hundred years majorly contributed to Hurricane Ian and will continue to do so to future storms and natural disasters. You might be thinking that this hurricane just spawned out of nowhere but there is a cause for everything. Since 1950 the sea levels in Florida have risen 8 inches, what does this mean you may ask? It means that since the base level of the starting water is now at a higher level, it allows the hurricane to surge a couple of inches higher and cover more ground. The areas that suffered the most from Hurricane Ian were where it made landfall which was Caya Costa and the southern parts of Florida. There are images where boats are flipped on its side on land, houses with their roofs torn apart, and floods that cover up the whole block and avenue, it just doesn’t stop. The memorial should be erected not only as a way to honor the lives lost because of this horrific event but also to assist in the issue that the recent climate changes are affecting the locations in which we live. Is there anything we can do to prepare for natural disasters? If we knew what causes hurricanes is there something we can do to prevent things? Would the victims of these natural disasters still be alive had we prepared for something like this? These are all important questions and concerns that must be addressed and confronted by the nation by creating a monument it would give this cause some public backing. Hopefully through this monuement in the future we can prepare ahead of time so that no one will lose their lives because of these natural disasters.
A monument should be created to commemorate the lives that were lost during Hurricane Ian. The ground where the monument will be erect will be engraved to have a design similar to that of a hurricane or that of a swirl. The engraved ground will have different colored glass mostly of light blue and white with hints of yellow to make it seem like we are looking at the hurricane from above. Across from this engraved ground will be small structures made of marble that consists of 4 slides, each of these small structures will be around 8-9 feet in height, and opposite of those structures would be benches and places for people to gather around and sit down to admire the monument. The first slide will be the title “Hurricane Ian 2022 Memorial”, afterwards the three other slides will of course have the engraved names of the victims that passed away in this event. Since the first landfall of the hurricane was in Caya Costa and wrecked Pine Islands I believe that the monument should be erected there. In the Pine Islands there is a place called Pine Island Center and next to that location is a community park called Phillips Community Park. That will be our location of our monument inside of that community park. We will begin construction of the memorial once we attain the permits and finish signing all legal documents. Since this event is fairly recent this monument will definitely receive a lot of public attraction and media attention. Meaning this will definitely contribute to the United States addressing the issue of climate change and how we need to prepare for these kinds of disasters.
Memorials are a great to serve as a symbol and as an everlasting tribute to the lives that were lost in the tragic events. It is our way of honoring the decease and fallen as well as establishing a form of sympathy and compassion to those that lost their love ones and are going through some tough times. The Hurricane Ian memorial will serve as a symbol as a well as a message to the whole world. This monument will bring awareness about the effects of climate change and natural disaster precautions so that in the future no one will have to suffer any more. This monument will stand forever as a symbol that natural disasters can happen at any moment so we must do our best to prevent them from hurting our loved ones. Once the nation begins enacting changes we will feel safer living in this country.
Author: Jonathan Li
Your memorial proposal is very unique and creative. Is something like this is made, I’d definitely want to visit it.
I like your memorial proposal. It sends the message to the families that were impacted by the hurricane, and those that were survived by loved ones, that their losses haven’t gone unnoticed. The memorial also encourages the discussion of addressing the issue of climate change (as you mentioned), so these tragedies are less likely to occur in the future.