LEHMAN, Pa. — Video was taken on Lori Klusmier's iPad from inside her Sanibel Island home during Hurricane Ian at the end of September.
"It was everything, stuff banging. Not knowing what coming next. Knowing it was real bad," said Lori about what she remembers the most about the ordeal. "But you know what, I didn't even think about death. I never said to myself we're gonna die, not through this whole thing."
Lori and her husband Larry are from Shickshinny and moved to the island in December. The couple tried to get a hotel room five days before the storm, but it wasn't an option.
"We live on an island; we're prepared. I love living on an island," said Lori.
Through the course of it all, Lori kept a video journal on her iPad.
"I was just telling myself, looking into this thing like I was talking to someone and playing it back, just because it was helping me," explained Lori, detailing things she found.
"It was like a war zone. There were no birds," described Lori.
And there were moments of hope, like encountering a rescue crew and helicopter.
Lori and her husband are just getting back into a routine while staying at her son's house in Lehman Township.
On Monday, they were able to purchase a new car.
The message this disaster has left her with?
"Live with less," she said. "I said, Larry, we can't focus on the bad things here. Nature just rid us of a lot of baggage we were carrying, and now we can focus on a new adventure."
Larry says the causeway should be rebuilt by the end of this week. That's when they'll travel down there to see what they can salvage from their home.
"It's actually gonna be the gulf will not have changed, the sea life will not have changed. everything is shaken and turned upside down, but it's resilient, just like we are," said Lori.
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