See it: Florida memorial bench swept away during Hurricane Helene found over 1,000 miles away in Bermuda
A Florida family thought their father’s memorial bench, swept away during Hurricane Helene, was lost forever — until they received a Facebook message from a woman in Bermuda.
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THE TAKEAWAY
- A memorial bench honoring a Florida woman’s late father was swept away during Hurricane Helene in 2024.
- Nearly two years later, the bench was discovered on a beach over 1,000 miles away.
- The family is trying to determine whether they can bring the bench back to Dunedin or leave it in Bermuda.
TAMPA, Florida – A memorial bench dedicated to a Florida father was thought to be lost forever after Hurricane Helene battered Florida’s Gulf Coast in 2024 — until it resurfaced on a beach in Bermuda nearly two years later.
Amanda Sadiku’s father, Medhat "Mike" Sadiku, passed away September 3, 2012, and in 2018, a memorial bench dedicated to her late father was installed on the Dunedin Causeway on the waterfront of Florida's Gulf Coast.
A memorial bench swept away from Florida’s Gulf Coast during Hurricane Helene has resurfaced on a Bermuda beach nearly two years later.
(Amanda Sadiku)
Hurricane Helene’s devastating impacts in North Carolina dominated headlines two years ago, but the storm first made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast, battering the Tampa area with powerful surf, damaging winds, heavy rain and storm surge — and sweeping the deeply sentimental memorial bench into the Gulf.
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The loss was not limited to the Sadiku family’s memorial bench. Several other benches were also swept away by the storm, with the city of Dunedin pausing its memorial bench program in October 2024 just after the storm's impact.
The Sadiku family thought the bench was lost forever until, around two years after Hurricane Helene, Amanda received a Facebook message from a woman who said she had found it on a beach in Bermuda.
A woman in Bermuda contacted the Sadiku Family after the bench washed up on the beach in Bermuda.
(Amanda Sadiku)
The woman sent Amanda photos of the bench — including one of herself standing beside it in Warwick Parish.
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Now, the family is trying to determine whether they can bring the bench back to Dunedin or leave it in Bermuda, where its unexpected journey has given the once-lost memorial a new chapter.
A boat which was pushed ashore by Hurricane Helene sits on dry ground in Keaton Beach, Florida, on September 27, 2024.
(MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP / Getty Images)