FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — As the water from Hurricane Ian’s storm surge rose, Joseph Salvaggio climbed into his attic and huddled with his two cats. They stayed there for 20 hours, Mittens and Zoey keeping their owner warm as he waited for someone to rescue them.

“We were trapped in the attic with no place to go,” Salvaggio, 83, said. “They laid there very quietly. They were very, very good.”