House Speaker Richard Corcoran has taken the first step to improve Florida’s hurricane readiness, and it sounds like a good one. He is convening the bipartisan Select Committee on Hurricane Response and Preparedness to study what steps the state should take to prepare in the future for mega-storms like Hurricane Irma. Excellent idea.
House Speaker Richard Corcoran later today will announce the creation of a special panel to consider the state’s readiness to deal with monster hurricanes like Irma. And that will likely mean setting aside “business as usual,” the speaker said, meaning that filing local projects will be frowned upon – at least officially – during the 2018 Legislative Session.
Florida native and country music artist Jake Owen is helping relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Irma, Gov. Rick Scott announced Monday. “Jake reached out to the governor to find out the best way to help people in his home state who have been affected by Hurricane Irma,” according to a press release.
Dealing with wrecked belongings and reports of toxic muck, residents of a tiny town where Florida’s Everglades meet the Gulf of Mexico cleared their homes Monday in scorching 92 F (33 C) heat with no air conditioning and no electricity except from a few generators.
As the Florida Keys began reopening after Hurricane Irma, returning residents were warned they had to be self-sufficient and had to figure out how to take care of their own needs, fending for themselves without food, water, power or other essential necessities. Enter Farm Share.
Florida’s agriculture commissioner said Monday that the path of Hurricane Irma “could not have been more lethal” to the state’s farmers and that the scope of damage to the state’s fruits and vegetables is unprecedented.
State regulators have received notice of more than 335,000 insurance claims since Hurricane Irma hit Florida, mostly concentrated in Central and South Florida, with losses nearing $2 billion. The bottom line as of 4 p.m. Sunday was 335,347 claims, according to the Office of Insurance Regulation. Total estimated insurance losses were $1,954,947,889.