More than 5.5 million homes and businesses in Florida remained without power at midday Tuesday after Hurricane Irma plowed through the state. The top to return to homes was underway in most areas outside the storm-ravaged lower Florida Keys.
The winds have died and the mopping up has begun. Businesses are reopening as people head back to work while dealing, at least for now, with their new realities. I know people whose homes were badly damaged by this storm, while others – myself luckily included – had only minor inconveniences. No matter whether Irma dealt you a mighty blow or a glancing scratch, we’re all in this together.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is warning residents of potential fraudsters looking to make a buck off others’ misfortune.
Saying its “hearts and minds” are with Hurricane Irma survivors, Uber on Tuesday said it was “donating $400,000 (worth) of rides, food, and relief to families and communities affected, as well as (to) first responders.” The San Francisco-based ride-booking company made the announcement on its blog.
Thanks to reconnaissance by a neighbor who stayed behind, Pam Szymanksi knows Hurricane Irma blew out the living room window of her southwest Florida home, but she isn’t sure when she’ll get to see the damage for herself. “All I know is we have to check out of here tomorrow, because they’re booked,” she said Monday, sitting in the lobby of a downtown Atlanta hotel where she arrived with her mother, two children and two dogs. A hotel reservation in…
Tampa-based property insurance claim lawyer Chip Merlin was labeled “the master of disaster” in a Tampa Bay Times article last year based on his practice of representing insurance claims for natural disaster victims.
Officials in Miami Beach allowed residents to return to their homes Tuesday morning after Hurricane Irma pounded Florida with wind and rain.