Hurricane Michael devastation and the similarity to other devastated areas is shockingly apparent to me. I lived in Panama City, Florida, and raced sailboats out of the St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club. Today, we represent the yacht club, longtime friends, iconic night clubs, a church, and numerous others as they try to get their lives, businesses, and community back on a road of recovery. Why can’t our leaders learn to do this better?
I would encourage reading three excellent articles which help describe what our brothers and sisters are faced with in the Panhandle areas:
- One year later: Devastating change in a community that doesn’t change
- Collectively we’ve forgotten them’: Hurricane Michael survivors hanging on one year later
- Hurricane Michael one year later: ‘We still have a high spirit’
Next Tuesday at 11 am EST in Tallahassee, the Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee will hold a session with what I understand will be six panelists. It will be interesting because it includes me and Florida’s Insurance Commissioner, who testified not long ago that he did not know of any complaints about Hurricane Michael insurance claims, as I noted in Hurricane Michael and Irma Policyholders with Outstanding Claims Should Help Florida’s Insurance Commissioner Explaining The Mystery of Their Open Claims.
The link to watch this panel presentation is here.
I encourage those that can come to Tallahassee next week to visit the offices of our leaders who are there so they can learn about your problems. If you cannot come, you can write and call. If you need any help or information about this hearing, we will have more information about this on our Merlin Facebook page.
Thought For The Day
“This story is important because it is destined to happen again, and hopefully, others facing the same trials, can learn from Brenda’s experiences about what to expect.”
—Chip Merlin, in the foreword to, Winds Over Bolivar
