When Civility Reigns, Even in a Storm

The following guest column by Gulf Coast President|CEO Mark Pritchett appeared in the September 16 edition of SRQ Daily:

Hurricane Irma spared us the destruction whose landfall seemed frighteningly likely before it crossed the Florida Keys into Collier County. Yet damage did occur here, and clean-up and recovery continue across our communities. Nearly a week since this unprecedented storm swept past our region, there remains much to do, to assess, and even to appreciate.

If anything has come into sharp focus for me in the past few days, it is how we pulled together as a community, with neighbors helping neighbors before and during the storm. There were many acts of generosity, as neighborhoods formed storm-shutter brigades, restaurants fed first responders, and shoppers stepped aside to let another in greater need grab that last generator or case of water. Thank you for these acts of compassion.

In spite of such unselfish kindness, many residents right here did suffer and will be slow to recover. The worst is yet to come for thousands of families who were in financial distress before the storm hit. The farther you go into our neighborhoods, the more downed trees and damaged homes you find. And in our region’s service-reliant economy, families that already teetered on the financial edge will be buffeted by economic wind-bands from this storm long after it has fallen off the weather radar.

Read the rest of Mark's column in SRQ Daily...