Hurricane Dorian’s winds demolished many waterfront homes in the Bahamas
At the beginning of this newsletter, we highlighted a Florida-based relief effort helping the Bahamian people devastated by Hurricane Dorian and its super Category-5 185 mph winds that didn’t subside for nearly 24 hours. As we close, the current death toll across the Bahamas is 52. This number is expected to rise, however, with 1,300 individuals still unaccounted for three weeks later.
The outpouring of help from people and organizations across the state of Florida has been a beam of hope in the dark. Gathering what they can, given that they were spared by the storm, Floridians of all ages have held fundraisers and donated an unprecedented amount of resources to the Bahamas in the wake of this disaster. Everything from typical canned goods to gas powered generators to home-cooked meals, helping hands have come together in order to help our Caribbean neighbors in any way possible. The state of Florida, with the help of FP&L, sent more than a half-million bottles of water – 19 truckloads in all, including 10 truckloads that had been stockpiled by the state for the ongoing hurricane season. The biggest task now though is rebuilding homes for those residents who want to stay.
A house in the Bahamas with serious damage from Hurricane Dorian
While it’s not quite clear how long it will take the Bahamian people to recover, there’s some comfort in knowing that people have come together in support of one another amid the sometimes nonsense in our everyday lives. In fact, the other day I was reading about a lawsuit that put this in context.
Chicago-based chocolatiers at Fannie May are fighting a legal battle in the 7th Circuit Court; they’re being sued for purportedly misleading customers over the size of the packaging and the actual amount of candy that is contained within that packaging. Although the piece count and weight of the chocolates is listed clearly on the packaging, the “slack fill”, or amount of nonfunctional empty box space, is apparently excessive therefore deceiving to customers expecting to get a box of chocolates filled to the brim.
Why the courts even bothered to hear this silly case is beyond me, but most would agree that our time, energy, and resources are better utilized when helping others in need rather than whining over your own inability to read the labels on a box. So please continue to watch coverage of the Bahamas recovery and consider lending a hand if you can spare it. We all need good neighbors.
LMA Newsletter of 9-23-19
