2005 - 09-01-05

I'll talk about the problems being experienced
by the people in the hardest hit Gulf states (Louisiana, Mississippi
and Alabama) in a moment. But first, I'd like to tell you a
little bit about what this "nothing to worry about"
hurricane did to Miami.

As of yesterday, there were still 70,000 people
living here without electrical power. The estimated hurricane
damage to the Miami area is 100 million dollars. And
we are the people who got off "easy".

Just as a personal note, I didn't fly back from
Baltimore until Monday and Miami was, I would guess 85% back
to normal then.

Anyway, some of my well meaning, good hearted
friends in marketing are organizing various hurricane relief
efforts. I, myself, am not. At least, not yet.

Back when Hurricane Andrew demolished the southern
tip of Florida in August, 1992, the devastation was unbelievable.
Homestead and Florida City (hardest hit areas just south of
Miami) were completed ravaged by Andrew. Hurricane Andrew virtually
flattened that region. A couple of days after Andrew went through,
I hired a pilot in a single engine airplane to fly me over these
areas. I hung out of the airplane with a friend hanging onto
my legs so I wouldn't fall to earth, and I took hundreds of
photos with my trusty Leica M6 camera.

Those photos were used by the government to help
document the extent of the hurricane damage. They were also
shown on television while I was being interviewed describing
the damage. The most dramatic of the photos appeared in the
newspaper, "The Key West Citizen" and they eventually
hung for weeks in a Key West art gallery.