All Eyes on Rick Scott

J ust before Hurricane Irma struck the coast of Florida Governor Rick Scott convened one last press briefing to issue instructions to residents. After issuing stern warnings he ended with encouragement promising Florida’s residents that no matter what Irma would bring “We will get through this together.”

Irma left behind extensive damage to life and property. The devastating storm also marked Rick Scott as a successful leader.

It’s hard to count how many lifesaving activities can be credited to him. Five days before the storm Scott began urging residents to prepare for evacuation. He made sure there was fuel at gas stations until the last minute going so far as to provide police escorts for gas tankers and promise police protection for station fillers who remained at work until the storm got too close. If that wasn’t enough police patrol cars went from house to house calling on residents to evacuate. Anyone who had trouble reaching a shelter on their own was given a free shuttle service from their home. In the interim he sought volunteer nurses to sit out the storm with special-needs residents and even looked for shelters who would agree to accept residents with their pets.

The governor’s promise that the shelters would not refuse a single evacuee encouraged tens of thousands to seek safety in addition to the millions of others who left the state. A curfew was put into effect only to make sure that there would be no needless risk to life.