Here’s another sobering perspective on this whole aid situation w/getting the whole county to 100% — let’s talk about…South Park.
When parts of the town were gentrified, there was a lot of construction and renovation in the desired areas. All else was left to fall apart. Those areas were where the South Park local community lived, especially the Marshes, Cartmans, McCormicks to name some families. The new, upgraded areas were given priority while the older, lower income areas were either low priority or outright neglected.
I’m glad to see our city recover quickly. However, let’s be honest about where the immediate recovery has happened first. The areas with higher income, tourism and commerce. The rest of the city, though coming together, got the lag.
Let’s also look at another perspective — geography and vulnerability. 103 years, Tampa felt exempt to even 50% a Hurricane hit. Then Helene came by and shook it up like a warning shot. Pinellas County isn’t a surprise when it comes to it but it’s Hillsborough, actual Tampa, that had been extremely lucky. Milton wasn’t a direct hit but it did topple 3/4 of our power grid. Imagine if it did arrive at its full power and gave us a direct hit. We’d have a very different conversation.
Tampa was the most vulnerable to get whacked as far as preparation to mitigate hurricane damage. That’s what people said. Milton just exposed that weakness. This is similar to a fighter who always escapes defeat. Or worse, they always win. They know they are the most vulnerable to a vicious knockout punch or submission because of their approach to combat. Then they finally got rocked by some dude. Instead of being in the ER on life support, they’re just there for a surgery. The surgery is taking less time than expected.
I wasn’t affected in the manner 75% of the city was. However, setting foot outside my townhouse complex to go to work gave me an immense dose of reality. It was like living in an isolated, well-built castle. Stepping out felt like entering a dark land of shadow. Things outside looked grim. It made me feel incredibly grateful about how well I had it. The majority of others weren’t as fortunate.
