With one storm just passed and a bigger one looming at sea, Floridians know the potential for hurricanes to upend life. Now the Florida House has set up a special committee to deal exclusively with hurricane relief and resilience, and a local lawmaker will head up the effort.

State Rep. Michael Grant, R-Port Charlotte, will chair the Select Committee on Hurricane Resiliency and Recovery, which was announced on Friday. A total of 15 state representatives will serve on the panel, all from different parts of the state that have been impacted by hurricanes (which is everywhere in Florida if you go back not so far in time).

Grant knows more than anyone would want to about the impacts of hurricanes on a community. He first won election to the House back in 2004, months after Hurricane Charley savaged his Charlotte County district. And there have been plenty of other educational opportunities.

Redistricting last year changed his district to include portions of south Sarasota County, so he dealt with many of the impacts all along the coast when Hurricane Ian struck last year. More recently, Hurricane Idalia, while making landfall in the Big Bend area, delivered storm surge well south, including in the region.

The new panel is a Select Committee, meaning it will only be empowered to meet through the end of 2024. But history has shown these temporary bodies often make up with urgency whatever they lack in permanence. As it happens Grant serves this year as House Majority Leader, allowing his a greater level of influence with colleagues than most committee heads enjoy.

It's important Sarasota people make their own concerns about resiliency and relief known to Grant. While he represents part of Sarasota County, he still calls Charlotte home. He’s the only representative on the panel who represents the Sarasota-Bradenton area, whereas all (both) of Charlotte County’s representatives have a seat. But Grant has the gavel.

While Sarasota has had its share of scares and its pain with rain, one might not be blamed for feeling a little complacent here. The way Tampa Bay residents have started to take a little too much comfort in myths about burial mounds, Sarasota and Manatee residents may have too much faith in wind patterns and reef protections. But sooner or later, a powerful Gulf Coast hurricane will land in the community and do serious damage.

This committee has plenty of immediate concerns to address. Bridges took damage in Cedar Key and communities like Horseshoe Beach will feel the devastation of Idalia for decades. 

But it’s also key the resiliency side be addressed. Florida need to be prepared for increasingly intense weather, and that means bracing everywhere from Sarasota Bay, the Braden River and Tampa Bay for rising waters and powerful winds.

It’s likely nothing can be done to completely nullify the impacts of a major hurricane, but the region can be prepared to bounce back and deal with disaster. This select committee, dealing in one of the last vestiges of bipartisan governance, has the opportunity to make a difference.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor of SRQ MEDIA. 

Photo courtesy NOAA: Hurricanes Idalia and Franklin.

As we rebuild New College from the ground up, figuratively and literally, we are mindful of how our school can foster a sense of community. This mission is core to our belief that endeavoring to promote high character, true collaboration and healthy competition builds genuinely exceptional people who are prepared to enter the world at large in a meaningful and impactful way.

Sports is a critical component of this mission. 

As a father of six children who have found deep joy and purpose in their athletic experiences, I can attest firsthand to the value of their involvement with sports. Characteristics like grit and determination are essential components of what makes a person resilient, and these are attributes that we must encourage in our culture and student body at New College. By nature, scholar-athletes are hardworking problem solvers who adapt to challenges. Indeed, many of them actively seek to be challenged, which is what led more than 155 scholar-athletes to join our record Fall 2023 incoming class.

When New College’s athletic program grows to its fully matured size, we anticipate scholar-athletes will make up approximately 25-30% of the overall student body. This is in line with many other elite liberal arts institutions. Williams, Bates, and Bowdoin all have athlete populations that make up 36% of their respective student bodies. Several others exceed 30%, and even Dartmouth and Princeton are above 20%. Even liberal arts schools that share our no-letters system of grading, like Evergreen State College in Washington for example, field sports teams to compete in the NAIA.

At New College, adding athletics is about including a new kind of student to our rigorous academic and intellectually stimulating community: Scholar-athletes who will add vibrancy to our campus culture. Many of the challenges and lessons associated with competitive sports have parallels to the fundamental tenets of classical liberal arts.

Athletes develop physically and mentally while strengthening traits like teamwork, camaraderie, and adaptability. All our graduates should leave New College with an unconstrained ability to manage success and failure. Our scholar-athletes will learn these lessons from their coaches on the field and their professors in the classroom and from the intangible experience born from fierce competition.

Make no mistake: Our academic rigor and track record will always be paramount at New College. From our recognition as one of the top public liberal arts colleges in America and our history of producing Fulbright scholars, we know what makes us great. However, this does not mean that we are satisfied, nor will we be complacent in our pursuit of excellence.

While our identity continues to evolve, we remain focused on providing our students access to the most well-rounded college experience possible. Athletics has a permanent role in the mission. 

Go Mighty Banyans.

Richard Corcoran is interim president of New College of Florida. 

Photo courtesy of New College of Florida.