A new bill is moving through the Florida House that could help communities when future natural disasters strike.
The bill comes in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, which had an estimated impact of $100 billion total. With slow-moving progress toward repair following these storms, policies like this one are making headway for the sake of communities.
According to the Florida Senate, House Bill 1535 would revise provisions related to tenants' rights, elections held after emergencies, emergency management plans, and more.
Fox 13 News Tampa Bay spoke to the president of the Shore Acres Civic Association in Florida, Kevin Batdorf, who has been relaying to legislators the needs of locals in the event of future storms.
Batdorf's aim is to establish offices for the specific purpose of natural disasters so "that you don't wait seven months to get a permit, that you don't wait 90 days to have your trash picked up off of the street," he told Fox 13 News.
The bill also has specifications for individual safety. Construction equipment incidents, such as a crane falling on an office building during Hurricane Milton, could be prevented by requiring that "24 hours before anticipated hurricane impacts, all hoisting equipment would have to be secured to comply with manufacturer recommendations," per WUSF.
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While weather events are inevitable, their severity can potentially be mitigated by reducing our impact on the environment. For example, we can give up gas-powered cars, which contribute to rising air and water temperatures, and drive electric vehicles instead, or invest in clean energy, such as solar panels.
As a bill similar to House Bill 1535 recently passed the Senate, the future looks bright for natural disaster preparedness.
"My hope is that, God forbid, another storm does come our way, that it's managed better," Batdorf told Fox 13 News.
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