Aug
2
Written by:
Elizabeth Roberts
8/2/2010 7:41 AM
As the busiest months of hurricane season approach, I have been thinking
ahead to make sure we're prepared if a big storm hits our state. Last week I had the opportunity to meet with business leaders and state
officials from Louisiana and Mississippi at the annual National
Lieutenant Governors Association meeting in Biloxi. That area has still
not fully recovered from Hurricane Katrina and is now suffering from the
impact of the BP oil spill. The governor of Mississippi, the Lt.
Governor of Louisiana, the head of the Mississippi power company and
other business leaders shared their experiences and the very real
lessons they learned during these two disasters. My fact-finding tour
of the Gulf Coast also included a site visit to examine the oil spill
response at Deer Island. The captain of our boat shared his struggles
in bringing his business back after Katrina and the difficulty he is now
facing trying to keep working through the oil spill. As a small
businessman he had some of the same experiences that many RI businesses
struggled to work through after this spring's flooding.
Coping with natural disasters is fresh in our minds in Rhode Island.
Many of our neighbors are still out of work because of the floods. The
meeting in Biloxi reminds me that the lessons learned from these events
can serve us in ways to make certain every Rhode Island business
affected by a future disaster is supported and every job in our state is
protected.
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