Dear Citizens,
Well, our community was recently enjoying a prosperous fall shoulder season when we were interrupted by an event called Hurricane Michael! We went from hosting a large number of out-of-town Fall Break visitors to preparation for impact of a major hurricane that had us in its sights. As usual, anxiety was high and people spent days preparing to batten down the hatches. Many of our folks even evacuated. But, fortunately for Destin, the path moved east and spared our city.
We did experience some tropical force storm winds, but Destin by and large came out of the storm virtually damage free. So, in a short 72 hours we managed storm preparations, rode out some high winds, and did damage assessment citywide, all to quickly realize how very fortunate we were. When the coast was clear, I am proud to say that our community quickly looked to the east and shifted into relief mode when we saw the devastation and dire need for assistance and supplies. The outpouring of concern for others, folks offering to provide labor, the call for and donation of supplies, transportation and food, and the sweat, blood and tears was nothing short of spectacular.
It is abundantly clear that our community dodged a major bullet. We’ve all seen the videos and news reports and realize it could have been us. However, instead of dwelling on our good fortune our community went to work thinking about others. There are so many people and businesses here in Destin who helped that I can’t begin to name names because I will miss hundreds more that made great contributions to the relief effort.
The Destin community has a lot to be proud of, showing its compassionate heart and willingness to help others in need. I hope we retain the lessons we have recently learned about the power and strength of a community that works together as we move into the tail end of this year and the beginning of 2019. I hope we can use this sense of community to propel our city in the spirit of cooperation, always taking into consideration our neighbors, the business community and city government. It is important that we focus on how to make Destin not only the “World’s Luckiest Fishing Village,” but also the best place in the world to live, work and play.
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with our friends to the east. I encourage everyone who is able to contribute to the relief effort to the best of their abilities.
Sincerely,
Gary Jarvis
Mayor, City of Destin
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