SPOTLIGHT
Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 26 in Florida’s Big Bend region, bringing catastrophic storm surge and high winds across the state. It came ashore with 140 mph winds in Taylor County, near the towns of Perry and Steinhatchee, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was the first known Category 4 storm to hit the Big Bend region since recordkeeping began in 1851.
Helene shoved a wall of water estimated at least 10 feet high into the coastal fishing village of Steinhatchee, leaving behind a wasteland of mud and debris. Photos and video from the scene showed destroyed homes and businesses as well as flooded cars, downed utility poles, damaged docks and overturned boats.
One of the largest storms in the Gulf of Mexico in the past century, Helene also caused widespread damage and power outages along Florida’s Gulf Coast, including the Tampa Bay region. It left millions in the state without power. FEMA said residents of 17 Florida counties could be eligible for federal disaster assistance.
After making landfall, Helene then cut a swath of destruction across the southeastern U.S. and was blamed for more than 200 deaths in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia and Tennessee. The mountains of western North Carolina in particular took the brunt of devastating rains and flooding. Helene was one of the costliest storms in American history.
MANUFACTURING
- Paradigm Parachute & Defense, a rapidly growing, disabled-veteran-owned small business based in Pensacola, is expanding its manufacturing operations thanks to an Industry Resilience and Diversification Fund grant. The IRDF grant funds come from a $30-million fund created by the Florida Legislature. The actual grant to Paradigm is being administered by the University of West Florida and is the second IRDF grant awarded to Paradigm. Launched in 2019 with eight employees, the company has expanded its manufacturing operations to several larger locations and now employs more than 150 workers.
AVIATION/TRANSPORTATION
North American Aerospace Industries has terminated plans to build a huge aircraft teardown and recycling plant at Tallahassee International Airport. City officials say the North Carolina-based company, which announced its plans in 2022, could not secure the necessary financing to move forward with the project, which was expected to create nearly 1,000 permanent jobs. The $110-million project was to include construction of three large hangars on 57 acres of airport property and provide the airport with some $30 million in new revenue.
DEVELOPMENT
- Escambia County has given tentative approval to a large condominium project dubbed Royal Beach at Perdido. Plans call for the construction of a multifamily, 10-story condominium along with eight single-family residential units on a 0.78-acre site on Perdido Key Drive that has been vacant since a former condo on that site was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The city of Tallahassee has ended its relationship with the developer of the long-delayed Washington Square development. The decision was made after the developer, Ken McDermott, recently filed new plans with the city in an attempt to resurrect the once-promising 19-story, highrise redevelopment project that was to include a Loews Hotel. The downtown site has been a target of constant criticism from city officials. McDermott has been fined some $300,000 for infractions ranging from environmental violations to expired permits.
IN MEMORIAM
“The main thing is you have to be honest. You have to be truthful, in what you do, in what you say, and how you act.”
— Pensacola native and prominent attorney Patrick Emmanuel, who died in July at the age of 104, offered this advice in a 2020 interview with the Florida Bar. Emmanuel was the co-founder of Emmanuel Sheppard and Condon, one of Pensacola’s largest law firms, and served as president of the Florida Bar in the mid 1980s. During World War II, he was a member of a tank battalion that saw intense action in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest near the German-Belgian border and later during the famous Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded the Bronze Star and at age 24 was promoted to the battle rank of major.