Identifying Local Opportunities - 5A
1.
Airlines were accused of
price gouging before Irma. Some are capping fares before Maria
Florida Senator, Bill
Nelson, reached out to 10 major airlines in hopes that they will lower and cap
their airfares for people that will be affected by Hurricane Maria which is now
recorded as a Category 5. Airlines before Hurricane Irma increased their prices
for airfare to thousands of dollars due to the large demand for flights out of
Florida. They were later capped at just $99 after many people complained. American
Airlines and United Airlines plan to cap prices through Sunday for cities in
the Caribbean that will be impacted also sending larger aircrafts with more
seats to these Caribbean islands.
The problem in this story
is that many airlines price gouge their airfare in the wake of natural
disasters knowing that residents will buy tickets to evacuate. This is
completely unethical and unreasonable.
Those affected by price
gouging are the residents in the Caribbean islands that are expecting a cat. 5
hurricane this week. They won’t be able to afford the ridiculous prices
airlines have raised their prices to. Many Caribbean residents are lower class
people living in rural areas with no money.
2.
Public schools face
obstacles as they reopen
Broward County Public
Schools reopened on Monday for the first time since Hurricane Irma. BCPS was
able to restore power to all its schools. Miami Dade County Public Schools on
the other hand still has a handful of schools lacking power or light throughout
the school or in certain parts on campus.
The problem in this story
is that schools are expecting students to report to class even though schools
and homes in Miami Dade still don’t have power, light, A/C, cable or internet.
Those affected by this
problem are the students mainly. They not only have to report to school but are
expected to complete any online assignments or stay on campus despite the lack
of power. Also, teachers are affected by this problem because of the delay with
classes, trying to catch up with their curriculum and make sure they stay on
task.
3.
Flood insurance claims from
Irma could top $11 billion from Harvey, FEMA official says
Residents of Florida are filing flood insurance
claims after Hurricane Irma. Claims are capped at $250,000 for structural
damages and $100,000 for personal contents. Those who are not covered with
Flood insurance may qualify for FEMA funds. Claims in Florida can exceed $11
billion.
The problem in this story is that many residents
in Florida experienced flooding in their homes after the hurricane. This
flooding caused damage to their homes and personal property. Now they wait as
they file claims.
Those affected by this problem are people mainly
living in the Miami-Dade, Broward, Lee, Duval, and Collier counties. People
without flood insurance will not be able to receive as much funds for property
damage thus having to face these financial burdens on their own.
4.
Will the arriving King Tide
flood Miami streets again?
The King Tide is not due to
any storms but due to the Earth, Moon and Sun aligning. This will cause extreme
high tides in South Florida over the next couple of days. Before the city could
raise the street levels and start the pump installation, streets near the
Venetian Causeway experienced flooding.
The problem in this article
is the fact that South Florida will be experiencing more flooding after the
Hurricane Irma. Flooding can cause many issues for businesses and for public
transportation.
This affects boat owners
and residents of Miami. The rising tide causes the water to be higher so boat
owners must be careful while clearing bridges. Also, residents of Miami must be
careful with their safety as the rising water levels brings muck onto the
streets. We have to be careful during the rising tide if we are by the coast.
5.
Two more lawsuits say
Hollywood nursing home and FPL share responsibility for deaths
3 days following Hurricane
Irma, 2 residents of a Hollywood, FL nursing home passed away due to extreme
temperature spikes caused by no power in the facility. The families of the
victims have filed lawsuits against the Hollywood Hills nursing home as well as
Florida Power & Light.
The problem found in this
article lies with the nursing home for not evacuating the residents immediately
after the power outage and also with FPL for not making the nursing home a
priority to restore power.
The affected people in this
story are the 2 victims, Manuel Mendieta and Carolyn Eatherly, as well as their
families. Also, the other residents that survived the extreme heat and the
overall traumatizing experience.
Your first point about the airlines price gauging really struck a cord with me. In the face of a huge natural disaster, how can these large corporations only think about increasing their profits? That is a perfect example of the corporate greed that is evident in our society today. Those who are worried for their personal safety shouldn't have to pay an inflated price to escape to safety. With traffic clogging up the highways, air travel must be utilized to evacuate residents of South Florida as a hurricane nears the coast. Hopefully there will be more regulation on airline prices in the face of natural disasters in the future.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the problem with the airlines, it seems to be unfair especially after the senator said to cap the prices; however, the price of the tickets are related to the demand. As the demand for a certain object or service increases the price tends to go up. This problem was also seen with the gas. As soon as hurricane Irma hit the news the demand and need to get more gas increased, causing prices for gas to increase since people were going to pay for it anyways.
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