Florida’s Hurricanes, Trump’s Trials & Wall Street South – Top 3 Takeaways – August 29th, 2023
- Florida’s hurricane geography. It’s been exactly 11 months since Hurricane Ian made landfall as a devastating category five hurricane along Florida’s gulf coast. 11 months later another major hurricane, Idalia, is poised to do the same about 250 miles further to the north. Projected to be a category 3 hurricane at landfall, it’s likely to become the 15th major hurricane to make landfall in Northwest Florida since the advent of hurricane tracking in 1851. Historically 41% of all hurricanes which have made landfall in the Unites States have had a landfall in Florida and nowhere more so than in the Panhandle. A total of 35% of hurricanes which have made Florida landfalls since 1851 have made landfall in Florida’s panhandle. When it comes to hurricanes, clearly not all locations in Florida are equal. In fact, there's a significant and still growing disparity between Florida’s east coast and west coast when it comes to activity. A total of 192 hurricanes have made landfall in Florida over the prior 171 years. Of those 61% have happened somewhere along the west coast of Florida, making Florida’s east coast 22% less likely to have the landfall of a hurricane. A total that’s even more dramatic when only major hurricanes are considered. 49 major hurricanes have made landfall in Florida since the advent of official hurricane tracking. Of those, 65% have happened on Florida’s gulf coast – making the east coast of Florida 30% less likely to experience the impact of a category three hurricane or above. The last time Florida experienced back-to-back years with major hurricane landfalls – the 2017 and 2018 hurricane seasons when Irma and Michael wreaked havoc. And as luck, or science, would have it – despite Irma bringing hurricane force conditions to parts of southeast Florida, those were both landfalls along Florida’s gulf coast as well. In Florida geography matters when it comes to where hurricanes tend to strike. Though southeast Florida may appear to be the most susceptible as we stick out into the Atlantic... History, recent and past, continues to show just how much more susceptible those on Florida’s gulf coast are to the impact of hurricanes of all sizes.
- One day, two developments, three cases, four key dates. As the Trump indictment season winds down, the Trump arraignment and trial season is heating up. Yesterday there were developments in the two most recent cases brought against our former and perhaps future president. First was the news that the arraignment of Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants would take place in Atlanta September 6th in the RICO case brought by the Fulton County DA. The same DA who’s seeking a late October start to the trial. It was just a couple of hours later that the second federal case brought by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, the case related to Trump’s alleged role in the January 6th, 2021, related events seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election was given a start date. Jack Smith sought an early January start for the trial. Trump’s legal team sought an April 2026 start to the trial. The compromise, decided on by the D.C. judge overseeing the case... Monday March 4th next year. One day before Super Tuesday in the Republican presidential primary process. Coincidence? Seems unlikely. Quoting the judge... Mr. Trump will have to make the trial date work, regardless of his schedule. And speaking of making it work, there was already a trial date scheduled to start March 24th of next year in the New York Stormy Daniels hush money case. Trump’s supporters and the former president himself will no doubt be glad to know that the D.C. judge said she’ll consult with the judge in the New York state case to work out any scheduling conflicts. She did not say that that the state judge and New York DA would have to make it work, regardless of their schedules. She reserved that one for Trump. And lest one forget there's already the May 14th trial date in Ft. Pierce scheduled for the classified documents case. Never before have we seen our nation’s legal system act so swiftly across so many different cases to bring them all to trial. There must really be a strong resolve for justice to be served, more than we ever see in other federal and state cases. Or there really is an effort to interfere in the election process. I’ll report, you decide.
- PBC in NYC. For years South Florida, and Palm Beach County specifically, has been successful in luring businesses away from Manhattan and to Wall Street South. So much so that New York based media outlets like Bloomberg and the New York Post, have declared that the Palm Beaches have in fact become Wall Street South. While it’s now more than a marketing slogan, Wall Street South, remains nevertheless a marketing slogan, and it’s one the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County has taken directly to Times Square. PBC’s Business Development Board has taken out one day digital billboards in Times Square with artistic overhead renderings of the coastline which read: Wall Street South – Head to Palm Beach, Florida and Wall Street South – Your Future is Bright. And the biggest phase of this campaign is yet to come. This New Year’s Eve those messages will be shown once again on those digital billboards in Times Square. As I said two years ago, Blackstone Group, Citadel Advisors, Elliott Capital Management, Goldman Sachs, Ichan Enterprises, Moelis, Virtu Financial. A Wall Street’s who’s who of firms. The elite of the elite. And all of which are now part of South Florida’s story. Wall Street South’s Time Has Come. And these days the Business Development Board is literally taking the message to the streets of New York City for the world to see...and for the purpose of relocating.