Why Southwest Florida is facing a ‘perfect storm’ and what I want to do about it

*Hurricane Ian viewed from the International Space Station on Sept. 28, 2022. (Photo: NASA)*

Sept. 27, 2026 by David Silverberg, candidate for Florida Senate District 28

Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Ian and our local media will be full of stories about the storm and its aftermath.

But while the past is important, today Florida is facing a new storm and it’s of our own making. In fact, three forces are combining to create a “perfect” storm that could devastate Southwest Florida and the state as a whole if we don’t prepare now.

The term “perfect storm” comes from meteorology and it was popularized in the 1997 book, The Perfect Storm, which was later made into a movie.

The “perfect” part of the title refers to three completely separate weather systems that came together off the coast of New England in 1991 to form one gargantuan, “perfect” storm.

Today, Southwest Florida’s “perfect” storm consists of three actions that the state government, what I call “Big Tallahassee,” doesn’t even appear to recognize.

I’m running for the Florida Senate in District 28 to avert the pending disaster caused by bad governing, bad decisions and bad judgment—and to prepare the state for future storms to come.

So what are the three actions creating Florida’s “perfect” storm?

The first action is the incredible waste of disaster funds by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier.

The governor and an extreme legislature have wasted—there’s no other word for it—incredible amounts of Florida taxpayers’ money.

The biggest waste, of course, was Alligator Alcatraz, the concentration camp in the Collier County Everglades.

These two officials just decided on their own to open and fund that project without prior public notice or consulting the legislature.

Every day new and more awful things come out about that crime against humanity. But from a fiscal standpoint, Alligator Alcatraz siphoned off over a billion dollars of state taxpayer money that was supposed to go for disaster recovery if the worst happened. It depleted our emergency funds. The state legislature is now trying to replenish the fund but that won’t be happening until it meets again next year—and the federal money that DeSantis and Uthmeier counted on to be reimbursed is unlikely to ever be received.

So, storm one: depleted state emergency funding.

The second action is federal. President Donald Trump, his enablers and the people who wrote Project 2025 are trying to destroy the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

FEMA is critical to Southwest Florida. It’s the federal agency that helped the region recover from Hurricane Ian and other hurricanes. In the past it provided aid, personnel and recovery resources that enabled clean-up and rebuilding. Before storms it was able to mobilize and stage rescue and recovery units from all over the country to prepare for the mayhem to come.

But Trump has long made FEMA a target. Initially, he wanted to abolish it. Then he wanted to cut its workforce by half. It paused its contracts and renewals for temporary workers. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem insisted that she personally approve all expenditures over $100,000, which vastly slowed down FEMA operations—before Trump fired her.

As the Natural Resources Defense Council put it earlier this year: “In a year, the Trump administration has crippled the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through indecision, layers of bureaucracy, and massive staff loss. The American public is now faced with a FEMA that is too buried in paperwork to respond, too afraid to act, and increasingly too depleted to lead. Communities reeling from catastrophes are left asking: ‘Will FEMA be there to help?’ And increasingly, the answer is ‘no.’”

So, storm two: Absent or missing FEMA.

The third action is Florida’s war on its workforce. If a disaster happens, there will no longer be workers to clean up the mess that a disaster brings.

The federal government, through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directorate of the Department of Homeland Security is attempting to frighten or deport the very people who, in the immediate wake of any storm, will be clearing the streets, gathering the debris and aiding homeowners. What is more, with masked, undisciplined ICE agents snatching people from their cars on the way to their workplaces, these workers already fear venturing out of their homes.

On top of this, Big Tallahassee added to the war on the workforce with hostile and restrictive anti-immigration legislation. Additionally, local Florida law enforcement departments have gone from merely cooperating with federal agencies to performing what should be federal enforcement functions. This adds to the climate of fear and intimidation, exactly as it is intended to do.

As a result, when the winds die down and the floods recede, there won’t be the people available in the past to repair and reconstruct the buildings or repair the roofs or clear the storm drains. There won’t be the workers to take care of patients in hospitals and nursing homes. Recovery that took months in the past could take years in the future.

So, storm three: No more post-disaster workers.

This “perfect” storm shouldn’t be happening and the legislature can prevent it.

If elected to the Florida Senate to represent District 28, which consists of Collier and Hendry counties and eastern Lee County, I intend to address all three of these storms.

1. Get back the money we’re owed for immigration operations from the federal government!

The state of Florida has expended vast sums on functions that belong to and should be paid for by the federal government. It created a separate and distinct immigration enforcement apparatus that was completely unnecessary and vastly expensive. We don’t even know what’s been spent and it’s not clear there’s an accounting or an audit. Alligator Alcatraz cost at least $1.2 billion—and probably more when ancillary and clean-up costs are added.

I believe the state of Florida should vigorously pursue compensation for any funds it was promised for Alligator Alcatraz and it should be compensated for all the other immigration enforcement expenses it has assumed. Since Big Tallahassee has been happily suing all sorts of targets, it’s time that it actually pursued the money owed by the Trump administration even if it requires court action—including clawing back the money wasted by profiteering and overcharges for expenses incurred for Alligator Alcatraz.

2. Save up to save Florida!

Taxpayer funds intended for emergencies should actually be used to cover those emergencies—not political stunts like Alligator Alcatraz or Trump-driven racial and ethnic purges of the kind being conducted today. If money is intended to clean up Florida after a storm it should be used to clean up after a storm. Especially if the federal government isn’t going to help with disaster response any more we need to save every dollar we can for the bad times.

As a state senator I would look into establishing guardrails and safeguards against unwarranted raids on the state’s disaster funds and I would strengthen what few guardrails already exist.

This is especially important if FEMA is not going to be able to assist the state as it has in the past.

3. Stop waging war on the workforce!

The workforce is not Florida’s enemy—it’s what makes its economy and society function and never so much as after a disaster.

If Florida is hit with a hurricane or other disaster the people who venture out when the winds die down to save and rebuild our communities now have to fear that they’ll be snatched, detained or deported by ICE agents. This fear applies to much more than undocumented migrants. Native-born Americans, full citizens, naturalized citizens, legal residents—all are at risk from an indiscriminate, illegal, quota-driven purge.

On top of ICE and federal persecution, Big Tallahassee has created a hostile environment for the people who do the dirtiest, often most dangerous work after a storm.

As I have stated in the past, I support legitimate, disciplined, professional policing. But Big Tallahassee’s war on the workforce and the random fear and terror imposed by ICE has to stop. We have to restore freedom from fear in Southwest Florida—our lives depend on it.

If elected I intend to do whatever I can to stop the war on the workforce, hold ICE accountable and do what I can to limit or eliminate its activities. As a start, I will introduce legislation prohibiting masked policing except with a judicial warrant (to protect limited and well-defined undercover or plainclothes local police operations). But that’s just a start.

As this is written, there are no tropical storms threatening Southwest Florida and a super El Niño may keep them away altogether this season. But a reprieve from hurricanes is not a license to assume they’ll never come back—it’s a breathing space to prepare and fortify for future challenges. That applies to government policies every bit as much as laying in supplies and buying batteries.

Still, this year we have not yet reached the “I” part of the hurricane name list where the worst Southwest Florida storms always seem to hit (think hurricanes Irma, Ian and Idalia). This year’s “I” storm is Isaias and we’re only up to Gonzalo.

Whether it’s a hurricane, drought, wildfire or algal bloom, Florida has to be prepared physically and fiscally for whatever might come. That’s what I’m committed to doing and what I’ll do if elected to the Florida Senate.

I hope you agree with me. Together we can make Florida safer, smarter and stronger.

This message is approved by David Silverberg and the David Silverberg4Florida campaign.

See Silverberg4Florida.com for more positions and opportunities to volunteer.

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