Crisis now unfolds | Sept. 4

Send supplies on cruise ships

Seeing the horrors in the Bahamas fills me with such sadness. Having cruised there multiple times, my memories of the beauty and friendliness of the people will stay with me always. They need our help desperately. The multiple cruise lines from Florida who have built their cays on their shores should fill their ships with food, water and medical supplies and give back to those wonderful Bahamians who helped make their cruise lines so successful.

Vicki Klapper, Oldsmar

Crisis now unfolds | Sept. 4

Donate to relief effort

The devastation to the northern portions of the Bahamas gives truth to the reports of winds in excess of 185 mph. We should all be donating money, food and other necessities to the International Red Cross, the Foundation Beyond Belief or other international relief agencies to assist in the initial recovery effort. In addition, I saw an item suggesting that all cruise lines load up with supplies, both from their own purchase and outside donations, and deliver shiploads of supplies and aid to those directly affected. The cruise lines have reaped so much profit from the Bahamas and other Caribbean islands over the years, it would be a small gesture of thanks for all the financial benefits that have accrued to them.

Mark Brandt, Dunedin

Schools face different storm | Sept. 4

Schools should have opened

I am very disappointed that schools and my local library were closed on Tuesday. It ended up being a beautiful sunny day. Taxpayer dollars were wasted because of the poor decision made prematurely on Friday with bad weather predictions. I thought of all the parents who had to miss work to stay home with younger children Tuesday. Had officials waited, they would have known that Tampa Bay would not get this storm. Growing up in New England, we had frequent winter storms. Many days we didn’t know school was closed until the early morning that day. Everyone listened to TV or radio news to find out whether school was open or closed. Perhaps officials should implement this system here. It’s tried and true. It worked well for many years and still does for northern school districts. Had local officials waited until Tuesday they would have gotten the call correct. Let’s get more common sense down here.

Eric Stocki, St. Petersburg

Passing on all that plastic | Sept. 1

Recycling is the right thing

We don’t recycle to make money. We recycle to protect and save the environment, to reuse our natural resources so we don’t deplete them to the point of not having them anymore. If we can make money recycling, great. If we just break even, that’s okay. If it costs us money to recycle, well that’s just the price we pay.

Russ A. Johnson, Hudson

The toll of new corridors | Columns, Aug. 25

Soon to be underwater

These were some excellent discussions about the proposed new toll roads. But one extremely important consideration was neglected: In all probability, these new “transportation corridors” and developments will be waterfront property as the result of ocean rise due to climate change.

Mike MacDonald, Clearwater