Small Businesses Bare Brunt of National Emergency

In 1998, wildfires along the East coast of Florida became so wide-spread and abundant that the entire nation was mobilized to help fight the fires. Entire sections of I-95 were shut down to traffic hampering commercial transportation routes and vacation travel to South Florida.

The necessary emergency response to the situation was a daunting balance of firefighting, logistics and evacuations on an unimaginable scale. Entire branches of State government were mobilized to assist in the efforts, even those not traditionally associated with emergency response.

More than 110,000 people evacuated their homes, many for the third time. There were 337 homes and 33 businesses destroyed; nearly 500,000 acres of federal, state and private lands burned; and $550 million in losses.

However, the unseen impact of the wildfires were a slew of Mom & Pop businesses along I-95 from Brevard County up to the Georgia border. With the closing of the interstate, many went up to 2 weeks without access to their customers. Food inventories spoiled, payrolls were missed, businesses were forced to close. Many of them hundreds of miles away from the nearest forest fire.