A Message from Mayor Stimpson - October 5
Oct 5th, 2020
Good evening,
It is 8 p.m. on Monday, October 5, and I am writing to give you an update from the City of Mobile.
Today, the Mobile County Health Department reports 13,784 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 6 cases. To review the detailed report, click here.
As of 5 p.m. today, our crews have collected more than 47% of the estimated 381,360 cubic yards of trash and debris that Hurricane Sally left scattered throughout the City. The map below shows the areas where we have already made a first pass at picking up debris. We anticipate that it will take at least a couple of passes throughout the City to remove all of it.
Though we're still picking up remnants from Hurricane Sally, we must once again turn our eyes toward the tropics. As it moves through the Caribbean over the next few days, Hurricane Delta is expected to strengthen and could make landfall somewhere on the Gulf Coast as a hurricane later this week. While it's still too early to predict the strength or path of the storm, I would urge Mobilians to take preparations now and gather supplies that could be needed if Delta were to impact Mobile.
If you've been following the construction from the Broad Street Improvement Project, you may have noticed something new to the area. This week, crews began paving what will become a bicycle lane along Broad Street. This lane for cyclists is one of the ways this significant project will make the area safer for cyclists and pedestrians once completed.
Also, this evening, if you can spare a few seconds, I'd ask for your help supporting one of Mobile's own. Oscar is a rescue dog - a blind bluetick coonhound who lives in Oakleigh. More importantly, though, Oscar is a very good boy, and right now he's in the running for the readers' choice award in Garden & Gun magazine's annual Good Dog Photo Contest.
Oscar and his owner Jenn Greene, who also serves on our Public Works team as acting Director of Program and Project Management, would both appreciate your support. If you have a moment before Friday, you can cast your vote here.
In closing tonight, I think about all the unexpected things that have happened this year. We learned many new lessons from Hurricane Sally, and we have already been putting those lessons together to be better prepared for the next storm. Now, with Hurricane Delta threatening our area and our neighbors, we will pray for the best and be prepared for the worst.
Many years ago, I read Finishing Strong, a very insightful book by Steve Farrar. To finish strong, he wrote: You must not just take life as it comes. Secondly, you must have vision because it takes vision and anticipation to avoid ambushes. And, third, pray every day that God will alert and protect you from the killing dangers of pride because if you don't, you will be dazzled, seduced or intoxicated by it. Tomorrow's closing will look into what C. S. Lewis said about pride and why it is so, so dangerous to mankind. Meantime,