By Madison Arnold | October 18, 2024, 4:45 PM EDT *
Nearly 15 years later, with Hurricane Milton roaring through the Sunshine State, Susalla was at the center of the relief efforts, exchanging messages with emergency management and other officials to provide assistance to those in need.
"In addition to it being very rewarding to help folks who probably have seen better days, to say the least, I find it very exciting, because you're on the front line," said Susalla, now the full-time managing attorney of Bay Area Legal Services' disaster relief team.
Susalla said he "always expected attorneys assisting in disaster relief would be stuck in their offices," but "depending on how far you're willing to engage the community in disaster response, our partners out there are very willing to have us along for the ride, and I find it quite exhilarating, honestly."
Bay Area Legal Services and other legal aid organizations around the state are expecting an influx of clients needing help in the coming weeks and months after the state was walloped with Hurricane Debby in August, followed by Hurricane Helene in September and then Hurricane Milton.
Even for a region familiar with rough storms, the impacts from the most recent hurricanes have been monumental....
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* Two sisters embrace their mother after arriving to her Lakewood Park, Florida, home, which was destroyed by a tornado spawned in the outer bands of Hurricane Milton on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Kathleen Flynn for the Washington Post)
