Navigating the known unknowns of flood recovery

As this year wraps up and we head into Christmas week—and the final days of 2025—I hear a collective sigh.

It has been a tough year.

The September floods tested Globe and Miami in ways few of us were prepared for. Beyond the visible damage, they revealed how vulnerable much of our infrastructure truly is—and how costly it will be to repair. Sewer lines washed out, manholes lost, roads undermined, buildings condemned or demolished. The price tags now attached to those repairs run into the millions, and they represent essential public systems that must be rebuilt carefully, correctly, and transparently.

At the same time, residents and small business owners have been navigating a flood-relief process that has often felt confusing and slow. United Fund stepped forward to manage donated relief dollars, a responsibility that carries real weight. Donors deserve transparency. Applicants deserve clarity, consistency, and communication. Questions raised in recent weeks are not personal attacks; they are a necessary part of accountability and public trust.

Shining light on these processes is not about blame. It is about learning from this moment so that the next time our community faces a crisis—and there will be a next time—we are better prepared to respond.

This issue also reflects on the loss of Tom Foster, longtime executive director of the Bullion Plaza Museum. Tom quietly but profoundly shaped the institution, helping it grow into a museum that mattered—one rooted in scholarship, curiosity, and community relevance. Honoring him means more than remembrance. It means supporting the people and structures now in place so that the work he believed in continues.

I’ve been thinking often about the parable of the Chinese farmer and his horse—how events we label as “good” or “bad” often reveal their meaning only later. This year brought real hardship. There is no minimizing that. But it also revealed resilience, generosity, and connection—neighbors helping neighbors, volunteers showing up, donors giving because this place still matters.

As Sonny says in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: “Everything will be all right in the end… and if it’s not all right, then it’s not yet the end.”

We still have challenges ahead. But we are not finished.