Floyd washes out General Meeting.

As Hurricane Floyd's devastating winds passed Florida's east coast, one of the things left in tatters was The Florida Bar's General Meeting.

Bar President Edith G. Osman cancelled the General Meeting, which had been set for September 15-18, resetting the meeting for Thursday through Saturday, October 28-30. The meeting will be at the Tampa Airport and Westshore Marriott hotels.

Floyd also forced postponement of the Supreme Court's Judicial Management Council meeting in Tallahassee on September 16 and the Florida Bar Foundation's September 16-17 meeting in Coral Gables.

In addition, courts up and down the coast and in Central Florida closed as Floyd threatened the state with its powerful wind and destructive storm surge.

The Florida Bar, responding to the crisis, posted a variety of information on its Internet website to help both consumers and lawyers. The data was aimed at addressing everything from people who might need legal help in a storm's aftermath to telling lawyers how to prepare their offices before a hurricane and how to try to recover data and documents if caught unprepared

The General Meeting postponement was the first time in memory that a major Bar event had to be called off because of the weather, although Hurricane Earl reduced attendance at the 1998 General Meeting. The change left Bar section and committee officials and Bar staffers scrambling to reschedule meetings and travel plans. A revamped schedule will be published in the October 15 Bar News.

"It became clear that as Floyd approached Florida, Bar members, especially on the state's east coast, understandably would be preoccupied with safeguarding their families, homes and offices. We also began receiving phone calls from committee chairs cancelling their meetings," Osman said of the decision to postpone the meeting.

"Even if we had decided to go ahead, it would have been impossible for many if not most of those planning to attend to get to Tampa, as airlines cancelled all flights out of many cities in the hurricane's path," she added. "We have worked hard to reschedule the meetings. We want every committee to have the opportunity to take advantage of the entire Bar year. Any committee that wants to meet will be given the opportunity. It is difficult to get the amount of space we need rebooked. They have been rescheduled at the Tampa Airport Marriott [some meetings will also be at the nearby Westshore Marriott] and we have been told that airlines will honor the...