Hurricane Michael left death and destruction across the SouthEast, but Donald Trump said it was ok for him to go ahead and hold a political rally, because:
We had it under great control. Because FEMA and everything else. We had White House, we had on the plane, on Air Force One. I was totally monitoring. So I went in and made the speech and everybody was happy.
There’s just one problem. Survivors of the storm and local officials say that FEMA is nowhere to be seen. One survivor summed it up:
We’re not getting any help. We need food. It’s just crazy.
So far, the only official response they had seen was when the police arrived and told everyone to leave, saying that there was nothing they could do and that it would take a long time to start rebuilding. People are comparing the SouthEast US to Puerto Rico, where the slow response left people without electricity for a year.
Ironically, soon after that a pickup truck arrived with a bunch of water. It wasn’t FEMA, it was two brothers who had just decided themselves to drive from Louisiana to help. Meanwhile, Federal, state, and local officials admitted that it would be days before they would be able to get food or water to anyone. They suggested that people should try to save what food and water they had.
Another resident called FEMA and they referred her to the Red Cross. She then called the Red Cross, but they just suggested that she call emergency number 211.
We should expect even worse storms to become the new normal. The hurricanes that plague the American side of the Atlantic rarely affect Europe, but Hurricane Leslie has made it all the way across that ocean and is now hitting Portugal and Spain with unprecedented winds and rain.
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GOP then – this global warming thing is a giant hoax perpetrated by tree huggers (and the Chinese). Why waste all that money and economic growth?
GOP now – this global warming thing is beyond our control and it’s too late to stop it anyway. Why waste all that money and economic growth?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-sees-a-7-degree-rise-in-global-temperatures-by-2100/2018/09/27/b9c6fada-bb45-11e8-bdc0-90f81cc58c5d_story.html?utm_term=.7cfddbd23523
There’s no sense trying to debate this issue any longer with climate science deniers, who will use any distorted argument to justify their means to who knows what ends. It’s simply time to vote them OUT!
Greg — yeah!
Now, as to the aftermath of Hurricane Michael — to be fair, this was one of the early arrivals of the “new hurricanes.”
It brewed itself up in the superheated Gulf, rather than following the more normal path of starting out on the west hip of Africa and slowly brewing itself up at it came across the Atlantic.
Normally, we have weeks to get used to the fact that a hurricane might be coming. If you ever watch the Weather Channel, you know what I mean — they start making bets on the packets of superheated air from the Sahara as they leave Africa.
This one waited till it was firmly planted in the Gulf of Mexico before it turned itself into a hurricane — and went from zero to about seventy in no time at all. We’re not used to that kind of hurricane — though I think we will need to get used to it.
Of course that doesn’t excuse Trump’s dithering. Basically, these Deplorable rallies are his fix — he is addicted to them, and the hurricane questions were standing between him and his biggest treat. We all know he’s a toxic narcissist, so there’s no question of empathy — he simply doesn’t have it.
Trump’s been taking a bit of a beating in the press lately. So, really, charging ahead to another rally is much better than, say, starting a nuclear war with North Korea.
In fact, it might be that one of those White House “patriots” came up with he nation of feeding him a rally to distract him from the combination of Kavanaugh and the latest Saudi atrocity. That’s a very primitive mentality in a position of even greater power than it’s supposed to be, since neither the courts nor the Congress is willing to oppose him in any way.
So, yes, vote in November. Everything hangs on it.
I’m not sure if FEMA has left the Carolinas yet. I’m beginning to think FEMA is not an answer. Perhaps all of this should be turned over to the National Guard or some other entity? Or maybe each state needs to figure out how to deal with this stuff themselves.
My brother got flooded out with Florence in NC and FEMA was only a tiny portion of the groups that were helping handle the disaster in his area. I think they brought in water and cleaning supplies. Not sure what else they did. There were a dozen or so non FEMA groups there helping with loans and food and other stuff. Tons of volunteers. His house was cleared out of ruined stuff including all the carpet and flooring and appliances and both bathrooms cleared out of everything except a bathtub in one, packed up non ruined stuff dry wall cut back 4 feet, insulation removed, mold sprayed, garage cleared out and sprayed and everything put out on driveway to dry that was being kept. But that was all done by volunteers. He’s down to studs in most of the house, but there has been a huge amount of work done so far, all free and none of it due to FEMA.
Someone was supposed to fix his well and A/C but so far that has not happened. Still needs the crawl space barrier removed, under house insulation removed and then mold sprayed and replaced. I think he has one of the best HOA’s I have ever heard of. Amazingly organized and ready for almost anything.