GOP REPLACED E PLURBIS UNUM WITH IN GOD WE TRUST
The Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Sat, October 1, 2022
Hurricane Ian ripped through much of Florida last week and delivered more than wide swaths of devastation. It also sent a message to Gov. Ron DeSantis, along with the rest of the nation, that being part of this country comes with responsibility to your fellow citizens. When disaster strikes, the rest of the country, and its federal government, pitches in because that’s the best of America. United is in the name.
It was a lesson in which he apparently needed a reminder. Just two weeks ago, DeSantis showed no concern for the well being of others when he used vulnerable human beings as pawns in a widely criticized stunt in which he dumped two plane loads of mostly Venezuelan asylum-seekers in Massachusetts’s Martha’s Vineyard.
He’s not happy with the Biden administration’s border policies and wanted to give non-border states a taste of Florida’s immigration challenges.
But when Ian, a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of up to 150 mph, prepared to slam into Florida last week, DeSantis wasted no time in asking Biden to declare every county in the Sunshine State a federal disaster site. And he welcomed the hundreds of FEMA trucks and rescue teams rolling south.
No doubt the aid was desperately needed. With the storm moving across Florida to the Atlantic, and then north toward the Carolinas, the casualty toll was expected to be high. Millions lost power, high water flooded streets and roared through towns downing trees, washing away vehicles and homes. Fierce winds flattened whole neighborhoods.
Because Americans always respond generously in these situations, DeSantis knew he could count on help from all over. From Missouri and Kansas to New York and Massachusetts, states across the country rushed to help in any way they could. President Biden immediately issued emergency declarations and ordered federal aid to Florida, including funds, equipment, food and labor.
Meeting adversity with action is what we do as Americans. It’s woven into our cultural fabric, even if it’s sometimes difficult to discern the frayed threads of decency of late amid so much uncivil discourse and behavior.
DeSantis was right to request aid, but then so too were his critics in New York and New Jersey, who noted that less than a decade ago when DeSantis was a newly elected Florida congressman, he voted against providing $9.7 billion in flood insurance aid for victims of Hurricane Sandy which left more than 200 people dead.
The difference between a helping hand, and a handout is whether you are willing to pull others up with you. The citizens of Florida are lucky then, that there are not too many like DeSantis elsewhere in the U.S., otherwise they might find the assistance they need now less than forthcoming.
Whether it be a storm or drought, tornado, pandemic, wildfire, or crumbling infrastructure, crises such as those caused by Hurricane Ian do not discriminate on the basis of political party. Nor can we, as Americans, afford to discriminate in the actions with which we meet those adversities.
Lives are at stake, as is our future and character as a nation.
A good leader understands that the glue that binds our 50 states together. We help our fellow citizens in crisis, not just because they need it but because we will likely need a helping hand someday too.
Let’s hope that message has been learned.
Hurricane Ian: Florida death toll rises as criticism mounts
Bernd Debusmann Jr and Sam Cabral - BBC News
Mon, October 3, 2022
Rescue personnel in Florida's Lee County on 30 September
The death toll from Hurricane Ian has reportedly risen past 80 in Florida as rescue personnel continue to search for survivors and assess the damage.
Officials in Florida have come under fire as critics allege residents in some hard-hit areas did not receive enough advance warning to evacuate.
At least half of the deaths recorded so far are in Lee County, where Ian made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane.
President Joe Biden is expected to visit Florida on Wednesday.
According to the BBC's US partner network CBS, the hurricane's death toll in Florida stood at at least 82 on Monday morning. Another four deaths have been confirmed in North Carolina.
The Florida District Medical Examiners Commission, however, has put the death toll at 58. The figures differ as while local officials may report additional storm-related deaths, the medical examiner's officer is only attributing a death to the hurricane after an autopsy is performed.
The bulk of the deaths - 42 - have been reported in Lee County, which includes the hard-hit areas Fort Myers, Sanibel and Pine Island. On Friday, Florida governor Ron DeSantis described the county as "ground zero" for the hurricane.
They stayed for the storm - what happens now?
Hurricane Ian drives black family from historic home
Confusion over death tolls is common in the wake of hurricanes. In 2020, for example, less than 20 deaths were reported from Hurricane Laura days after it made landfall in Louisiana - a figure which the National Hurricane Center later revised to 47.
While the death toll from Hurricane Ian already makes it one of the deadliest hurricanes in recent memory, it still pales in comparison to 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which killed over 1,800 people.
In the wake of the storm, officials in Lee County have faced questions about the timing of their evacuation order, which was issued on 27 September, less than 24 hours before Ian made landfall. Several other counties in the path of the incoming hurricane issued their own evacuation orders a day before,
Local officials, as well as Governor DeSantis, have defended Lee County's preparations for the hurricane.
"Everyone wants to focus on a plan that might have been done differently," Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said on Sunday. "I stand 100% with my county commissioners, my county manager. We did what we had to do at the exact same time. I wouldn't have changed anything."
A 2015 planning document on the official website of Lee County's government notes that "due to our large population and limited system, Southwest Florida is the hardest place in the country to evacuate in a disaster". The document adds that evacuation decision-making procedures consider "evacuation risks, the disruption to both the lives of our residents/visitors, businesses and the potential magnitude of the impending threat."
An aerial view of Fort Myers on 2 October
The death toll cited by Florida officials does not include at least 16 Cuban migrants who remain missing after their boat capsized off the state's coastline during the hurricane. Of the 27 people on board, nine were rescued by the US Coast Guard and two managed to swim ashore at Stock Island, near Key West, The bodies of two more who died have been recovered. The Coast Guard has suspended the search for those still missing.
Approximately 600,000 people remain without power across the state, according to data from poweroutage.us.
The utility company with the largest number of outages, Florida Power & Light Co, said that the majority of customers will have their power restored by 7 October, but that storm damage has made some properties "unable to safely accept power".
While officials are still assessing the damage caused by the hurricane across the state, experts have warned that the economic cost could ultimately rise to tens of billions of dollars. So far, insurers have reported at about $1.44bn (£1.28bn) in preliminary claims.
A preliminary forecast from data firm Enki Research published on 1 October estimated that total damages will amount to at least $66bn, but could rise as high as $75bn.
US President Joe Biden will visit Florida on Wednesday, October 5, two days after a visit to Puerto Rico, which itself was struck by Hurricane Fiona jus
Bernd Debusmann Jr and Sam Cabral - BBC News
Mon, October 3, 2022
Rescue personnel in Florida's Lee County on 30 September
The death toll from Hurricane Ian has reportedly risen past 80 in Florida as rescue personnel continue to search for survivors and assess the damage.
Officials in Florida have come under fire as critics allege residents in some hard-hit areas did not receive enough advance warning to evacuate.
At least half of the deaths recorded so far are in Lee County, where Ian made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane.
President Joe Biden is expected to visit Florida on Wednesday.
According to the BBC's US partner network CBS, the hurricane's death toll in Florida stood at at least 82 on Monday morning. Another four deaths have been confirmed in North Carolina.
The Florida District Medical Examiners Commission, however, has put the death toll at 58. The figures differ as while local officials may report additional storm-related deaths, the medical examiner's officer is only attributing a death to the hurricane after an autopsy is performed.
The bulk of the deaths - 42 - have been reported in Lee County, which includes the hard-hit areas Fort Myers, Sanibel and Pine Island. On Friday, Florida governor Ron DeSantis described the county as "ground zero" for the hurricane.
They stayed for the storm - what happens now?
Hurricane Ian drives black family from historic home
Confusion over death tolls is common in the wake of hurricanes. In 2020, for example, less than 20 deaths were reported from Hurricane Laura days after it made landfall in Louisiana - a figure which the National Hurricane Center later revised to 47.
While the death toll from Hurricane Ian already makes it one of the deadliest hurricanes in recent memory, it still pales in comparison to 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which killed over 1,800 people.
In the wake of the storm, officials in Lee County have faced questions about the timing of their evacuation order, which was issued on 27 September, less than 24 hours before Ian made landfall. Several other counties in the path of the incoming hurricane issued their own evacuation orders a day before,
Local officials, as well as Governor DeSantis, have defended Lee County's preparations for the hurricane.
"Everyone wants to focus on a plan that might have been done differently," Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said on Sunday. "I stand 100% with my county commissioners, my county manager. We did what we had to do at the exact same time. I wouldn't have changed anything."
A 2015 planning document on the official website of Lee County's government notes that "due to our large population and limited system, Southwest Florida is the hardest place in the country to evacuate in a disaster". The document adds that evacuation decision-making procedures consider "evacuation risks, the disruption to both the lives of our residents/visitors, businesses and the potential magnitude of the impending threat."
An aerial view of Fort Myers on 2 October
The death toll cited by Florida officials does not include at least 16 Cuban migrants who remain missing after their boat capsized off the state's coastline during the hurricane. Of the 27 people on board, nine were rescued by the US Coast Guard and two managed to swim ashore at Stock Island, near Key West, The bodies of two more who died have been recovered. The Coast Guard has suspended the search for those still missing.
Approximately 600,000 people remain without power across the state, according to data from poweroutage.us.
The utility company with the largest number of outages, Florida Power & Light Co, said that the majority of customers will have their power restored by 7 October, but that storm damage has made some properties "unable to safely accept power".
While officials are still assessing the damage caused by the hurricane across the state, experts have warned that the economic cost could ultimately rise to tens of billions of dollars. So far, insurers have reported at about $1.44bn (£1.28bn) in preliminary claims.
A preliminary forecast from data firm Enki Research published on 1 October estimated that total damages will amount to at least $66bn, but could rise as high as $75bn.
US President Joe Biden will visit Florida on Wednesday, October 5, two days after a visit to Puerto Rico, which itself was struck by Hurricane Fiona jus
No comments:
Post a Comment