Two hurricanes, 13 days.
Hurricane Helene came first on Sept. 24 and touched down on the Florida coast as a Category 4 major hurricane before moving through Georgia and even devastating towns in Appalachia.
Shortly after, and more recently, Hurricane Milton hit and is tore through cities such as Tampa, Florida and beyond.
Many Florida residents have taken to social media to share their preparation. Those unable to evacuate videotape themselves writing their names and birthdays on their arm so that their unresponsive bodies can be identified by emergency workers.
It’s heartbreaking and enough to send chills down your spine.
Mothers are writing on their babies while they sleep and people are tagging their horses and animals in case they get separated.
The New York Times reports that at least 10 people have been declared dead relating to Hurricane Milton, but those numbers are bound to go up as emergency correspondents sift through the damage.
It seems obvious to the average person that these storms are a result of climate change, something that scientists have been warning politicians about for years. These storms are extreme, and the damage done to Appalachia is proof that this weather is not normal.
JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, said to the American people when discussing the fossil fuel industry that climate change is merely hypothetical. He said:
“Let’s just say that’s true, for the sake of argument.”
Vance used these words about climate change on Oct. 1 during the vice presidential debate. Less than two weeks later, we have a climate emergency.
Cases like this show just how dangerous this rhetoric is.
Imagine being a FEMA worker, spending your days uncovering corpses beneath the wreckage. Or being at home and watching the water levels reach higher and higher, wondering if the hurricane will drown you and your family. Imagine evacuating the only home you have ever known, knowing that there is no going back because your house is bound to collapse.
Then you open your phone to receive support from people around the world, just to watch Donald Trump spread misinformation to help bolster his campaign.
Apparently, the Democrats are using disaster relief funds to help house undocumented migrants.
Other theories say President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been sending hurricanes to prominently conservative states to “overturn the election.”
Red Cross workers have been targeted, and social media has accused FEMA workers of mining for lithium, another theory that sprang up about why the Democrats would send a hurricane to Florida.
Real people believe this, and real people are stopping emergency correspondents from doing their jobs and saving lives because of it. Real people in Florida will not evacuate because of this, and real voters will use this as reasoning to harm politicians should Donald Trump lose the 2024 election. If everything is election interference and a government ploy, there is no telling what people will do.
Don’t get it twisted, climate change is real. Back-to-back hurricanes are not normal, and what scientists have been warning us about for years is coming to fruition. It is necessary to see Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton for what they are: two catastrophes that are threatening the lives of Americans. Not some government ploy and definitely not a distraction in preparation for November.
