And raining.
And raining.
Therein lies the problem. When a hurricane or tropical storm lingers like that, there less room for all that water. What might normally become a puddle on a roadway becomes a deep pond or even a flowing river. Actual rivers and lakes begin to overflow. Even as the storm slowly makes its way out of town, the trouble stays behind and gets worse.
Florence is dumping a ton of water on Wilmington, NC. The Cape Fear river is swelling and flooding. 100 miles to the west, Lumberton is watching the Cape Fear rushing by, getting higher and higher.
Hurricanes are "sexy". They're big and powerful with raging winds that look great on TV. But the biggest challenges that come from a hurricane after the big dramatic slam across the shoreline. The winds knock down trees over here, now there's no power over there. Big honking sheets of rain come down on the beach today and a town miles away gets flooded tomorrow.
The reach of devastation of a hurricane or tropical storms extends beyond space or time. Florence came ashore over a day ago about 250 miles away; today, I'm looking out my window as winds tear branches from the trees in my front yard.
I remember watching the news when Katrina roared across the Gulf of Mexico and slammed into New Orleans. There was a sign of relief as Katrina moved on and New Orleans was still standing.
Except it was then that the trouble really began as rivers crested, levees broke and the dark waters rushed through the city, destroying homes and lives.
A storm demands our attention while its happening but we cannot let our attention falter for what comes later.
Which brings us to Puerto Rico.
Last summer, Hurricane Maria whacked Puerto Rico hard and fast with terrible flooding and serious wind damage. But the perils of the storm's aftermath persisted. Lack of food, clean water, medical care, electricity. Puerto Rico was devastated and help was very slow in coming.
Donald Trump made excuses.
He reminded us that Puerto Rico is an island.
Then he reminded us that an island is surrounded by water.
He also cited past incompetent leadership of the island before the storm for why Puerto Rico was hurt so bad by the storm.
He proceeded to blame current incompetent leadership of the island for why Puerto Rico continued to be hurt so bad by the storm after the storm.
He also took time to blame the people of Puerto Rico for wanting everything done for them and not doing more for themselves.
I mean, Trump went down to Puerto Rico and threw paper towels at them. What more do the people down there want?
I have thoughts on this. May I share?
Trump didn't know Puerto Rico is a part of the United States. It is a territory of the United States which means it's kind of like a state but it's mostly not a state. Still, the residents of Puerto Rico are US citizens. I would bet you real money Trump did not know that.
Or.... Trump did know Puerto Rico is a part of the United States but he looked at the Electoral College map and saw Puerto Rico didn't vote for him so fuck it. Relief efforts in Florida and Texas were far more efficient and guess what? Florida and Texas are bright red on the Electoral College map.
Or... Trump just got bored. Once the big nasty Hurricane Maria blew on through, Trump figured hey, crisis over!
Whatever the reason, Puerto Rico got the short end of the stick when it came to receiving appropriate sustained levels of assistance.
Puerto Rico came back to the headlines earlier this week as Hurricane Florence roared in the Atlantic heading for the eastern seaboard and we have Trump to thank for that.
Trump could've kept this simple. "My administration is monitoring Hurricane Florence. FEMA and the resources of the federal government stand ready to offer any and all assistance to those in need as a result of this storm." And then shut up.
Trump has the right to remain silent but not the ability.
Trump has to revisit hurricane relief efforts from last year (for which he gave himself an "A+") including the "incredible, unsung success" in Puerto Rico.
And then he said the mayor of San Juan was incompetent, called it a day, headed of to the Lincoln bedroom for cheeseburgers and an evening of Fox News telling him how great he is.
Officials in Puerto Rico took some exception to this. The island still hasn't fully recovered from a storm that ultimately was responsible for the loss of 3,000 lives.
Trump has the right to remain silent.
But not the ability.
ATTACK!
"3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000. This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!"
A study was conducted by researchers at George Washington University as requested by the Puerto Rican government. The study found nearly 1,300 people died in September and October — the months of the storm — alone, and put the total figure toll at 2,975 excess deaths.
Trump fixates on what he was told when he visited Puerto Rico in October 2017, after the hurricane hit. Trump asked Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, “What is your death count as of this moment, 17?” Gov. Rosselló said there were 16 certified deaths at the time. Trump was pleased with the number. “You can be very proud of all of your people, all of our people working together. Sixteen versus literally thousands of people,” he said comparing the response to Hurricane Katrina.
So how did the number grow so much?
There were fatal consequences of a lack of electricity, clean water and infrastructure caused by the storms which lingered for months.
Kenneth McClintock, a former secretary of state of Puerto Rico who was deeply involved in recovery efforts, offered this assessement. “[T]he lack of timely outside resources (personnel, generators, electric repair crews) created or extended the conditions that provoked indirect deaths, such as kidney failure due to lack of power for dialysis equipment for example."
Gov. Rosselló notes that recovery work on the island remains unfinished, adding "“The victims of Puerto Rico and the people of Puerto Rico in general, don’t deserve to have their pain questioned. I ask the president of the United States that all the agencies invest the necessary resources to keep working in favor of the people of Puerto Rico.”
Trump's claims that the death toll in Puerto Rico is invalid earned some rebukes from some Florida Republicans unloaded on Trump over his tweets. “Everything is so personal for him and he just wants to always spin a good story, but using the deaths of Puerto Rican hurricane victims might be a new low, and boy, that's saying something,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (who is not seeking re-election).
Even Florida Gov. Rick Scott had to speak out against Trump's statement. “An independent study said thousands were lost and Gov. Rosselló agreed. I've been to Puerto Rico 7 times & saw devastation firsthand. The loss of any life is tragic; the extent of lives lost as a result of Maria is heart wrenching. I'll continue to help Puerto Rico."
You know, Rick Scott is not...
Whoops! That's Lex Luthor. Let me fix that.
Oh God! That's a scary ass photo!
Anyway, Rick Scott is not a good person which shows you how low Trump can get when Scott actually displays something resembling compassion.
Back here in the present, Florence is still a thing. The death toll stands at 6 but that number could change. Trump watching TV may not see any reporters screaming into microphones while barraged by fierce winds on the shore and think, "Well, that's over." Well, it isn't.
And as much as Trump has deluded himself otherwise, the work of recovery in Puerto Rico isn't over either. The voices of the frustrated living still cry out for help as do the lamentations of the unquiet dead.
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