Category: storms

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Hurricane Trump Razes a Nation.

Why do I write about evacuating for Hurricane Irma and never mention the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria? Why do I avoid writing about my day to day life and the current sociopolitical climate? It is ugly. I will first tackle the second question because it leads to the answer to my first question.

I will never forget my sense of disbelief and despair on November 8, 2016, when the electoral college elected Donald Trump (R) over Hillary Clinton (D).  How was it possible? Clinton won by more than three million of the popular vote. Donald Trump, an American billionaire, had never held any political office. He was rude, crude and held openly racist views and bragged about sexually assaulting women and getting away with it. Married three times, the Christian right hailed him as their champion because he opposed abortion and was a strong supporter of gun rights. Since his election, he has voiced his support for Russia and Vladimir Putin while insulting American heroes and attacking the free press on a daily basis.

Since his inauguration, we have moved from one scandal to the next and from one crisis to another. I feel like a reverberating bell.  When I have not yet stopped reverberating from the clang of something as racist as an immigration ban on Muslims, there comes another scandal, like the Environmental Protection Agency stripping away clean air and water regulations, and Trump’s numerous attempts to repeal the American Healthcare Act and scaling back Social Security and Medicare benefits. His administration is trying to privatize the American education system and laid bare the school lunch program and other programs to feed the poor.

Charlottesville
Chanting, “White lives matter!” “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!” several hundred white nationalists and white supremacists marched Friday as part of a Unite the Right rally at the University of Virginia that resulted in violence and three deaths the next day. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein for The Washington Post)

Trump has attacked everything except the rights of multi-billion dollar corporations. He refused to endorse the Paris Climate Accord leaving us and Syria the only two nations that have not endorsed this world-wide effort to clean up the earth, and not ratified previously negotiated trade agreements because they are according to him, not fair to Americans. The most important issue is an investigation by the Justice Department and similar weak attempts by the Senate and House into possible collusion with Russia to throw the election. Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and several states’ voting systems. We do not yet know the extent of the damage. I don’t even recognize my country anymore. Can this really be the U.S.A.?  Worse yet, Trump is recklessly courting a war with North Korea. That cannot end well for millions in both North and South Korea, Japan and China… and the United States.

Enter Hurricane Maria. In August, Hurricane Harvey, a category two storm struck Houston. The damage was unimaginable.  A month later, Hurricane Irma struck Florida, and less than two weeks later, Hurricane Maria, a category five storm struck Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Island and devastated those islands. It left little standing in its wake. More than a month later, less than 20% of Puerto Rico residents have electric or clean water.

puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-aftermath1
A family sits on a sodden couch were once stood their home. Photo by Andres Kudacki for TIME

How did Trump respond? Within three days he visited Houston and committed every possible resource to rebuild the area. He responded just as quickly to Florida after Irma, but while Maria was wiping out Puerto Rico and for the days after, Trump played golf at one of his resorts and tweeted incessantly against NFL players who kneeled rather than stood for the national anthem. Kneeling was in protest of the thousands of black men who die every year at the hands of law enforcement officers who are rarely held accountable. In too many instances, these black men were unarmed or shot in the back. Trump, however, is racist. It maddened him that these players dared to ‘disrespect’ the American flag.

Back to Puerto Rico. When Trump did finally tweet about Puerto Rico, he mentioned the territory’s massive debts and how bad their infrastructure was before the storm.  It took him three weeks to visit Puerto Rico to offer his support for its residents. It got uglier from there as he launched a personal attack against San Juan’s mayor. Puerto Rico is still a mess, and the newest scandal/crisis is four soldiers died in Niger earlier this month, and Trump and the Secretary of State insulted the wife of the only black soldier who died on that mission.

Trump is devastating the American sociopolitical landscape as surely as the hurricanes destroyed our soil. He is dividing the Republican Party and turning it into something not recognizable anymore. There are no more moderates. Republicans have moved to the extreme right, and any legislator who speaks or votes against them is labeled unpatriotic and un-American. When he campaigned, it was on the promise that he would change Washington forever. He is succeeding. I cannot help but wonder what will become of decent Republicans with a social conscience. I think Hurricane Trump has effectively annihilated them, at least for today. Will I live long enough to see the party regain its senses and recover from this? Ω

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Escaping From Irma and Other Thoughts

This year’s hurricane season has been awful! Houston was slammed by Harvey in August and sustained severe flooding. Houston received up to 52 inches of rain in just a few days. A month later, Irma wound up the Caribbean and was forecasted to travel up the west coast of Florida. It was one of the biggest storms on record: over 3oo miles wide with wind speeds up to 175 miles per hour; and as I write this and less than two weeks later, Puerto Rico is presently under assail by another category five storm, hurricane Maria.

I planned to stay home during hurricane Irma and hope for the best, but a friend talked me into evacuating. Of course, all of my Facebook friends were urging me to do the same, so the choice between facing down a possible direct hit from a category five hurricane versus leaving along with 7 million other Floridians was an easy one. Evacuate.

The highways were packed by 7 million evacuees
New Orleans trolley ride
Fortunately, I only sustained downed tree limbs. The larger ones were caught in the tree.
Breakfast at the hotel

The drive out of Florida was arduous. The highways were packed and until we reached Tallahassee, for many hundred mile stretches at a time, we could drive no faster than 25 miles per hour. By midnight we looked for a rest stop to sleep a bit and recover. At the first rest stop I had a wonderful experience; a Déjà vu of memories more than fifty years ago when things like Woodstock, love, and peace reigned. Dozens of people representing every age, gender, economic status and many races stood in groups sharing their experiences. A white man in designer clothing was talking to a Latino wearing faded jeans and a worn shirt. A young woman with several tired and cranky children allowed an old couple to share treats with their children and speak words of comfort to them. The storm was a great equalizer. Skin color, income, and education level did not seem to matter to people sharing a common threat. Unfortunately, George thought this rest stop was too bright and loud and believed that he would not be able to sleep, so we moved on to the next rest area.

One more thing. Florida state troopers (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) patrolled the rest stops, welcomed evacuees to stop and sleep, and directed cars to available parking spaces. They were kind and helpful. In addition to the standard restrooms, every rest stop had many portable toilets set up to reduce wait times.

Finding a hotel room was as difficult as the long drive. Millions of evacuees meant that there were no hotel or motel rooms available in Alabama or Mississippi. We ended up driving all the way to Metairie, Louisiana, a city about ten miles from New Orleans.

Two days later, we drove back home. Many gas stations had either no power or no gas, and the traffic was heavier than when we exited. I was fortunate. The storm veered east. Tampa was not hit by the eye of this storm but suffered only strong winds and heavy rains. I sustained just a few broken tree limbs. While we lost power in my neighborhood, it was back on by the time that I got home.

There are so many other things that I do not know how to talk about. I received a lot of love and support from family members, and I keep wondering why my son never called or texted me to make sure that I was ok. Before we evacuated, I asked to talk to my grandsons, but my son replied by text that he was too busy with meetings and soccer to arrange that call.

Yesterday was Tod’s birthday. He is my youngest son who died nine years ago. I miss him. Tod cared about me and often called me “just to talk” and to let me know what was going on in his life. He enjoyed talking to me and sometimes called for no reason other than to relay a story he knew I would enjoy. I know Tod would have called me before Irma because in 2004 when Florida had four hurricanes, my son came to stay with me to make sure that I was ok. Storms are traumatic events and many times these past weeks, I thought about him. Happy belated birthday, Tod! Fair winds and following seas.