Hurricane Florence: Actions and Reactions: Being Right

As of 11 p.m. on Sunday September 16, Hurricane Florence was moving across the southern coastal states and continued to move north at 10 m.p.h. It is projected to dump a staggering 18 trillion gallons of rain over the next week on the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Maryland. So far, it has taken the lives of over 30 people and forced tens of thousands of individuals to evacuate to shelters scattered throughout the coastal states. Furthermore, the tropical storm has destroyed thousands of small businesses, hospitals and homes leaving thousands more with outages and heavy damages. While destructive and truly tragic, natural disasters like Hurricane Florence display our nation’s ability to come together to help those in need. That’s why, despite being a strong critic of President Trump, I was quite impressed by the administration’s ability to prepare for and respond to the natural disaster.

Based on statistics provided by the White House, over 3,800 federal employees are currently working with the affected states and local partners in response to the storm. The administration has also sent a multitude of critical resources to the region, including over 100 helicopters, six million meals, four million liters of water and 730,000 blankets while also deploying United States Coast Guard forces to help those in need. As a republican and strong conservative, I must admit President Trump and his administration have been far from perfect, yet the facts show that I must give credit where credit is due. Trump and his team appear to have learned from the federal government’s inadequate response to Hurricane Harvey and managed to properly prepare this time around, possibly saving hundreds of lives and preventing millions in further damage costs.

While democrats and republicans always find a way to criticize one another with every opportunity they can get, Mother Nature has always found a unique way of reminding us that we are all human despite our differences. The victims of Florence are not composed of a single political party. They aren’t just republicans or democrats. They are from all walks of life and cannot be categorized into any single ethnic, racial or religious group. At the end of the day, you cannot debate a natural disaster, shoot it with your constitutionally-protected firearm or create a safe space to protect yourself from it.

At the end of the day, Mother Nature does what she pleases and as tragic at is, there is nothing that we can do to prevent these natural disasters completely. What we can do is have the compassion and courage to come together to rebuild the ruins. While the worst of Hurricane Florence has passed, the damage will not leave with it. Thousands are still left hopeless, not knowing where they will spend the night or how they will find food in the morning. While the president and the federal government are doing what they can to suppress the effects of the disaster, relief efforts that are responding to Florence still need our help in order to provide much needed aid and assistance. If you want to learn more about how you can help and donate, please visit https://www.redcross.org.

Contact Svetlin Sabev at [email protected].