Gripping Crisis management and effective disaster relief is the litmus test of the leadership skills of presidential candidates in the USA. Especially when the race for the White House is completely open just a few weeks before the election.
Even before the first huge tidal waves “Milton” expected to close at night Thursday to the Gulf Coast Florida According to US election campaign analysts, the thesis is valid: “This hurricane can decide the presidential election in the last few meters.”
Only against this backdrop is the short-term cancellation of Joe Bidens to understand a farewell visit to Germany. Democrats in Washington say that allowing themselves to be adorned with medals and celebrated in Berlin while the potentially most devastating storm in 100 years is rolling into the south of their homeland would have looked like “failure to provide assistance.” “That would be a candidate Kamala Harris fallen at your feet.”
As the highest-ranking official in the Biden administration, the vice president would take office on 5. November at the Wahl bear the main blame if the aid is insufficient.
Lies and exchanges of blows
Government circles say that the president is operationally dispensable in coordinating the relief measures that have already begun. “Not but buts Caretaker-in-Chief“who has to show competence, command and empathy in difficult times.” Especially since the atmospheric conditions are more adverse than ever before.
Non-partisan solidarity, which existed in the past, at least for a short time before approaching natural disasters, has given way in 2024 to the fight for quick party political gains. Especially at Donald Trump and the Republicans. They have been betting specifically for days Lie to put the government in a bad light.
The presidential candidate claims that they have been in the contested states for over two weeks North Carolina and Georgia of hurricane “Helene” The people affected are being criminally neglected because Biden/Harris have taken millions of sums away from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “D“They gave money to illegal migrants so that they would vote for them in the election,” says Trump. He even went so far as to claim that the state is leaving the areas of the disaster areas dominated by Republicans to the left, i.e., to die.
Democrats would stage storms
Even as that Republican governors against the false reports protested and praised the government’s support in the highest tones, the flood of hate posts inspired by Trump & Co on social media did not subside. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is loyal to Trump, even said that the Democrats had orchestrated the storms. “You can control the weather.”
Biden accused Trump of “irresponsibility.” Harris said: “It’s so absurd. Boy, don’t you have any compassion for other people’s suffering? Don’t you have any better ideas if you want to run for future president?”
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump with the Governor of Georgia after Hurricane Helene in Georgia.
The starting position before “Milton” is difficult. Hurricane “Helene” is already straining FEMA disaster relief workers to the limit. There is a lack of staff; 7,000 forces are deployed and over $500 million in state aid has already been released. The paused Congress must approve additional funds.
For Harris, it is important to demonstrate the ability to act and have an overview together with Biden from the very first minute. That won’t be easy in Florida.
DeSantis refuses to work with Harris
Trump’s home state is from Ron DeSantis governed. The governor, although he has a cold hostility to Trump, does not want to begrudge the Democrat any success. When Harris called at the beginning of the week to coordinate initial relief efforts, DeSantis refused to accept. Reason: Biden is “in charge” and she should not interfere.
The reason for De Santis’ refusal: polls show that the Republican lead in Florida is shrinking. Too eager to cooperate, such as the President Barack Obama 2012 before hurricane “Sandy” with New Jersey’s Republican governor Chris Christie practiced, “could perhaps help the Democrats win,” say commentators in Florida’s capital Tallahassee.
A man stands near a house with a Trump 2024 campaign sign in North Carolina after the passage of Hurricane Helene.
The specifics of this hurricane are almost lost in the political trench warfare. The Tampa-St. region expected to be most affected. Petersburg-Clearwater applies risk models to those for flood damage most susceptible stains across America. This is due to a shallow continental shelf offshore and a funnel effect in Tampa Bay. Both together can lead to enormous water accumulation.
To make matters worse, a large proportion of the development is located on low-lying ground with little or poorly developed drainage systems. Tampa Bay and the surrounding area has also experienced a real construction boom in recent years, which has caused the population to grow to 3.2 million.
Fifteen years ago, the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council investigated the hypothetical case of a Category 5 storm called “Hurricane Phoenix” hitting downtown Tampa with winds of up to 160 mph and an eight-meter storm surge. Said study ends with a devastating prognosis: 2,000 dead and $250 billion in damage. What will be the balance of “Milton” look like?