Hurricane Helene’s death toll has grown over 150 and millions went without electric power for days. Having experienced the far greater devastation of Hurricane Maria, our hearts go out to those affected by the storm.
Homes have been washed away. Tesla cars burst into flames when they were inundated with flood water. 600 people across Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas are still missing as of this writing.
But the federal response has been swift. 3,500 federal workers, in eluding 1,000 from FEMA, have gone to North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama. FEMA has provided basic supplies including 1.9 million Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), more than 1 million liters of water, 30 generators and over 95,000 tarps. Major disasters have been declared, allowing residents of these states to begin applying for emergency aid. 19 search and rescue teams are on the ground, with 900 first responders. The Red Cross has 850 workers in place, free clean up assistance is available, there are online and phone options for help to get these services and to find missing family members. 29 shelters are open and 140 satellites are being shipped in to help with communications.
Recovery will take time, and many of the heartbreaking experiences caused by the storms will take even more time for personal recovery. Still, we are thankful to see the outpouring of support.
Lessons learned from Hurricane Maria led to better coordination between federal, state, and local agencies in the response to Helene. Improved communication systems and protocols helped ensure better information flow and decision-making. Experience from Maria led to increased preparedness for future storms, including stockpiling of supplies and evacuation planning. These lessons are something for which we can be thankful.
Hurricanes in the future
Climate change is making hurricanes stronger and wetter. The landforms in different states and territories influence how each storm affects each place it lands. But whether it is a tropical island, a land of mountains and forests, or a coastal city, any place that is struck by a hurricane will face suffering and damage.
It’s important to continue learning from each storm to improve future disaster response efforts. We hope that, just as lessons from Maria helped the response to Helene, the lessons learned as states recover from Helene will help responses to any future hurricanes during the 2024 hurricane season.
We cannot miss the fact that the response to disasters in the states continues to be more thorough than the response in the territories. We hope that, if Puerto Rico is struck by a hurricane this season, the response will be as well managed as the response to Helene. But it may be that statehood is a necessity for equality in disaster response as it is in so many other aspects of American life.
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