After the Trump administration’s “unappreciated great job” responding to Hurricane Maria, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the federal government were, according to Trump, more than ready to respond to the new threat: Hurricane Florence. Some do not agree with President Trump’s statement that his work in Puerto Rico was a success and doubt his ability to properly respond to the threat, especially since he has moved much of the FEMA resources to fund immigration services. He has promised that his administration is 100 percent ready for the hurricane, and will have the best response that hurricane victims have ever seen.
For those who did evacuate, FEMA has lists of state-specific information about when they can return to their homes and a phone number to call for those who do not have access to the internet. Thousands of federal employees, from FEMA, Armed Forces, State Governments and other agencies, are on the ground in the areas affected. These employee, along with private organizations, such as the Red Cross, are on the ground for search and rescue, disaster relief, bringing supplies to the people still there, medical services and doing whatever needs to be done to speed up the recovery process. The federal and state governments have been spreading tips and procedures to residents through news outlets as well as social media outlets, especially Twitter. With the current property damage estimates, Hurricane Florence has secured a spot on the list of the U.S.’s top ten most costly hurricanes. Thousands have already applied for FEMA aid and more are likely to do so once they return to their homes. The administration has put out statements that they are already granting aid to those who have applied and are ready to help as much as possible.
While the response has been strong after the hurricane, people in South Carolina are currently dealing with record high floods that could cause even more damage than previous hurricanes. There are floods across the state and other affected states, but with more rainfall on the way, specifically in South Carolina, matters are only going to get worse. Certain cities in South Carolina that were never expected to flood because of their higher altitudes are dangerously underprepared for the upcoming storms. To make matters worse, there are more storms brewing in the Atlantic that could reach the coastline again. Due to the high levels of flooding, the state and federal governments are continuing to call residents to evacuate before the flooding gets even worse.
While the situation is getting worse before it is getting better in the affected states, the news has been saturated with other hot topics such as the Kavanaugh hearings and Trump’s U.N. visit, so there is, unfortunately, very little coverage about the current situation of the people in the Carolinas, Virginia and surrounding states. With the lack of attention from the public, it is likely that the White House and some government agencies will focus their attention on the more popular and interesting topics, while the people in the affected areas are dealing with more trauma to come. That being said, since the affected states are on the mainland, they cannot be as easily forgotten as Puerto Rico was.