Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Florida Panhandle on Sept. 26 and proceeded to tear a path through the Southeast, ravaging swathes of populated areas and killing at least 223 people. The town of Asheville, NC, once declared a “climate haven”, became a marker for the widespread devastation brought by the storm, with severe mudslides, flooding and massive damage. Lives and homes were destroyed and upended. What should have happened next was a focus on delivering disaster relief; instead, the Biden administration’s federal response was almost immediately made a political issue by presidential candidate Donald Trump. Why this occurred leads back to the singularly aggressive partisan game played by Trump, proving he cares little about the suffering caused by natural disasters and the underlying issue of climate change.
First, we must unfortunately dive into the rabid conspiracy theories and lies spread by Trump and his followers. On Sept. 30, Trump visited Georgia, one of the states affected by Helene, and claimed that in North Carolina, “the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the state” were refusing to help people in Republican-dominated areas. When pressed, he was unable to come up with any evidence for the claim. The worst of the conspiracy theories, however, came when Trump claimed that Kamala Harris “spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants.” FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was allocated $650 million by Congress towards a program that assists states and local governments in providing migrants housing, but this money is entirely separate from the more than $35 billion available for disaster relief, which is used to respond to events like Hurricane Helene. This batch of lies reflects that Trump will say anything to advance his positions. He will even distort the tragedy of a devastating storm for political gain.
Trump’s politicization of storms and other disasters dates to his presidency. A new report emerged this week showing Trump nearly refusing to allow the approval of disaster aid to California in the wake of destructive wildfires in 2018. Why? Because California is largely Democratic. Trump was only swayed when shown that Orange County, California, which had been extensively damaged, had more Trump voters than in the entire state of Iowa. But, he had no similar reticence when the Florida Panhandle was hit with Hurricane Michael in 2019. Then, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked Trump to have FEMA cover 100 percent of recovery costs, instead of the usual 75 percent, saying “This is Trump country – and they need your help.” Trump readily agreed, replying, “They love me in the Panhandle. I must have won 90% of the vote out there. Huge crowds. What do they need?” Trump’s blatant concern with popularity instead of humanity lays bare that he does not care about the devastation natural disasters bring. He maintains a single-minded focus on politics despite the fact that these events should bring us together. A disaster doesn’t affect just Democrats or just Republicans; all who are caught in the path of a wildfire, hurricane or tornado are impacted.
This politicization is especially unhelpful when confronted with the growing reality of climate change. According to AP News, scientists found the effects of climate change increased Hurricane Helene’s rainfall by about 10 percent and wind strength by about 11 percent, while the high sea temperatures that helped fuel the storm were made 200 to 500 times more likely. In other words, climate change is making hurricanes more dangerous and powerful more often. By the time this article is published, the next major storm, Hurricane Milton, will likely have slammed the west coast of Florida as at least a Category 3, bringing a storm surge of up to 15 feet in cities such as Tampa. According to WWA, an international organization of scientists, hurricanes like Helene and Milton were once expected every 130 years on average. Now, they’re arriving within days of each other.
Climate change has long been an issue politicized by Trump. While in office, he rolled back more than 125 policies intended to help preserve the environment and lower emissions that contributed to global warming. In addition, he pulled the U.S out of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, which set emissions limits for nations that signed the treaty. Biden restored our involvement in the agreement, but if Trump wins in 2024, he has confirmed that he’ll do so again, faced with pressure from conservative lobbying and fossil fuel industry lawyers. Trump has shown he is beholden to interests which are trying to undermine America’s efforts to help mitigate the climate crisis. He has shown that, when it comes down to it, he’ll choose himself and playing politics over truly caring about citizens’ plight.