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takyon: Florence is currently expected to make landfall in North Carolina during the early morning or afternoon on Friday. There have been mandatory evacuation orders, but they may be widely ignored.
A category 2 (formerly category 4) hurricane named "Florence" is heading for the eastern coast of the US. This being around the midpoint of the hurricane season, that's not unusual. This hurricane is, however, expected to make landfall much further north than is usual: near the border between the states of North Carolina and South Carolina. As you may recall, Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, Texas last year with many areas receiving over 40 inches of rain (peak total was 60 inches) over a four-day period. Florence is similar in that there is a high pressure ridge just north of the point of landfall. It is anticipated that this will keep Florence part way over the ocean (picking up additional moisture) and part way over land (dumping copious amounts of rain).
Hurricanes cause damage in three ways: wind damage, storm surge, and rain (flooding).
Let's start with the wind. Recent readings (according to Wikipedia): sustained winds 110 knots (120 mph; 205 km/h) (1-min mean) gusting to 140 knots (150 mph; 250 km/h). (Aerodynamic drag is proportional to the square of the wind velocity. Stick your arm straight out the window of a vehicle travelling at 60 mph. Now take that force and double it. And then double it again. Now imagine that force being applied against something the size of a building. Widespread structural damage is likely.
Next, there's the Storm Surge which "is produced by water being pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds moving cyclonically around the storm." This would be above and beyond the normal tides for the area. For this storm, Scientists say Hurricane Florence could produce historic storm surge of up to 20 feet (~12 meters). To provide some perspective, tides around Myrtle Beach (near the northern-most part of South Carolina) usually has tides of up to 2.5 feet (0.75 meters). In short, flooding at the coast will be of historic proportions.
And then on to the rain. Expected rainfall totals over a period of four days generally range up to 20 inches — with 30 inches being possible in isolated locations. The general area has already had steady rains over recent weeks saturating the soil. Most of the rainfall will, therefore, not be absorbed by the soil but will instead just run downstream. In the mountains and hills away from the coast are a great many valleys which will further funnel the water and produce major flooding. It gets worse. Tree roots in waterlogged soil will likely give way under the onslaught of the rain and wind; many of which will fall on power lines. Power outages of several days or even over a week can be expected. Temperatures in the area vary around 70-90°F (21-32°C) so expect much food spoilage when refrigerators stop running.
Further complicating things, Hurricane Florence's risks include toxic sludge and lagoons of pig manure. In 2014, about 39,000 tons of coal ash spilled in from a pond near Eden, North Carolina. As of August 2017, Duke Energy had 31 coal ash basins in North Carolina which contained about 111 million tons of coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal to generate electricity. It contains metals including arsenic, chromium, and mercury. The extreme rainfall could cause some ash ponds to overflow and send their toxic waste downstream.
North Carolina is a top producer of turkey, chicken, and hogs. More than 10 billion pounds of wet animal waste is produced annually in the state and is held in lagoons because it's generally considered a safe way to store the manure before it's used to aid crops. Though most lagoons will likely survive the storm intact, there will certainly be some which overflow sending their "aromatic essence" downstream.
Links:
National Hurricane Center
NYT: Hurricane Florence's Path: Category 2 Storm Closes In on Carolina Coast
Ars Technica 2018-09-13: Florence is now “only” a Category 2 hurricane. That won’t matter much
Ars Technica 2018-09-12: The Hurricane Florence forecast has gone from bad to worse
Ars Technica 2018-09-10: Hurricane Florence represents a grave threat to the East Coast
CBS News: Hurricane Florence closes in on Carolinas, Virginia – live updates
Washington Post Hurricane Florence charges toward Carolinas with ‘potential for unbelievable damage’
Wikipedia entry on Hurricane Florence
GOES-East Satellite Loop
Earth.nullschool.net: earth :: a global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday September 13 2018, @12:57PM (48 children)
It'll be fine. With so many rolls of PT handed out by the president himself, they'll have this little spill wiped up in no time. That IS how it works, right? I mean look how well Puerto Rico is doing.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @01:07PM (10 children)
Say, when was the last time a hurricane wiped out the Washington DC?
Wouldn't now be a good time?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @01:16PM
No. Wait 5 or 10 years for more condos to go up and more black people to be forced out of the city. Then send in the hurricanes.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @01:16PM (2 children)
I think it would be a good time for you to kill yourself, you pathetic cock-gobbling piece of subhuman waste.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @05:17PM (1 child)
Talking to yourself is a sign of mental illness. Might want to get your head examined.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @06:06PM
I bet all the bullies in school picked on you, you little pussy.
(Score: 5, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 13 2018, @06:08PM (5 children)
Say, when was the last time a hurricane wiped out the Washington DC?
DC is pretty liberal. And liberals appreciate things like competent leaders and science.
So, when Hurricane Sandy was coming in they actually prepared for it instead of pretending it was some kind of liberal hoax. [forbes.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:05PM (3 children)
DC isn't liberal.
DC hasn't been anything like liberal for a long, long time.
DC is populated by people who make their living off the power of government. Liberalism is telling them they don't need those jobs. News flash: their interest in promoting liberalism has never been high.
DC is progressive - pushing the idea of Progress, shepherded by the benevolent hand of Bureaucracy, has been their attitude for at least the last hundred years. And of course that means that they're into leadership (a.k.a. their paymasters) and science (a.k.a. their orthodoxy) but it also means that they're against peons (a.k.a. other people) making ignorant (a.k.a. independent) decisions based on destructively chaotic (a.k.a. liberal) grounds.
When D.C. is liberal, you'll know it because of all the regulations that they willingly tear up, all the laws that they repeal and all the time-serving paper-pushers they lay off.
But don't hold your breath.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:56PM (2 children)
Not this shit again.
Soylent's user base is overwhelmingly American.
You are pretending that the term people are using here is something that is the opposite of American usage. Nobody was confused here except you who are trying to sow confusion.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @08:26PM (1 child)
DC isn't liberal from an American standpoint, either. It is largely composed of corporatist, warmongering, authoritarian cretins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @04:15PM
Dont confuse the politicians and lobbyists who dont/barely live there with the actual population.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:58PM
Yes, one blowhard with a microphone = an entire group of people's beliefs and thoughts.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @01:18PM (2 children)
Hopefully breast cancer will soon remove you from the rolls of the living.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday September 13 2018, @02:59PM
Awww, show me on the dollie where the mean lady hurt you, cupcake~
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:54PM
You sound like an incel to me.
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday September 13 2018, @01:21PM (4 children)
Thank you for your beautiful support. I think Puerto Rico was an incredible unsung success.
We got A Pluses for our recent hurricane work in Texas and Florida (and did an unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico, even though an inaccessible island with very poor electricity and a totally incompetent Mayor of San Juan). We are ready for the big one that is coming!
The problem with Puerto Rico is their electric grid and their electric generating plant was dead before the storms ever hit. It was in very bad shape. It was in bankruptcy, had no money.
The job that FEMA and law enforcement and everybody did working along with the Governor in Puerto Rico, I think, was TREMENDOUS. 3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000. This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Thursday September 13 2018, @02:00PM (3 children)
That big beautiful wall on the Mexican border? Let's extend it along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts! And for good measure, the Pacific coast too. That'll be a heck of a lot of jobs, for brownie!
When it's finished, let's have a wall party. Show those Chinese that they aren't #1 when it comes to Great Walls!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @08:02PM (2 children)
Yes, let's forget that both Clintons said the exact same thing in their times as candidates and serving in office about "We should build a wall". I'm starting to worry that SoylentNews is turning into an echo chamber.
(Score: 3, Touché) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday September 13 2018, @08:34PM (1 child)
Citation Required.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @11:28PM
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/tomdispatch-operation-streamline-immigration-enforcement-donald-trump-wall/ [motherjones.com]
https://www.factcheck.org/2017/04/democrats-support-border-wall/ [factcheck.org]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @01:28PM (5 children)
When cancer comes for you, the world will be a better place.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @01:51PM (3 children)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 13 2018, @05:49PM
Ah, Trump supporters. If someone says something you don't like, and you have no argument against it, wish them dead. Brilliant!
Nah, that's just regular assholism. A Trump supporter would accuse the left of being violent first.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @06:09PM (1 child)
Some day when you're on the ground getting your rib cage kicked in, remember that it's not always smart to act like the prick you are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @01:38AM
America has always resisted that sort of behavior. Go hard-extreme and you will lose all support.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @05:22PM
You probably drink a lot of beer. Cancer is apparently coming for your ass!
(Score: 2, Redundant) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 13 2018, @02:59PM (21 children)
I didn't pay attention to Puerto Rico after the last hurricane there because it got lost in the rest of the primal scream the MSM has been shrieking for the last two years. But I did a quick search on the matter and it seems like it was widely reported that thousands of containers full of relief supplies were delivered to the docks in San Juan, but the island did nothing to distribute them. The truck drivers didn't show up, and nobody seems to have gone round to gather them and ask them to report to work. My search results turned up that report from CNN, Bloomberg, NPR, and so on across the MSM spectrum so I don't think it's likely that was fabricated.
How is that Trump's fault? You can deliver tons of relief supplies in the town square, but is it then your fault when the townspeople can't be bothered to leave their homes and pick them up? OK, so some of the roads are blocked. Puerto Ricans can't be bothered to haul out their chainsaws and remove the trees?
I gather from your post that Trump was photographed handing out rolls of toilet paper there. That sounds familiar.
When I was at the Clinton Foundation an earthquake leveled Port-au-Prince. Bill Clinton got his buddies to lend him a cargo plane full of water and MRE's. He took along his body man and a couple of the top officers from the Foundation with him, and they were so excited to go on such an important mission. When they got there there was nobody to take receipt of the supplies, because the Haitian government had been essentially leveled also. So they sat there on the tarmac for 8 hours with the ramp down, playing hearts on the crates.
Eventually they did a photo op of Bill holding a box as if he was personally unloading the plane. It was an empty box, of course, with "Relief Supplies" stamped on the side, and it took about 15 minutes before they were satisfied they had gotten the shot. Then they dumped the pallets on the tarmac and took off, headed back to New York. The pallets were then promptly stolen by black marketeers.
Bill used that shot to raise $60 million in donations from the rubes. Over time, 99% of that money was filtered back to Bill's buddies, the Friends of Bill. The 1% that actually went to the suffering Haitians would up giving them cholera because the refugee camps weren't set up right. Turns out political hacks suck at knowing about stuff like basic sanitation.
To this day I don't read anyone in the MSM saying the same things about Bill Clinton for that episode that they apparently said about Trump vis-a-vis Puerto Rico. I mean, I remember there were a couple of tidbits in obscure corners of the media-sphere, but that was it. That's a great trick the MSM likes to play, such that they can claim they did cover it, without actually covering it.
As for how Puerto Rico is doing, well, they did most of it to themselves long before the hurricane ever came along. In fact it was quite lucky for the politicians there that the hurricane did come along, because now they have an excuse for the state of the island and they can blame it all on Trump. Nobody even asks them about their mismanagement and corruption that turned the place into a fiscal basket case long before that.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday September 13 2018, @05:16PM (14 children)
Victim-blaming (partly; their inaction is fucking dumb, you have a point there...) AND whataboutism in one giant post, wow. I'd score this one a 2/10, only because you actually touched on something important about how the aid didn't goddamn get distributed.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @05:27PM (5 children)
Yeaaaah, I'm starting to wonder if Phoenix wasn't a secret troll account from day one. Would make a bit of sense given how frequently he refers to where he lives, kinda like Runaway. God I wish I could magically know which internet users are foreign trolls just stirring shit up, or even domestic trolls trying to influence people with fake accounts that slowly "switch sides".
Maybe Phoenix has just been burned one too many times, but I don't see any reason why Bill's shitty antics somehow ameliorate Trump's. The US fucked up with Puerto Rico. No power? Well we have massive specially built ships that could have been parked there to help out. We have massive armed forces with an Engineer Corps that could have gotten shit fixed up pretty well on that small island.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday September 13 2018, @05:30PM (2 children)
Yeah, he seems to have two different personalities. It's one reason I'm not one of his fans; he'll act more or less reasonable, then drop THIS kind of shit on us...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 14 2018, @12:59AM
This kind of shit? Meaning, something coming from a perspective, a set of experiences that does not align with yours?
Maybe I've seen things you haven't, or have seen what you have seen from a different angle, or haven't seen what you have seen. Maybe, as a rational, informed, and observant person I've reached different conclusions than others have from a distance, based on second- or third-hand information, or, heck through their own set of first hand information. That's not to say, "oooh I have some super secret insider information that you don't." It only means I have had a different set of experiences that have led me to a different view of this particular sort of thing, disasters and disaster relief.
I am honestly surprised to hear you want to stuff me or anyone into a tidy little box. You had always struck me as a complex person, who appreciates complexity in others and in the world around us.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Friday September 14 2018, @12:26PM
One personality when they agree with you and another when they don't? Maybe the problem lies with the observer instead.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 13 2018, @11:43PM (1 child)
It's not about Bill's antics vs. Trump's antics, but rather how those two disasters were covered.. Bill Clinton used the Haiti earthquake to raise $60 million and spent virtually none of it actually helping the people affected. I call that fraud and morally indefensible. Trump, for his part, got the supplies to Puerto Rico. The people there didn't bother to distribute them. But the media gave Bill a pass and put Trump through the ringer.
That kind of double standard is tedious and caustic.
The truth is, natural disasters could be handled much better than they are. The several that i've witnessed up close have been bungled and seem to be nothing more than a vehicle for fraud and hucksterism. Meanwhile, it's neighbors helping neighbors that hold things together, and the quiet, humble people who work through the night and shun the spotlight who save lives. And all the while the media prance around like it's the greatest show on earth, jamming whatever screed they can down on top of it.
I'm sick of it.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @04:21PM
Having you in ANY way apologize for Trump, especially with a fuck up like Puerto Rico relief, well that is all. It makes no sense, and yes it is Trump's fault since he is supposedly the leader of the fucking country. So either Trump has literally driven the world insane, you are a shill, or you just got burned so bad youre willing to go Full Evil.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 13 2018, @06:11PM (7 children)
Calling it "whataboutism" glibly dismisses the markedly different coverage of two comparable events, natural disasters, despite similar levels of dysfunction and ham-fisted photo ops.
Meanwhile, the relief supplies did reach Puerto Rico. The federal government did its part. The stuff was sitting on the docks. What more do the feds do then, wave a magic wand and un-damage the roads and right the power lines? That never happens anywhere. The feds release disaster funds, and the locals are then to use them to get things back to rights. Are there none in Puerto Rico who know how to do that?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:11PM (2 children)
When the left do it it's "inconvenient truths" or "speaking the truth to power" or "uncovering corruption and hypocrisy".
When anyone tells them inconvenient truths, or lends perspectives, or illustrates hypocrisy, it's "whataboutism".
Anyone slinging that term about can be pretty much as safely ignored as anybody who talks about their god hating fags. It's a sign of angry fringe mentality.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:22PM (1 child)
When anyone tells them inconvenient truths, or lends perspectives, or illustrates hypocrisy, it's "whataboutism".
No, it's whatboutism when you compare, say, something a federal agency does under the direction of a sitting President. To, say, something a citizen does as part of his own private charity.
Which, for the record, is what just happened.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 14 2018, @01:09AM
No, it's actually not what just happened. We're not talking about a random private citizen, but a former president of the US. In fact we're talking about two former presidents of the US, because Bill Clinton did the Haiti gig in tandem with George W. Bush. Furthermore, those two are not random, disinterested former presidents of the US, either, because Bill's wife Hillary was Secretary of State of the US at the time, in the administration of a president whom they were deeply meshed with as former primary rivals and fellow leaders of the Democratic party.
I can tell you for a fact that Obama was not a presence in that disaster in Haiti, and Bill Clinton was effectively president of the US with respect to it. That is, FEMA, the State Department, and all the rest were taking their lead from him.
So your distinction is only technically true, but not effectively so.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:18PM (3 children)
What more do the feds do then, wave a magic wand and un-damage the roads and right the power lines?
I think the feds, as an agency are supposed to manage the emergency. But who knows, I'm just spitballing here...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:56PM
Well yeah but where are we gonna get the funding for the ICE concentration camps?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @09:05PM
Public Policy. She was telling me about fema and Katrina. I had/have little knowledge on the subject, but it appears in these discussions often.
Anyway, she said katrina happened in the middle of a giant reorgaization after 9/11 and there were so many different agencies involved that no one could figure out who was in charge of what as people's roles were not solidly defined at that point (kinda like when you have 8 bosses). Perhaps something similar. Logistics is hard.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 13 2018, @11:53PM
They did, though. Getting supplies there and releasing disaster relief is the feds' piece of the puzzle. Distributing the supplies is on the state (or commonwealth in this case) to do. Local crews clear the roads and restore power under contracts funded by the federal disaster relief money, and managed by the state. That's how it was in NYC after hurricane sandy, because i bid on a couple.
In america, immediate disaster supplies and evacuations are done by first responders and national guard. All that is under the state and local jurisdiction. If they didn't do that in puerto rico, that's on them.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 13 2018, @06:02PM (3 children)
containers full of relief supplies were delivered to the docks in San Juan, but the island did nothing to distribute them.
Those were FEMA supplies and it was FEMA's job to know how to distribute them. [npr.org]
How is that Trump's fault?
Trump is in charge of FEMA. If he'd hired the best people they might've known ahead of time that driving large trucks around after a hurricane, on an island, might be hard.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 13 2018, @09:28PM
And hey look! Just like that we can add the FEMA director to the long list of corrupt Trump appointees!
How soon until this guy resigns like all the rest? [washingtonpost.com]
The part where he screws up the name of the incoming hurricane is rather amusing, too.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 14 2018, @12:10AM (1 child)
How is FEMA supposed to get all those cargo containers from the port to the backwoods of puerto rico, using a fleet of 2,000 skycrane helicopters that doesn't exist? No, they would have to use trucks. And anticipating that roads might be impassable after a hurricane does not mean you will have some magic way to clear those roads. It will always take time to do that, no matter who you are and how well organized you are.
As for the head of FEMA, that's one guy. Presumably he's surrounded by lifelong FEMA bureaucrats who know what they're doing. It would be nice if presidents picked technocrats who knew what they were doing to head those agencies. I would prefer that. But it seems most pick people for those positions based on political reasons.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @04:29PM
Sweet apologetic christ. Can you be reborn already? I think you are in the crusty later stages of life. When states have a problem the fed is supposed to step in and help, not throw up their hands and say "that part is on you!" Other areas would quickly see a mass of national guard units and equipment brought in. Puerto Rico wss blamed for all sorts of shit instead of getting help. What a load of horse shit you want to pander, then defend Trump who threw paper towels at the crowd.
Maybe you are a real person but youve lost any faith i had in you. Not like you care but whatever.
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Thursday September 13 2018, @07:01PM (1 child)
Bill Clinton wasn't a sitting President at the time. I'm guessing he didn't have nearly as much media along, compared to Trump. So no wonder Trump's photo op got more attention.
Puerto Ricans are American citizens. Haitians (those living in Haiti that don't individually have U.S. citizenship) are not.
President Trump has repeatedly downplayed the situation in Puerto Rico, including just today [twitter.com]:
Trump falsely claims nearly 3,000 Americans in Puerto Rico 'did not die' [cnn.com]
Trump's wrong on Puerto Rico, Florida Republicans say [go.com]
Large portions of the island were left without electricity for a long time. Infrastructure, roads, and many homes were damaged. The updated death toll and other estimates are in the ballpark of 0.1% of the population. Does Trump dispute the new death toll because it's wildly inaccurate, or because it's politically expedient to ignore it? At least 200,000 people have ended up moving to Florida, which is probably not a great outcome for Republicans or Trump's reelection effort. Obviously, Maria's effects on Puerto Rico's economy and tourism were not great, so their already crappy economy is going to be even worse off.
Puerto Rico had its problems before the storm, that's for sure, but sooner or later, we will have to pick up the tab. That's the price of latent imperialism. If the place goes completely tits up, you'll just see a massive exodus to Florida, which will likely cease to be a "battleground state".
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 14 2018, @01:25AM
No, but his wife was Secretary of State at the time, a position Obama gave her to try to avoid a split in the Democratic party after a long and bitter primary. Also, George W. Bush was in on the Haiti action with the Clintons, so we're talking about two former presidents, not just one. Bill Clinton was also the UN's Special Envoy to Haiti at the time, so the UN was also represented. In short, there were plenty of media there.
The status of Puerto Ricans as Americans doesn't make a material difference to the damage a hurricane will do to a Caribbean island. It doesn't mean cleaning up afterward is somehow easier, either. They're called natural disasters for a reason. Hurricane Sandy hit NYC six years ago, and it was pretty mild as hurricanes go, but here we are all that time later and they are still shutting down subway tunnels to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to repair hurricane damage. The aquarium in Coney Island is still messed up.
So where are all the media cursing Obama for not having done enough to protect the center of American capitalism and financial markets from such an event, which, as a guy who's aware of the impact of climate change on extreme weather, should have known better? There was no such outcry.
My point in all this is that the MSM was never going to say anything positive about Trump's handling of the matter. If he had had an actual magic wand, and had waved it, and everything had suddenly gone back to status quo ante, MSNBC would have led its evening broadcast with "Trump Makes Pact Wtih Satan."
My secondary point, already made upthread, is that the local pols in Puerto Rico were just pleased as punch to suddenly have Trump to blame for the damage they themselves had done to the place.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 13 2018, @08:52PM
I remember when I was a kid in the 70's living on a boat in Florida when a hurricane hit. Presidents weren't involved in hurricanes back then.