A new hurricane approaches Florida on Sunday, in the midst of controversy surrounding federal aid provided to victims after the devastating passage of Hurricane Helene in the southeast of the United States a week ago.
Milton, which is located in the Gulf of Mexico, is currently considered a Category 1 (out of 5) hurricane and is expected to strengthen into “major hurricane” (category 3 and above) before making landfall in Florida in the middle of next week, warned the American hurricane monitoring agency (NHC).
These predictions from the NHC are causing concern in Florida, as in the American southeast, a large part of which has been devastated since the devastating passage of Hélène.
More than 226 dead
Emergency services are still hard at work to help the many victims of this hurricane, the deadliest to hit the United States since Katrina in 2005. Hélène, which became a category 4 hurricane, made more than 226 deaths across half a dozen states in the southeast of the country and caused destructive floods.
By warming sea waters, climate change makes rapid intensification of storms more likely and increases the risk of more powerful hurricanes, scientists say. The American Weather Observatory (NOAA) warned at the end of May that the hurricane season, which extends from the beginning of June to the end of November, was shaping up to be an extraordinary year, with the possibility of four to seven Category 3 or more hurricanes.
“Totally ready”
“We are totally ready”wanted to reassure the director of the federal natural disaster response agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell, on Sunday. “We started preparing for this several days ago, before (the storm) even formed. We know she’s heading straight for Florida.”she said during an interview on ABC. “We will deploy resources to meet their needs”she added, specifying that teams are already on site.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Sunday extended the state of emergency declared the day before to several localities: 51 out of 67 counties are now affected. According to the NHC, “heavy precipitation will affect parts of Florida” Sunday and Monday even before Milton arrived.
If he is “still too early to specify the exact scale and location of the most significant impacts”the agency warns of the possibility of “destructive winds” and significant storm surge later in the week.
Multiple rumors
This new threat comes at a time when American authorities are struggling to counter a flood of disinformation about aid provided to disaster victims in the southeast. Former President Donald Trump on Saturday repeated false allegations, also relayed by Elon Musk, that the Biden-Harris administration had redirected aid funds intended for areas devastated by Hurricane Helen to devote them to programs in favor of migrants.
“It’s frankly ridiculous and simply wrong.”the director of FEMA replied on Sunday, criticizing the numerous rumors which abound on social networks on the subject. The Republican billionaire, candidate in the November presidential election, had earlier in the week accused the government and Democratic authorities of North Carolina of “deliberately not helping people in Republican areas”.
“This kind of rhetoric doesn’t help people”lamented Deanne Criswell, worried about the impact of these false rumors on the work of the emergency services. The affected people “are afraid to ask us or register for help”she indicated. “And this has a considerable impact on the comfort of our teams (…) it’s demoralizing”she confided.
The problem is such that FEMA, as well as authorities in North Carolina, the worst-affected state, have set up a page deconstructing these false claims, such as the one according to which households seeking federal aid following the disaster could see themselves expropriated.
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