The Politics of Visiting Disaster Areas in 2024
All disasters have a political aspect to them from the local, state and national level. When you have a mega disaster, shall I say “catastrophe” like Hurricane Helene the politics of a disaster goes sky-high in a presidential election year.
First there will be a debate about the cause of all the suffering and damages. Yes, it was a hurricane, but is climate change a factor? With two political parties taking different positions on climate change, a disaster like Helene caused damages will make the debate fiercer. Certainly, I’m on the side of a warming climate and hot waters of the Gulf of Mexico being a contributing factor to the rapid intensification of Tropical Storm Helene into a Category 4 Hurricane. And, lets not forget that there are still two more months of “hurricane” season and five weeks of presidential politically campaigning.
Today the immediate back and forth of the two Presidential campaigns will be about the disaster response. Is FEMA responding fast enough? Are disaster supplies being delivered in a timely manner? Is search and rescue being performed in a rapid and efficient manner? Will federal resources be available to help individual citizens who suffered damages and communities that have lost pieces of their critical infrastructure (roads and bridges in the mountains are going to be a huge issue—not solved with the snap of one’s fingers)? I can tell you several things. One is that with a hurricane there was adequate warning of the disaster. People and supplies where put in place in advance of Helene’s landfall. A former FEMA Administrator advised to “Go fast and go big!” with disaster response. However, I expect that Florida was the main target of that planning and logistics effort and likely the impact to the other Southern States was not anticipated to be as significant as it is turning out to be. The destruction of the road network will make the disaster relief efforts much more difficult. I anticipate that use of active-duty military resources might be required to ferry via helicopter all the supplies that will be of immediate need.
Then there is the question of how soon should there be a visit to the disaster area(s) by the President? And, in this pollical cycle, the Vice President who is a Presidential Candidate. I wrote about this previously in this Disaster Zone Blog Post: Why Doesn’t the President Visit a Disaster Zone Immediately?
A President is always open to criticism for not coming quickly enough to visit a disaster site. Why does he (or maybe she—in the future) come as soon as possible? First of all, there is the compassion factor of showing an interest in what has happened, and being there to inspect the damages and console people who have lost possessions and perhaps loved ones. There is the opportunity to be briefed by state and local officials on the extent of the damages—hearing first hand what their needs are. Then, there is the inevitable statement that sounds something like this, “We are here today for you and I want you to know we will be here for you in the future—you will not be forgotten.” Then, they get back on the plane and off they go.
In this moment in time the political arrows will be flying fast and furious. Who, what, when, why didn’t she or he do something faster? The party, not in power, will seek to make points wherever and whenever possible. I fully expect that former President Trump will make a visit so a disaster area also. When he does so, he will be there as a private citizen. His role will be purely political in nature. I can’t predict what he will say, but he could state something like this, “If I was president this would never have happened! There never would have been a Hurricane Helene, and if there was, the damages would have been much less! Furthermore, I would have had all the disaster supplies here immediately! There would be no delay whatsoever. We will rebuild everything and it will be beautiful!” Only a guess on what he might say.
