Trump politicized storms
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To the editor:
The Trump Campaign has politicized [the latest Big Lie], FEMA’s response to back-to-back Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
This despite the fact the governors of the states affected, namely, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida have praised the Administrations prompt offers of aid.
“Whatever you need,” is President Biden’s response and FEMA is delivering aid as fast as possible.
Over 50,000 electrical workers have been dispatched to restore power as quickly as possible to the affected areas.
Contrast that to the $300 million no bid contract from the Trump administration to a tiny power company out of Montana called Whitefish to restore Puerto Rico’s devastated power grid following Hurricane Maria.
Whitefish had limited experience in disaster relief and just a handful of employees.
The contract was later canceled by Puerto Rico’s governor on the grounds of price gouging and questions about how Whitefish was awarded the exclusive contract.
Later when Trump visited hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico, he discovered that it was an island surrounded by “a lot” of water, “very deep” water.
He did not come empty handed; he brought paper towels which he threw to the crowd that had gathered to see him.
When Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas, Trump traveled to New Bern, North Carolina on September 19, 1918, where he observed a boat that had washed up on the property of a homeowner.
As he surveyed the damage, here are some of the comments that he made. “Is this your boat?” and “at least you got a nice boat out of the deal.” These comments were published by Simon & Schuster in a children’s book entitled “Whose Boat Is This Boat?”
Comments That Don’t Help in the Aftermath of a Hurricane. The book is credited to “Donald J. Trump [by accident].”
The publisher Simon & Schuster credited Stephen Colbert who said that “Donald J. Trump’s comments about that boat are helping in spite of him.” as the proceeds from the sale of the book are going to support victims of both Florence and later Hurricane Michael.
Following Hurricane Matthew, called one of the worst disasters to hit North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper requested $963 million dollars of relief but was told they would likely receive $6.1 million–less than 1 percent of the amount requested.
In a letter to President Donald Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Cooper wrote, “Families across eastern North Carolina need help to rebuild and recover, and it is an incredible failure by the Trump administration and Congressional leaders to turn their backs.”
Mary Kathryn Gepner
Benton