"Insurance experts began offering projections on Monday for the total cost of the storm’s damage, with initial estimates running in the range of $20 billion to $50 billion."
It's incredible to realize Irma could have been a lot worse. The damage when the category five hurricane struck Cuba must've been massive. Nevertheless, the fact Cuba took the brunt of the force from this "monster" storm did eventually help Florida (somewhat).
However, seeing three hurricanes all on one map is disconcerting. The following meme was sent to me by text (setting aside the unrealistic colors & size), you can't deny the impact upon seeing the graphic ("The day after tomorrow" is a 2004 science-fiction disaster movie about "catastrophic climate effects following disruption of the North Atlantic Ocean circulation" :
Still, despite Bernie Sanders saying "the debate is over, Climate Change is real". In most conservative circles there isn't even a debate. Yesterday, CNN reporter Jim Acosta was mocked by FoxNews for even bringing up the subject:
www.mediaite.com/tv/you-look-really-stupid-there-greg-gutfeld-mocks-cnns-acosta-for-connecting-irma-to-climate-change/%2Bjim+acosta+climate+change+gutfeld&client=safari&rls=en&hl=en&ct=clnk
"As Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert took
questions about the damage Irma caused in Florida,
Acosta grilled him about the Trump Administration’s
shaky record on Climate Change.
As the Fox panel considered Acosta’s question,
Greg Gutfeld started the mockery by saying Acosta
was being “anti-science” for making a broad
assumption without sufficient data."
As mentioned before, despite Irma not battering the U.S. as bad as Cuba, long-term problems will probably continue to plague the state of Florida, especially the Keys:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/us/irma-jacksonville-naples.html
"Major streets remained underwater in cities from Miami to Jacksonville, with even more roads snarled by debris.
As many as nine million Floridians lost electricity at some
point during the storm, and the chief executive of a major
utility, Florida Power & Light, said that it could take weeks
to restore full service.
Officials were still assessing Irma’s impact in the Florida
Keys, which may have borne the worst of the storm.
After a survey of the islands, Gov. Rick Scott told reporters
that he had seen crippling damage there, including
countless overturned trailers and many boats washed
ashore.
Recovery in the Keys would be a “long road,” he said."
Besides the coasts of Florida, Irma is affecting places like Jacksonville & states like Georgia & South Carolina. Not to mention the catastrophe still going on in the Caribbean:
http://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-irma-us-virgin-islands-damage-2017-9
"Before making landfall in Florida, Hurricane Irma churned through the Caribbean, devastating islands frequently thought of as isolated paradises and leaving thousands homeless.
Many residents of those islands fear that without immediate intervention, desperation and limited access to resources could lead to dangerous situations."
"St. Thomas and St. John are pretty devastated," Rep. Stacey Plaskett,
the Virgin Islands' delegate to Congress, told USA Today on Thursday. She said the only hospital on St. Thomas was crippled and many buildings couldn't withstand the storm. Plaskett estimated it would take years to rebuild.
"We've lost practically 70% of our infrastructure in terms of utility system on the island St. Thomas and all of the utility system on the island of St. John," Plaskett told MSNBC.
A bar owner on St. John told The Washington Post that "people there are roaming like zombies" and that no one knew what to do."
Conservatives can deny climate change all they want but the crucial question in the future will be: how will we prepare & how will we pay for the damage from Climate Change?
The question will be rather important since Conservatives are always advocating a "small government" who doesn't pay for anything (& therefore no taxes (or very low rates) from wealthy individuals & corporations).
No comments:
Post a Comment