An emergency response official’s decision to withhold vital assistance to hurricane victims that showed visible support for Republicans is a scandal that belies a larger issue, namely, an unaccountable federal bureaucracy left to police itself and which President-elect Donald Trump has eyed for reform and cuts.
Read the full story
It wasn’t as if the Tar Heel state didn’t see Hurricane Helene coming. On Sept. 25, one day before Helene stormed ashore, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency as the storm’s path showed it churning northward toward Appalachia after making landfall in Florida.
Yet that advance declaration was not followed by any state evacuation orders, and the population largely sheltered in place as Helene hit the steep, wooded hills of western North Carolina, squatting over the area, unleashing more than an inch of water an hour for more than a day. The unprecedented, relentless downpour, falling on ground already saturated by rain the week before, tore old pines and hardwoods out by the roots, creating arboreal torpedoes that rocketed down the steep inclines; water that turned photogenic stony creeks into whitewater torrents, lifting ancient streambed boulders and tossing them like chips on to roads and into homes and buildings. The storm left 230 people dead, nearly half of them in North Carolina, with dozens still missing as of early November.
Read the full story
The state of Florida is suing current and former federal employees personally for allegedly ignoring storm victim households solely because of their political affiliation.
Attorney General Ashley Moody sued current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency officials for “conspiracy to discriminate” against Florida hurricane victims because they expressed support for President-elect Donald Trump.
Read the full story
Florida officials say 34.6 million visitors spent time in the Sunshine State in the third quarter of this year, eclipsing the previous third quarter record by 1.7% and giving the state three consecutive quarters of record growth.
That comes despite Hurricanes Debby and Helene making landfall in the quarter. Milton, in the just started fourth quarter, made it three hurricanes in 66 days.
Read the full story
Local law enforcement in a Florida county announced the arrest of over 100 people who committed looting and similar crimes in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, with at least 41 of these suspects being illegal aliens.
As reported by Fox News, police officers on patrol for looters in Pinellas County have made the arrests over the course of the last three weeks. A total of 45 suspects were arrested on 68 different charges, ranging from robbery and burglary to grand theft, vandalism, and trespassing.
Read the full story
Republicans on a top congressional committee have launched an investigation into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over its “priorities” after reports emerged claiming that the agency spent most of its money aiding illegal aliens, to the point that it had little money left to deal with the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
According to Fox News, a letter was issued by members of the majority on the the House Homeland Security Committee, declaring that the committee “is investigating [DHS’] prioritization of its ability to adequately respond to natural disasters.”
Read the full story
As the disastrous impact of Hurricane Helene reverberates through the nation and the southeast braces for the impact of Hurricane Milton, many Americans are calling out the tepid federal response from the Biden-Harris Administration even as billions of taxpayer dollars are ushered to foreign countries or into programs for illegal immigrants.
Hurricane Helene, which devastated sixteen states in the southeast from Florida to North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, has taken the lives of over 220 Americans, and left millions without food, shelter, or power.
Read the full story
Four Democrats in the U.S. House sent a letter to Big Tech executives on Friday demanding increased censorship and scrutiny on their platforms after Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, arguing they must censor posts to protect users from potential scams and “misinformation” about federal agencies.
Representatives Deborah Ross (D-NC-02), Kathy Castor (D-FL-14), Nikema Williams (D-GA-05), and Wiley Nickel (D-NC-13) urged tech executives to “do substantially more” to combat social media “misinformation” that purportedly began in the wake of Hurricane Helene, in a letter first reported by Axios.
Read the full story
Recovery in Florida continued Friday morning following Wednesday’s overnight strike of Hurricane Milton that left 12 dead and millions without power.
Reports vary on the number killed, from as low as eight to as many as 14. An estimated three dozen tornadoes were part of the destructive force of high winds along with significant flash flooding.
Read the full story
National political reporter Neil W. McCabe reported live from the beach in Destin, Florida on Thursday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show where he discussed the destruction Hurricane Milton left in the state just hours after the storm officially retreated out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Read the full story
Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, said Vice President Kamala Harris’ blunders on the presidential campaign trail are so significant that “nobody would believe it” if she was elected president in the November 5 general election.
During Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Leahy dedicated a segment to Harris’ questionable move to attack Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ preparation for Hurricane Milton, specifically the governor’s lack of communication with Harris ahead of the storm.
Read the full story
On the eve of Hurricane Milton’s landfall on a disaster-weary Florida, FEMA, the nation’s disaster relief agency reported a stark shortage of frontline workers available to be deployed: just 8% of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s vaunted Incident Management personnel were still available for deployment.
The stunning declaration in Wednesday’s Daily Operations Briefing exposed the longtime impact of FEMA’s expanding work on unrelated missions like COVID funerals and illegal immigrant services, a crisis created by a worker shortage, a workforce morale issue and the reality of burnout from a increasingly frenetic natural disaster pace.
Read the full story
Mobilization for hurricane is larger for Milton than any previous in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said from Lake City on Wednesday.
State officials say 6,000 Florida National Guard soldiers and 3,000 from other states await storm rescue and recovery efforts, along with 34 search and rescue aircraft and 500 tactical vehicles. Hurricane Milton is forecast for landfall Wednesday night into Thursday.
Read the full story
Florida’s Tampa Bay area could face record storm surge flooding from Hurricane Milton as officials try to clean up debris from Hurricane Helene before Milton makes landfall late Wednesday night.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said crews will continue to work 24 hours a day to pick up debris in affected areas from Helene until Wednesday when it is no longer safe to continue. A record 15-foot storm surge is forecast in Tampa Bay.
Read the full story
Atlantic storm Milton strengthened Monday to a Category 5 hurricane with maximum wind speeds of 125 mph in the Gulf of Mexico and is taking aim at Florida’s Gulf Coast where residents are preparing for evacuations.
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference the storm is expected to make landfall in his state Thursday.
Read the full story