Electoral Politics Are A Terrible Prism For Natural Disasters

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

A Flood Of Dumb

The storm-ravaged people of southern Appalachia are too busy cleaning up, digging out, and trying to find small moments of normalcy to keep themselves sane to notice much of the national political conversation. That is a small blessing amidst the carnage in their lives.

Natural disasters have become another of our stale campaign tropes. It dates back in my mind to President George H.W. Bush’s response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992. His son’s feeble response to Hurricane Katrina was a political disaster that didn’t sink his second term all by itself but served to bring home in a clear and convincing way the incompetence and ineptitude of the Iraq invasion. What could be explained away in Baghdad could not be waved away in New Orleans. But those few historic instances have become tired set pieces that political editors pull out of the file when the next big disaster strikes, and that doesn’t do anyone any good.

Disaster response is one of those under-appreciated core government functions that requires years of planning, consistent funding, unsexy contingencies for communications, mutual aid, and the pre-positioning of assets — none of which is noticed or appreciated until disaster strikes. It is a chronic frustration of emergency managers that their warnings aren’t heeded, their resources are limited, and their communities often end up in reactive postures rather than proactively planning for the inevitable disaster.

In recent decades, manmade climate change and population growth have combined to turbocharge weather-related disasters, adding another layer of complexity, and additional political baggage to the grinding job of preparing for and mitigating natural disasters. (Some of you will object to the term “natural disaster” but let’s save that conversation for another day.) Perhaps at no time in human history has preparation and mitigation for weather disasters been more urgently required, but the stranglehold that climate-change-denying Republicans continue to have on politics makes that very difficult.

Hurricane Helene’s deluge was without precedent in western North Carolina, but it is reminiscent of past storms with far-reaching inland effects, carrying echoes, for instance, of 1972’s Hurricane Agnes. But science tell us that a warming atmosphere can hold more water and warming oceans fuel stronger storms. It will only get worse in the coming decades. Election year jousting over the immediate response until the TV cameras turn away is only the most glaring example of our short-sightedness.

Moronic

While southern Appalachia struggles to begin its long-term recovery from Hurricane Helene, Donald Trump was running around Georgia making idiotic comments like this one:

"Nobody thought this would be happening" — Trump, who denies climate change during each of his speeches, on Hurricane Helene pic.twitter.com/aqCRc9V9i1

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 30, 2024

The hurricane seasons runs through the end of November. The climatological peak of hurricane season falls around Sept 10. Helene made landfall on Sept. 26, smack in the middle of what is historically the busiest stretch of the hurricane season.

One Bright Spot

CNN’s Brian Stelter has a lovely piece on how local radio has become a lifeline for the people of western North Carolina in the aftermath of the historic flooding.

Tester And Sheehy Debate In Must-Win Race

The crucial, though increasingly tough for Dems, Montana Senate race entered its stretch run with a candidate debate last night, the highlight of which was this exchange in the closing minutes:

Tester: If you really feel this way about Native Americans, you ought to apologize for the statement you made about them

Sheehy: I come from the military, we make insensitive jokes pic.twitter.com/soQ7DuGc4l

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 1, 2024

2024 Ephemera

• Politico: Republicans are starting to raise alarms about Trump’s ground game
• NYT: Trump Allies Bombard the Courts, Setting Stage for Post-Election Fight
• TPM: Georgia Dems Sue Kemp To Compel Him To Hold Hearing On Rogue Election Board
• NPR: Justice Department sues Alabama, claiming it purged voters too close to the election

Trump Golf Course Gunman Pleads Not Guilty

Ryan Routh entered a not guilty plea in federal court in West Palm Beach on the federal charges against him for last month’s attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Judge Blocks Georgia’s Six-Week Abortion Ban

Access to abortion in Georgia was at least temporarily expanded when a state trial judge blocked a six-week ban, reverting the state to the previous 22-week ban. Fulton County Superior Judge Robert McBurney ruled that the six-week abortion ban violated the state Constitution. The case is expected to reach the Georgia Supreme Court for a final determination on the six-week ban’s constitutionality.

Health Care Access Threatened By GOP Win In November

When democracy is at stake, some of the usual campaign issues fade from relevance, but this election presents a major fork in the road on national health care policy since the two parties are miles apart on things as basic as Obamacare, Medicare, and Medicaid. Here’s just one example.

Dockworkers Strike Along East And Gulf Coasts

WSJ: “Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents 45,000 dockworkers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, began picketing early Tuesday at cargo terminals that handle more than half of American import and export volumes as the contract with port employers expired.”

Happy 100th!

When he went into hospice care months ago, it seemed unlikely that former President Jimmy Carter would live to see his 100th birthday. But he continues to defy expectations and set his own course. He was born on this date in 1924.

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