Trump ‘playing politics’ over Hurricanes Helene and Milton, says Harris
Vice-president Kamala Harris and the White House criticized Donald Trump for his attacks on the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and suggested he was wrongly trying to turn the deadly storms to his political advantage, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Attending a town hall sponsored by Univision in Las Vegas, Harris was asked about complaints that federal officials have bungled disaster recovery efforts. She responded: “In this crisis – like in so many issues that affect the people of our country – I think it so important that leadership recognises the dignity” to which people are entitled.
“I have to stress that this is not a time for people to play politics,” Harris added.
Those comments came after the former president spoke at the Detroit Economic Club, offering sympathy to people affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the latter of which came ashore in Florida on Wednesday night. But Trump also suggested that the Biden administration’s response had been lacking, particularly in North Carolina after Helene.
“They’ve let those people suffer unjustly,” said Trump, who has for several days promoted falsehoods about the federal response, reports the AP.
Harris virtually attended a briefing, held in the White House situation room with president Joe Biden, on emergency efforts in Milton’s wake. In subsequent comments to reporters, Biden slammed Trump and his supporters for spreading misinformation about federal assistance available to victims.
“They’re being so damn un-American with the way they’re talking about this stuff,” Biden said, then adding directly to Trump: “Get a life, man. Help these people.”
Despite the storm, Trump and Harris are both visiting key swing states strategically, trying to increase support with key voting blocs who could decide an election expected to be exceedingly close.
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“All right, I did a lot of research and a lot of preparation the last 30 years for what I’m going to be covering today,” he said. “Coming up, I’m going to do a big presentation for everybody on what’s really going on with weather weapons.”
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Amid two hurricanes – one of which hit two swing states – formerly fringe characters like Jones contributed to a swirl of conspiracy theories, many becoming uncomfortably mainstream. The weather was being controlled, some of the theories went, to prevent Republicans from voting and fend off a Trump victory.
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The misinformation since Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina and Georgia and Milton hit Florida offers a test run for how election day could go – and it’s not looking good.
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Social media sites like X, Facebook and TikTok all gave a platform to hurricane truthers and politicians who saw an opening to spread doubt and distrust of government. That distrust in some cases then led to threats and harassment against aid workers, meteorologists and government officials.
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The hurricanes hit at a crucial time in the US election calendar – about a month out from November’s presidential contest. Because Helene hit two swing states, turnout could be affected by the storm’s devastation and affected states are considering rule changes to accommodate people who may not have transportation or identification. Those changes will become fodder for allegations that the election will be rigged.
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Read on here:
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Meteorologists tracking the advance of Hurricane Milton have been targeted by a deluge of conspiracy theories that they were controlling the weather, abuse and even death threats, amid what they say is an unprecedented surge in misinformation as two major hurricanes have hit the US.
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A series of falsehoods and threats have swirled in the two weeks since Hurricane Helene tore through six states causing several hundred deaths, followed by Milton crashing into Florida on Wednesday.
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The extent of the misinformation, which has been stoked by Donald Trump and his followers, has been such that it has stymied the ability to help hurricane-hit communities, according to the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).
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Katie Nickolaou, a Michigan-based meteorologist, said that she and her colleagues have borne the brunt of much of these conspiracies, having received messages claiming there are category 6 hurricanes (there aren’t), that meteorologists or the government are creating and directing hurricanes (they aren’t) and even that scientists should be killed and radar equipment be demolished.
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“I’ve never seen a storm garner so much misinformation, we have just been putting out fires of wrong information everywhere,” Nickolaou said.
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“I have had a bunch of people saying I created and steered the hurricane, there are people assuming we control the weather. I have had to point out that a hurricane has the energy of 10,000 nuclear bombs and we can’t hope to control that. But it’s taken a turn to more violent rhetoric, especially with people saying those who created Milton should be killed.”
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One post aimed at Nickolaou said: “Stop the breathing of those that made them and their affiliates.” She responded: “Murdering meteorologists won’t stop hurricanes. I can’t believe I just had to type that.”
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Vice-president Kamala Harris and the White House criticized Donald Trump for his attacks on the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and suggested he was wrongly trying to turn the deadly storms to his political advantage, reports the Associated Press (AP).
\n Attending a town hall sponsored by Univision in Las Vegas, Harris was asked about complaints that federal officials have bungled disaster recovery efforts. She responded: “In this crisis – like in so many issues that affect the people of our country – I think it so important that leadership recognises the dignity” to which people are entitled.
\n “I have to stress that this is not a time for people to play politics,” Harris added.
\n Those comments came after the former president spoke at the Detroit Economic Club, offering sympathy to people affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the latter of which came ashore in Florida on Wednesday night. But Trump also suggested that the Biden administration’s response had been lacking, particularly in North Carolina after Helene.
\n “They’ve let those people suffer unjustly,” said Trump, who has for several days promoted falsehoods about the federal response, reports the AP.
\n Harris virtually attended a briefing, held in the White House situation room with president Joe Biden, on emergency efforts in Milton’s wake. In subsequent comments to reporters, Biden slammed Trump and his supporters for spreading misinformation about federal assistance available to victims.
\n “They’re being so damn un-American with the way they’re talking about this stuff,” Biden said, then adding directly to Trump: “Get a life, man. Help these people.”
\n Despite the storm, Trump and Harris are both visiting key swing states strategically, trying to increase support with key voting blocs who could decide an election expected to be exceedingly close.
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Five fatalities were in a senior community in St Lucie county that was struck by a tornado formed in Milton’s outer bands, authorities there said. The tornado happened before the hurricane made landfall near Sarasota on Florida’s western coast on Wednesday evening.
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The Volusia county sheriff, Michael Chitwood, said three people died in his county, and police in St Petersburg confirmed two storm-related deaths there.
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Parts of Sarasota, Fort Myers, Venice and other Gulf coast cities were inundated by up to 10ft (3 metres) of storm surge while tornadoes wrecked buildings, including a sheriff’s department facility, the skies turned purple and winds as high as 120mph (193km/h) turned cars, trees and debris into projectiles.
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“Our hearts break for the Floridians who have lost so much,” Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, said in an afternoon briefing from the White House.
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Rescue operations were still under way into Thursday afternoon, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, said at a press briefing. Authorities had already rescued at least 340 people and 49 pets, DeSantis said, including a 14-year-old boy found floating in flood waters on a piece of fence.
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A US Coast Guard crew rescued a man who was clinging to an ice chest in the Gulf of Mexico, about 30 miles (50km) off the coast, after his boat broke down before Milton made landfall.
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#Breaking An @USCG Air Station Miami 65 helicopter crew rescued a man clinging to a cooler approximately 30 mi. off Longboat Key.
The man was taken to Tampa General Hospital for medical care.
Sector St. Pete lost communications w/ the man at approx. 6:45 p.m., Wed. #SAR pic.twitter.com/64wSHuRAeH
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) October 10, 2024
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In Tampa, 135 people were rescued from an assisted living facility. The city’s police department also released video of officers rescuing multiple children from a house that was partially destroyed by a fallen tree.
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You can read the full report by Richard Luscombe in Miami and Edward Helmore, here:
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Florida residents are continuing to repair the damage from Hurricane Milton and figure out what to do next after the storm smashed through coastal communities and tore homes to pieces, flooded streets and spawned a barrage of deadly tornadoes.
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There are conflicting reports about the number of deaths as a result of Hurricane Milton but US media reported between 11 and 16 dead with that total expected to grow. CBS News said on Thursday evening that the Florida department of law enforcement had confirmed to the publication that eight counties had reported 16 storm-related deaths to their agency.
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Arriving just two weeks after the devastating Hurricane Helene, the system knocked out power to more than 3 million customers, flooded barrier islands, tore the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays’ baseball stadium and toppled a construction crane.
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Many expressed relief that Hurricane Milton was not worse, reports the Associated Press (AP). The hurricane spared densely populated Tampa a direct hit, and the lethal storm surge that scientists feared never materialized.
\n The AP reports that a flood of vehicles headed south on Thursday evening on Interstate 75, the main highway that runs through the middle of the state, as relief workers and evacuated residents headed toward the aftermath. At times, some cars even drove on the left shoulder of the road. Bucket trucks and fuel tankers streamed by, along with portable bathroom trailers and a convoy of emergency vehicles, reports the AP.
\n As residents raced back to find out whether their homes were destroyed or spared, finding gas was still a challenge. Fuel stations were still closed as far away as Ocala, more than a two and a half hour drive north of where the storm made landfall as a category 3 storm near Siesta Key in Sarasota county on Wednesday night.
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Orlando international airport, the state’s busiest, said departures for domestic flights and international flights would resume on Friday, after resuming domestic arrivals Thursday evening. The airport had minor damage, including a few leaks and downed trees.
\n Florida theme parks including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld planned to reopen on Friday after an assessment of the effects of the storm.
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Key events
Though Florida airports have mostly reopened post Hurricane Milton, travel delays and cancellations are occurring.
At Orlando international airport, 22% of the flights departing the airport today have already been cancelled this morning, according to Flight Aware, and 8% of flights coming in have been cancelled.
At Tampa international airport, 26% of flights leaving the airport have been cancelled today, and 95% have been cancelled out of Sarasota Bradenton international airport.
The US Coast Guard has announced the reopening of several commercial ports in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
The Coast Guard said that each port had been assessed for safety after Milton made landfall on Florida’s Gulf coast as a category 3 hurricane and traveled across the state of Florida.
The ports that have reopened in Florida are Key West, Port Everglades, Port Miami and the Miami River. In Georgia, Brunswick and Savannah have reopened, and in South Carolina, Charleston and Georgetown ports are back open
But several other ports in Florida, including in St Petersburg, Fort Myers, Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, Port Canaveral and others, remain closed as of Thursday, pending ongoing evaluations and surveys.
More than 2.4 million residents in Florida are still without power.
In Hillsborough county, which includes the city of Tampa, power is out for almost 70% of the residents, according to poweroutage.us.
In Pinellas county, which includes some of the hardest hit areas such as St Petersburg, more than 80% of residents still have no power.
As of Friday, several rivers near Florida’s west coast remain under flood warnings, with the National Weather Service warning of flooding in some areas.
Major flooding is forecast for the Hillsborough River and Alafia River in Hillsborough County, and in Cypress Creek in Pasco County.
The Little Manatee River in Hillsborough County is at risk of moderate flooding, the National Weather Service said, and the Horse Creek in DeSoto County will experience minor flooding.
How could hurricane misinformation affect the US election?
Rachel Leingang
Alex Jones, the longtime conspiracy theorist liable for millions for defaming school shooting victims, started a broadcast this week with one of his favorite topics: weather manipulation.
“All right, I did a lot of research and a lot of preparation the last 30 years for what I’m going to be covering today,” he said. “Coming up, I’m going to do a big presentation for everybody on what’s really going on with weather weapons.”
Amid two hurricanes – one of which hit two swing states – formerly fringe characters like Jones contributed to a swirl of conspiracy theories, many becoming uncomfortably mainstream. The weather was being controlled, some of the theories went, to prevent Republicans from voting and fend off a Trump victory.
The misinformation since Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina and Georgia and Milton hit Florida offers a test run for how election day could go – and it’s not looking good.
Social media sites like X, Facebook and TikTok all gave a platform to hurricane truthers and politicians who saw an opening to spread doubt and distrust of government. That distrust in some cases then led to threats and harassment against aid workers, meteorologists and government officials.
The hurricanes hit at a crucial time in the US election calendar – about a month out from November’s presidential contest. Because Helene hit two swing states, turnout could be affected by the storm’s devastation and affected states are considering rule changes to accommodate people who may not have transportation or identification. Those changes will become fodder for allegations that the election will be rigged.
Read on here:
US meteorologists face death threats as hurricane conspiracies surge
Oliver Milman
Meteorologists tracking the advance of Hurricane Milton have been targeted by a deluge of conspiracy theories that they were controlling the weather, abuse and even death threats, amid what they say is an unprecedented surge in misinformation as two major hurricanes have hit the US.
A series of falsehoods and threats have swirled in the two weeks since Hurricane Helene tore through six states causing several hundred deaths, followed by Milton crashing into Florida on Wednesday.
The extent of the misinformation, which has been stoked by Donald Trump and his followers, has been such that it has stymied the ability to help hurricane-hit communities, according to the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).
Katie Nickolaou, a Michigan-based meteorologist, said that she and her colleagues have borne the brunt of much of these conspiracies, having received messages claiming there are category 6 hurricanes (there aren’t), that meteorologists or the government are creating and directing hurricanes (they aren’t) and even that scientists should be killed and radar equipment be demolished.
“I’ve never seen a storm garner so much misinformation, we have just been putting out fires of wrong information everywhere,” Nickolaou said.
“I have had a bunch of people saying I created and steered the hurricane, there are people assuming we control the weather. I have had to point out that a hurricane has the energy of 10,000 nuclear bombs and we can’t hope to control that. But it’s taken a turn to more violent rhetoric, especially with people saying those who created Milton should be killed.”
One post aimed at Nickolaou said: “Stop the breathing of those that made them and their affiliates.” She responded: “Murdering meteorologists won’t stop hurricanes. I can’t believe I just had to type that.”
Here are some of the latest images from Florida:
The Associated Press has been speaking to residents in Florida returning to their homes.
Natasha Ducre and her husband, Terry, were just feeling lucky to be alive. Milton peeled the tin roof off of their cinderblock home in their neighborhood a few blocks north of the Manatee River, about a 45-minute drive south of Tampa.
She pushed to leave as the storm barreled toward them Wednesday night after he resisted evacuating their three-bedroom house where he grew up and where the couple lived with their three kids and two grandchildren. She believes the decision saved their lives.
They returned to find the roof of their home scattered in sheets across the street, the wooden beams of what was their ceiling exposed to the sky. Inside, fiberglass insulation hung down in shreds, their belongings soaked by the rain and littered with chunks of shattered drywall.
“It ain’t much, but it was ours. What little bit we did have is gone,” she said. “It’s gone.”
With shelters no longer available and the cost of a hotel room out of reach, they plan to cram into Terry Ducre’s mother’s house for now. After that, they’re not sure.
“I don’t have no answers,” Natasha Ducre said. “What is my next move? What am I going to do?”
The Guardian has published the following editorial on Hurricane Milton and other disasters:
The preparations for Hurricane Milton were on a mammoth scale, as the clean-up will be. The storm thankfully lost some of its force before it slammed into Florida, making landfall on Wednesday night as a category 3 hurricane. But many more lives would surely have been lost without the massive evacuation and the deployment of thousands of national guard troops and personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
This was the second direct hit on the state in less than a fortnight, after Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 225 people in the US. The hotter ocean temperatures which worsened these storms are hundreds of times likelier because of human-made global heating, a new analysis has shown. Climate change may have increased the rain dumped on parts of the south by Helene by 50%, scientists believe. Another study has suggested such double punches could arrive every three years thanks to the continuing burning of fossil fuels.
Extreme weather is becoming the new normal. This autumn there has been heavy rain in the Sahara and flash floods in Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand. They follow spring’s torrential rain in Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Kenya, and heavy flooding in Germany. Lethal heatwaves hit south and south-east Asia and then the Mediterranean.
What marks Florida out is the disparity between the concern rightly given to the consequences of the storms and the widespread unwillingness of many there to acknowledge the causes of extreme weather – still less the role in it that the US plays. It has the greatest planet-heating emissions per capita of the top 10 emitters. Global heating makes preparing for such events, and recovering from their consequences, more essential than ever. But it is ludicrous to take such steps without also addressing what is making them more extreme and more frequent.
Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, warned that Milton would do “an awful lot of damage”. Yet not only is he aggressively pro-fossil-fuel, and the signatory of a ban on wind energy infrastructure. He is a climate change denier who has signed a bill erasing the words from Florida statutes.
Read on here:
Car dealership AutoNation said that it closed 38 sites in Florida as Hurricane Milton damaged several of the auto retailer’s sites in the region.
Early assessments showed many of the locations sustained wind or water damage, CEO Mike Manley said in a statement.
AutoNation said it had closed many sites in impacted regions before the storm hit, and added it hoped to reopen them as soon as power is restored and repairs made over the next 24 to 48 hours.
Gasoline was sold out at many fuel stations in Florida and the storm also knocked out power to 3.4m homes and businesses.