North Carolina is no stranger to hurricanes, hell, our professional hockey team is called "The Hurricanes" for a reason. We get hit by them every year in some capacity and this time the damage was slightly higher than average but honestly, the news is out of control trying to make this a much bigger deal than it really is.
I am not downplaying the horrible damage that people suffered or the life that was lost but the fact that this has been in the news for a long time I think, is largely for political grandstanding on the part of certain people that if this wasn't an election year, probably wouldn't give a damn about North Carolina.
The damage is bad, but in most years when basically the exact same thing happens it doesn't make the news because a vast majority of the damage is done in places where honestly, they really should have stopped trying to build and expand a very long time ago. The ocean is always going to win this battle no matter how much money we throw at it.
I just found it a bit sad an amusing how the media and the politicians were all pretending that they really really really care about the people of North Carolina and our well-being but when these things happen in a non-election year it doesn't even make the news outside of the local channels. Nobody cares unless there are votes at stake and because NC is a swing-state as far as presidential elections are concerned, the various politicians are crawling over one another to try to claim that good thing that happens is entirely because of their actions and that is why we should vote for them.
I found this story and the images associated with it to be particularly amusing because it is entirely political in nature. Only a buffoon would actually believe that the Vice President is going to spend her time packing aid boxes for hurricane victims. This is merely a photo op and I think that most people are very aware of this. I am reminded of a time when George W Bush was shown helping people move furniture but a video later showed that he merely picked up an end of a table long enough for the pictures to be taken and then put the table back down and actually didn't move anything.
Trump also made an appearance here in North Carolina to "help" just like Kamala did. Neither one of them did anything while they were here. They just needed some photos and some PR and honestly, I can totally understand why that would be all they would do because honestly, who would expect them to have time to actually do boots on the ground stuff? They don't, and that is fine.
I suppose if one thing can be said that could be perceived as "good" about this entire hurricane relief effort that is going on right now is that more of it is being handed out than normally would be because the current administration doesn't want anyone to know that FEMA actually has a terrible reputation as far as any of this is concerned. In my opinion, the federal government shouldn't play any part in bailing out anyone who would build their house so close to areas that are well-known to be in the path of hurricanes. This is NOT a new concept and no it is not climate change that is making it happen. This has been happening since the world was capable of recording events of this sort and it probably happened for millions of years before that. This is why the East coast is shaped the way that it is.
Take a look at this satellite imagery from hurricane Fran and how the circular nature of it just happens to resemble how the erosion of the land on the east cost is. This isn't a coincidence.
We get hit by hurricanes every single year. Some of them are more rugged than others yes, but the media coverage of this particular hurricane is so widespread only because of the fact that it is an election year. This isn't any more devastating than the ones we get on a regular basis but this time around there is a closely contested election and that is why they are blowing it up the way that they are. I am of course appreciative of how anyone would help anyone else who was in need or went through a major natural disaster, but when FEMA starts throwing money around, you can be assured it will be used in the most incompetent and inefficient way imaginable.
While it is really unlikely that there would be another hurricane after November 5th, I can guarantee if one happens that you won't even hear about it in the news. Funny how that works huh?