First Helene, now Milton. Hurricanes Make a Strong Entry into US Elections and risk having a decisive impact on the vote on November 5. For days, all over the United States, people have been talking about nothing else. There are hundreds of dead, dozens missing and thousands displaced after Helene passed through the Southern States: Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Two of these (North Carolina and Georgia) were in the balance. And it is not certain that the worst is already behind us. TheHurricane Milton, classified as category 5, the highest, will begin to hit Florida in the next few hours and could subsequently pass through the same territories that are already facing the catastrophic consequences of Helene. It could be the worst disaster in the last hundred years, to use the president's own words Joe Biden who urged everyone living in the path of the hurricane to evacuate. “Now,” “Now.” Jane Castor, the mayor of Tampa, Florida, was even harsher: “If you don’t leave your homes now, you will die.”
Trump's (False) Accusations Against Biden and the Democrats
With 27 days to go until the presidential election, hurricanes and their management have inevitably become thecentral topic of the election campaign American, with accusations, replies and controversies that risk having significant repercussions on the vote on November 5. The US media have already begun to hypothesize what the possible impact of these natural disasters, who could benefit from it and where, and who will suffer the heaviest repercussions and where.
And, needless to say, Donald Trump has already started accusing Joe Biden and the Democratic administration on anything. The first institution to end up in the tycoon's sights was the fema, the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the equivalent of our Civil Protection, a federal agency that therefore reports to the current administration led by the Biden-Harris ticket. According to Trump, Fema would have handled the emergency in North Carolina, the state most affected by Hurricane Helene, very badly, leaving citizens alone to deal with the consequences of the catastrophe. From Georgia, another state affected and another state in the balance, Trump accused Biden and Harris of having reacted late, of not having organized relief and of having allocated only "small change" to those who lost everything because, according to him, the money that would be needed to deal with emergencies and support compatriots would be used forr to provide accommodation to illegal immigrants and to help Ukraine. In fact, FEMA has already offered $750 to each person affected, announcing its intention to allocate billions to reconstruction (the exact figure will be seen when the real damage count is done).
Trump also accused Biden of “not giving a damn” of what is happening, because he is too focused on other issues. Not surprisingly, the current president has Trip to Germany cancelled, where a small meeting on Ukraine was scheduled with the leaders of Germany, Olaf Scholz, France, Emmanuel Macron, and Great Britain, Keir Starmer (the Italian Prime Minister and current president of the G7, Giorgia Meloni, was excluded from the summit). There will also be no subsequent trip to Angola, where Biden was supposed to go in an attempt to free Africa from Chinese and Russian influence. He will remain at the White House to coordinate aid.
The former president also said that Biden is only sending aid to areas where Democrats are strong and that he has not didn't even make a phone call to the Republican governors of the affected areas, claims already denied. Even the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, who refused to meet Harris accusing her of wanting to turn the hurricane into a campaign spot, admitted to having spoken with the current occupant of the White House.
Democrats, for their part, defend themselves by arguing that hurricanes are caused by climate change, the same climate change that Trump has always denied and against which he did nothing when he was president. Of course, in any case, it will not be easy to manage the consequences of two consecutive hurricanes and for the Dems the electoral risks could be high.
Hurricanes could cause record turnout
There is also another consequence, this time of a practical nature, that the United States will have to face in view of the next elections: abstention. The thousands and thousands of people left without electricity, without water, without food, in many cases even without a home, busy coping with grief and trying to figure out how they will go on after having lost everything probably have much more important things to think about than the presidential vote, in fact they really might not care less. But even if they wanted to do it, How will they vote? Will people who had to leave their homes be able to go to the polling station? And again: do the polling stations still exist or have they been swept away?
In this context it could be useful postal voting, which has been widely used in the US for decades (especially by Democratic voters). And here another set of problems arises. North Carolina, as mentioned, is the state most affected by Hurricane Helene and is also one of the swing states. Postal service is suspended for days because of the disaster, which could also happen in other states after Milton. It's a shame that just in these days the ballots were being sent out to people who asked to vote by mail. Will they still get them on time with the post office blocked and their homes destroyed?
Hurricanes could also affect the counting, causing major delays. All this while we already know that there will be a head-to-head between the two candidates and that, if that happens, one of them (Trump) will never accept defeat. In short, the uncertainty and chaos of 2020 could repeat itself again, hoping to never see a new Capitol Hill.
