John,

After the Southern U.S. was slammed by Hurricane Helene, which created unprecedented flooding and destruction in places like Asheville, NC, a second historic hurricane rapidly formed less than two weeks later.

Hurricane Milton grew from a tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane in less than 24 hours, becoming one of the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricanes ever recorded.Milton made landfall in Florida last evening, bringing destructive storm surges, tornadoes, flooding, and extreme winds to the Tampa Bay area and other communities, sadly killing at least four people and leaving 3 million without power.

Thankfully, the storm was downgraded and moved offshore, with the FEMA director noting that Florida dodged “the worst-case scenario.” But this is yet another ‘storm of the century,’ which experts warn are becoming all the more common due to climate change. Milton dropped 18 inches of rain on St. Petersburg, a 1-in-1000 year rainfall event. Unusually warm ocean water in the Gulf of Mexico contributed to the rapid development of Milton’s speed and intensity, with wind gusts pushing 180 miles per hour on Monday. NBC meteorologist John Morales almost broke down in tears when describing how terrifyingly fast this hurricane developed.

This is becoming our new normal, John, and unless our elected officials take bold, decisive action on climate soon, there will be no turning back.

While we continue to push leaders in Congress to join Justice Democrats in supporting climate action like the Green New Deal, let’s also come together and help those in need in the aftermath of this natural disaster.

If you can, split a contribution between World Central Kitchen, Volunteer Florida’s Florida Disaster Fund, and Project HOPE to provide relief to Florida communities impacted by Milton.

In solidarity,

Justice Democrats