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friend. I'm sure many of us woke up this morning to the shocking images coming out of Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. There's, unfortunately, a sense of familiarity there: our district has also been hammered by natural disasters - such as Paradise and Greenville to the Camp and Dixie Fires respectively. ? Two big factors are driving these disasters: ? 1) Poor human choices. For us, that means poorly maintained forests that are vulnerable to massive fires. In Florida, and many low-lying coastal communities, it means home construction that is frankly irresponsible.? ? 2) Climate change: yes, it's real, and it's driving weather patterns that are more erratic and more dangerous. Ignoring it, like LaMalfa, just makes us more vulnerable. ? So what do we do about these issues as a country? First, we need to take a more active role in managing forests and protecting coastal communities. Second, we need to admit that climate change is a real man-made phenomenon, start reducing our emissions, and start incorporating higher climate risks into our disaster preparations. ? ?? I'll close this email out by noting how important it is for the federal government to fix the way it handles disaster assistance - which is frankly terrible.? ? FEMA provides short-term assistance (such as temporary trailers for those who have lost their homes) but it often takes months to arrive and is generally terminated after a year or so. It's expensive, slow, and ineffective. ? Later, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is supposed to manage the long-term rebuilding effort, but the process is routed through local governments and often takes 2+ years to get going. I could write a lot more about the issue, but we have to do better than that as a country. If you're interested you can read on here.? ? Compounding all of this is the lack of available insurance. Only 40% of the houses in "high-flood risk" areas of Florida have insurance. Here in CD-1 many rural homeowners are being priced out of fire insurance. Insurance companies aren't charities, and climate change is driving up the risk - and with it the price - of insuring homes. That makes fixing government assistance more important though.? ? The GOP has no plan here - because they don't want the government to do anything (except regulate women's reproductive systems apparently). DeSantis wasted $12 million on flying migrants around the country and now - one week later - is asking the federal government for a bailout. This is even more ironic because DeSantis' first vote in Congress (before he was governor) was to deny disaster funding to New Jersey after? Hurricane Sandy. ? V/R, ? Max?? |
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