Warnings of Life-Threatening Surge
Trump says government is ‘absolutely, totally prepared’ for hurricane
Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that his government is “absolutely, totally prepared” for Hurricane Florence, even as officials and forecasters warned that the “staggering” storm is shaping up to be catastrophic and unprecedented.
The President cited his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria a year ago, which decimated Puerto Rico, as an “unsung success”.
This despite the chorus of criticism at the time, accusing Mr Trump of a slow and paltry response to the devastation that ultimately is estimated to have cost almost 3000 lives.
The almost 500-mile wide Hurricane Florence swirling towards the US east coast “could be the most dangerous storm in the history of the Carolinas”, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) administrator, Brock Long, warned on Tuesday afternoon.
Long cautioned coastal residents via Twitter of storm surges up to 12ft – “rapid rise of water that is overwhelming and deadly”.
Forecasters said the hurricane is not expected to change course in such a way that it will avoid a direct hit on the east coast late Thursday into Friday, threatening ocean surges and flooding from torrential rain inland.
Officials have called for the mandatory evacuation of more than 1.4 million coastal residents across the Carolinas and Virginia. Those states plus Maryland and Washington DC have all declared a state of emergency.
Craig Fugate, a former Fema director, said: “I’m afraid, based on my experience at Fema, that the public is probably not as prepared as everybody would like.”