On Aug. 28, according to KHOU 11 News Houston, a family of six drowned in the flood waters of Hurricane Harvey. This is just a small portion of what the final human toll of this absolute catastrophe will be in the end. By the time the rain finally clears, the Houston area will be nothing wet rubble and abandoned family homes.
The damage will be unlike anything the United States has ever seen (even beyond Hurricane Katrina). As I write this, people are drowning in water, begging rescuers on Twitter for their lives, and leaving all of their possessions behind (which often includes their pets).
Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Donald Trump tweeted, “With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.”
With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
Now before you get all huffy and irritated that I didn’t choose one of his tweets about the incident for this article, I’d like to counter that irritation with the reality check that those Hurricane Harvey tweets are incredibly disgusting.
Not once during the 48 hour period that I’m currently using to write this piece has he mentioned the death and suffering of victims. He has not mentioned or recognized the city of Houston. He has not mentioned the failures of the system or discussed solutions to the problems.
He has commented on the “great coordination between agencies at all levels of government.” He has commented on Missouri and how he won the state by a lot. He has talked about NAFTA and retweeted something from an inspirational quote account. There are comments about the government machine and a single line about the people of Houston’s spirit (which is the only line that’s even somewhat acceptable).
We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada.Both being very difficult,may have to terminate?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
In none of his tweets or statements, though, is there any ounce of humanity or emotion. There is no empathetic calm or concern. There is no warning or declaration of safety and support. There is no call to action. There is only Donald Trump.
But that’s not all. Do you remember Trump’s budget? That whole “I’m going to cut things out” policy he had during the campaign? Well, it turns out that one of the things Trump wanted to cut was flood mapping, something that New Jersey Gov. Christ Christie strongly disagreed with during an interview with AP in May of 2017.
In fact, this isn’t the only instance of cutting flood protection in the Trump administration. In an article published in Bloomberg on Aug. 23 named “Trump’s FEMA Chief supports cutting coverage for Flood-prone homes,” his newly appointed chief confirms his support for the cuts.
However, according to the same article, “about 5 million households with federal blood insurance rely on that program for protection against hurricanes or floods.” That would leave American households in the dust, taking away valuable funds to rebuild people’s lives. That, combined with shifting costs onto state and local governments, could cause financial disaster in the wake of storms like Harvey.
It’s clear that moving forward after Harvey isn’t going to be easy for Houston, but Donald Trump is trying his best to make everything worse.
