"Time is Running Out, Very Very Soon"
DeSantis: “Time is going to start running out very, very soon.”
It’s Monday night at 9:30 and I’m saving all the TikTok videos of people saying they’re not going to evacuate Tampa. I don’t know any of these people, but I am immediately invested in their well-being. I moved to Florida just shy of two years ago and I am new to hurricane season, living sweetly on a slow barrier island. Amelia Island.
Hurricane Milton is promising to be a catastrophic event as a category 4 storm, affecting all of Tampa, Clearwater and St Petersburg. Milton is promising 165 MPH winds, and with all of the moisture thats already covering he ground, from last week’s Hurricane Helene, the storm surge has a promised path of destruction.
I have four pillows behind my neck as I play the “will they/won’t they” game on my phone. I scroll my new internet friends and it’s like I’m playing a video game where I am championing a win for everyone I see.
Will they have to watch their home and neighborhoods destroyed in front of their eyes? Will their cars be totaled? Can they evacuate their elderly parents? What about their kids? Their pets? I watch clips of people installing metal shutters on their windows… Will that really help? I scroll past a full meteorology map with bright colors and I know it’s serious. I Googled the video of Kanye West presenting during the fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina. You know, the one where he said “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.” There were a lot of good talking points that night.
I can’t help but obsessively recall all the recent billions of dollars in assistance we’ve sent to overseas. In just one week, Biden sent $8 billion to the Ukraine, $567 million to Taiwan, and year to date we’ve given $17.9 billion to Israel. For the American victims of last week’s Hurricane Helene, the checks are a one-time $750 with no comprehensive understanding of how many North Carolina residents have lost their lives due to impact, starvation, or negligence.
When it comes to American aids for Americans, did you know the first fleet of first aid trucks to reach the Appalachians was from a Real Housewife of New York City, Bethenny Frankel? What the fuck?
We give a lot to other countries and I don’t understand if it’s because other countries have substantial blackmail against us or if it’s because we actually have a ton of resources.
In a press conference on Monday afternoon, DeSantis says there are 8,000 guardsmen “activated” for Hurricane Milton. Given the renegade reputation of Governor Ron DeSantis, a former Navy SEAL and big time voice in basic human rights during COVID-19, I do imagine the demand for Florida to rebuild will be more passionate than natural disasters that came before us. There are police vehicles driving around St. Petersburg demanding evacuations “If you choose not to evacuate, you do so at your own risk. Once the weather conditions deteriorate and flooding conditions begin, officers may not be able to help you leave your home. We strongly recommend that you follow the current evacuation order for your personal safety.”
In 2022, DeSantis signed an Executive Order that supported homeowners affected by then-Hurricane Ian. EO 22-242 suspends the deadlines or payment of property taxes for properties rendered uninhabitable or completely destroyed by Ian. Many Florida residents remain passionately hopeful that DeSantis will be thinking out of the box once more.
People on the Florida highways are stuck. They have been driving for four hours and they have gotten a little over 100 miles past their homes that they may never see again. Bumper to bumper, they’re running out of gas and getting off another full exit to fill up is an unimaginable task. Will they run out of fuel? Will their cars be totaled on the highway if rain hits too hard? Where will they go? Do they have enough food? What about the families who have more people in their homes and they do drivers or cars? What about the people who can’t afford hotels? What about, what about, what about???
To escape a hurricane safely and be rehoused immediately is a privilege that most of America cannot afford.
I evacuated Fort Myers Beach yesterday and kept driving well into Georgia. Yesterday, I thought we could be overreacting. Today, I hope our leaving early left space for someone else. The fear and panic that I saw all around is real. Everyone is doing the best that they can. People are being kind, letting others pull onto the road in front of them. I didn’t hear horns honking. We were all in the same boat. Trying to get to safer ground. We don’t know when we will be able to go home. We don’t know if we will have homes or jobs to go back to. We don’t know how we will pay for this. We are taking road trips we did not plan for. We don’t even know where we are going. We just hope that we will be safe. We are hoping our vehicles make the journey. We hope we don’t break down along the way. Today is just about today and each each other.
Praying The Lord is merciful. That Milton downgrades before landfall, people are saved and homes are spared.