Since late August of this year, the news has been filled with reports covering horrendous natural disasters that have affected communities around the globe. During the ongoing 2017 hurricane season, three major storms hit Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and many other Caribbean Islands. Five days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25, 2017 in Houston, Texas, Hurricane Irma hit Florida and many Caribbean Islands, including Puerto Rico, and on Sept. 20, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and neighboring islands. These three hurricanes collectively caused the deaths of nearly 200 U.S. citizens, and the affected states have received different degrees of aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and fellow United States citizens. Before Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma hit, FEMA personnel were onsite and prepared, but Hurricane Maria has had a shockingly low response from the U.S. federal government.
In the midst of these hurricane disasters, Mexico also suffered an 8.1 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 7, 2017 and a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on Sep. 18, 2017, which mainly affected Mexico City and the central State of Puebla and the southern State of Oaxaca. These earthquakes sparked a large community effort to help recover from the damage, but has also caused some anger at the Mexican government and political parties who are being accused of only helping wealthier areas. Additionally, political parties only began allocating campaigns funds for the 2018 elections to disaster relief after public pressure.
Finally, another natural disaster filling news feeds since late September has been the wildfires scorching Northern California. Thus far, the wildfires have cost the state a whopping $3 billion dollars in damage! Not only is the state suffering from heavy damage spanning in counties such as Napa and Sonoma, thousands of families have been displaced and even lost their homes. Despite needing aid from other states’ Fire Departments during the midst of the fires, the California Fire Department is finally getting the upper hand on the dangerous flames.
Although this disastrous weather seems to capture the attention of many citizens, there seems to be little interest from the president and the U.S. federal government. Despite the presence of FEMA, military, and first responders, thousands of families are still faced with displacement, homelessness, and tragedy–something that has sadly become a norm for millions over the past couple of months.
