Just stop already…

NOW is NOT the time to play politics over Florida!

The people of Florida deserve better! This is America! For the administration, et al, to pre-blame DeSantis for what is happening, is both childish and outright stupid…

I have a number of friends down in various parts of Florida, including Tampa/St. Pete, Orlando, and up around Jacksonville/St. Augustine. Some have evacuated (not stupid, and listened to the state folks), leaving houses as well prepared as they could to survive the damages.

Others, further up state are riding it out, but all have prepared as well as they can (most have adequate storage, generators, window/door covers, etc. And you know it’s going to be bad when the Waffle Houses close… 12-19 inches of rain are predicted in some spots, including Orlando, and Florida has been wet for the last week, so there isn’t any place for all that rain to go.

The president called Mayor Jane Castor (D) of Tampa, Mayor Ken Welch (D) of St. Petersburg, and Mayor Frank Hibbard (I) of Clearwater BEFORE he ever called Gov DeSantis! Interesting set of ‘priorities’ isn’t it???

From FEMA Director Criswell presser-

Q    Okay.  And just a curiosity: I know we’ve asked before; you spoke to several mayors down there.  One of the mayors said that one of the primary concerns was complacency.  I’m curious — the President spoke to big leaders.  First question to you is about complacency.  The second is, you’ve spoken to the governor of the state; why hasn’t the President yet?  Or is there a scheduled call for the two men to speak, obviously, as they’re the preeminent leaders of the country and of that state?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  I do have concerns about complacency.  We’re talking about impacts in a part of Florida that hasn’t seen a major direct impact in nearly 100 years.  There’s also parts of Florida where there’s a lot of new residents that have never experienced this type of threat.

So my message to them is still: Take this very seriously.  Listen to your local officials.  And those Floridians that have been through this before, help your neighbors that may have not had to go through this.  Heeding the advice of your local officials is the most important.

And as far as the conversation, the President directed me to contact the governor early on, before we even did the declaration; I did that.  My regional administrator is with the governor right now, making sure that we’re understanding what the needs are.  And our focus is on the current life safety needs that need to be met.

Full transcript HERE from C-SPAN.

And the hysterical coverage by the MSM, with the usual idjits standing out in ‘100mph’ winds, to show how ‘bad’ the weather is. Really? Any idiot can look at the camera video, listen to the wind whistling, and tell that the wind is blowing like hell, and see the storm surge is covering houses!

I’m just waiting for one of the weather idjits to get decapitated on air by a sign, piece of tin, or whatever… sigh

On the plus side, over 30,000 linemen, along with trucks, power poles, lines, etc. are staged and waiting for the winds to drop below 35mph to go in and start rebuilding the infrastructure.

So, say a prayer for them, and those further north as this storm will ‘probably’ curl back and hit Georgia, South Carolina, and maybe North Carolina before it goes away.

Comments

Just stop already… — 14 Comments

  1. Well, I can tell you that it’s not terribly bad in Jacksonville (I live in Orange Park). I just drove one of the herd of people that live here into work. Some minor gusts of winds, light rain, and that’s about it.

    Down South, whole different circumstances. I hope those that hunkered down are safe and sound. The storm is already out over the Atlantic and headed for Georgia/South Carolina. We start digging out tomorrow.

  2. Waiting for Ian here in Charleston SC. Projected storm track puts us right in the center of the anticipated landfall. The biggest concern is for flooding due to torrential rains and the SLOW speed of the storm. The big worry is that it will just sit over the Low Country and dump, plus the storm surge and high tides. East Bay Street will live up to its name. My State Guard SAR team has been put on alert, and I have my dive and water rescue gear loaded.

  3. I have a Sister In Law South of Tampa. She forted up with her youngest son at his house. They lost the roof about 3:30 yesterday afternoon. No news since.

  4. Pffft. Who cares about those Floridians, they elected the Evil DeathSantis as governor… /sarc

    In all seriousness, though, it does not surprise me to see politicians play politics with lives and livelihoods.

  5. Ray- Thanks! I’ve gotten a couple of check ins from folks as far south as Tampa. Ugly down there, period. Orlando area, some flooding, power, water, etc. out, but no serious damage.

    MD- Stay safe, and I ‘hope’ you don’t get a bunch of callouts.

    Mike- Yep, hearing the same

    Toast- Sadly true!

  6. Fox has 20+ Reporters standing in the storm. One guy, Rob something, is wearing a plastic helmet and eye protection. Everyone keeps talking about how smart he is and how they wished they thought of that.
    Brainless!

    • Retired Cop, reminds me of the time I had to take a radiological survey under a 100 ton cask hung off a crane. Normally verboten to get under a load, but shipping rules required the survey. It took about 30 seconds, safety engineer required me to wear a hard hat. If that cask had dropped, the hard hat fragments would at best identify the part of the grease spot that used to be my head.

  7. Sounds like yet another time the Cajun Navy gets to tell “government officials” to get bent. As they prove once again how useless and ineffectual they actually are. Again.

  8. My son does Traffic Control for the people doing power line work, and says that’s stopped here for the next couple of weeks, as most of the local Line Crews are headed to Florida to help restore the things that will get destroyed.

  9. RC- Sigh… yeah

    NRW- Double sigh…

    Troy- They are being welcomed!

    drjim- Yep, those ‘mutual aid’ agreements DO tend to change local priorities.

  10. Too bad all that extra rain could not be brought to california and the other states out here to help in slowing down the drought we have here. Probably would fill up lake meade to almost overflowing plus we could use a lot more snow up in those Serria Navada mountains.
    God’s speed out there in Florida.

  11. Best wishes to all those affected. If there is anything at all good about such times, it is watching people come together and pitch in.

    Politics be damned!

  12. If aid is withheld from Florida , does that mean we can withhold aid from California after their latest wildfire/mudslide/earthquake/peaceful protest ???

  13. RE: TV weather idiots standing outside in the wind and rain – THEY HAVE TO because there’s not a single house built in Florida over the last century that has windows, so unless “people” see it on TV it didn’t happen.