As Floridians prepare for Hurricane Helene to make landfall today, we’re thankful that they don’t have to rely on a Trump administration for disaster relief. During his first term, Donald Trump routinely lacked empathy for hurricane victims, downplayed the severity of the storms, and failed to deliver adequate relief.
Donald Trump’s failed record on hurricane disaster relief:
- Hurricane Maria
- Puerto Rico incurred roughly $100 billion in damages from Hurricane Maria and it took almost an entire year to restore power to the island.
- A research study estimated 2,975 deaths in the aftermath of the hurricane due to power outages, water insecurity, and inadequate infrastructure. Another study estimated that the figure could have been as high as 8,500 people due partly to Trump’s failure to act, which harmed recovery efforts.
- It took weeks for FEMA and the Department of Defense to increase their forces in Puerto Rico even though the main airports and ports remained open on the island.
- Trump failed to waive shipping restrictions to aid Puerto Rico’s recovery efforts until mounting public pressure forced the administration to do more to help the island.
- According to senior administration officials, Trump didn’t want “another single dollar going to the island” and sought to limit federal support from going to Puerto Rico. Trump didn’t sign a $19 billion disaster relief bill for Puerto Rico until nearly two years after the hurricane hit the island.
- The Trump administration imposed severe restrictions on billions of dollars in emergency relief to Puerto Rico, including blocking spending on the island’s electrical grid, while citizens experienced rolling blackouts. They also suspended its $15-an-hour minimum wage for federally funded relief work.
- Instead of helping disaster victims, Trump administration officials used the crisis to secure lucrative contracts for their friends. Whitefish Energy, a power company with two full-time employees at the time, was awarded a $300 million contract to restore the island’s damaged electrical grid. Whitefish Energy CEO Andy Techmanski and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke knew each other prior to the contract, and Zinke’s son worked for the company as a summer job.
- Trump’s FEMA gave a $156 million contract to Tiffany Brown, an Atlanta entrepreneur with no experience in large-scale disaster relief and at least five canceled government contracts in her past. Brown was expected to deliver 30 million meals, but only delivered 50,000.
- Trump’s FEMA also granted a $30 million contract to Bronze Star LLC to deliver emergency tarps and plastic sheeting. Those supplies were never sent to the island.
- Trump couldn’t even show empathy to the people of Puerto Rico in the wake of the disaster. During a visit to the island, he diminished the suffering of the disaster victims, threw rolls of paper towels into a crowd, and claimed that it was not a “real catastrophe.”
- Hurricane Harvey
- Trump joked that, “People went out in their boats to watch the hurricane. That didn’t work out too well.”
- Trump joked that the state of Texas made a “fortune” after Hurricane Harvey.
- Hurricane Dorian
- Trump caused chaos in several southern states when he falsely claimed the hurricane would hit Alabama and used a Sharpie to exaggerate the hurricane’s path.
Published: Sep 26, 2024