Op-Ed: Hurricane Ian and the coming climate crash
The latest storm of hurricanes is predicted to make landfall in the continental United States this weekend and then hit Puerto Rico late this weekend.
Hurricane Irma, also known as Irma, is expected to reach near-record force once it hits Miami-Dade County, Florida as a Category 5 storm.
Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Maria also made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Puerto Rico the last time it was in the region and also struck the Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, and much of Cuba.
The predicted impact of these hurricanes is a climate-change catastrophe.
When Maria hit Puerto Rico, Maria’s powerful winds knocked out the power to thousands of homes across the island.
The next big storm is projected to hit Florida next week, which is a much bigger storm than Maria because the National Hurricane Center has downgraded Irma to a Category 4. The hurricane center also is predicting heavy rain in Miami-Dade County, which would destroy tens of thousands of homes, and it says the storm could cause “catastrophic” flooding in some areas.
The only good news is that Irma is projected to miss Florida altogether and strike the Virgin Islands instead, which have a much lower population than Florida.
The devastating impacts of these hurricanes will be felt most directly in those areas, where people on both sides of the political aisle will be demanding more funding for disaster preparation, mitigation and recovery efforts.
On the one party side: President Trump, right, and Republican members of the House and Senate, right, discuss Hurricane Irma following a briefing on Monday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
For the other party: Both President Trump and the Republican members of the House and Senate are planning for Hurricane Maria to hit the US territory of Puerto Rico. This is based on the same assumptions that the hurricane experts have been making for Irma.
When will these hurricanes hit?
Both hurricanes are projected to make landfall in the continental United States this weekend. Hurricane Irma is currently projected to make landfall in the Florida panhandle on Sunday as a Category 3 storm. Hurricane Maria is forecast to reach near-record force when it hits Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm.
If these hurricanes hit
