I read recently that a huge cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert has crossed the Atlantic and is about to blow into the American Southeast. This is a lousy break for anyone with respiratory problems, but there also does seem to be something of a bright side to it. The Saharan dust has been known to tamp down the development of tropical storms and hurricanes, especially at the start of the season, which is, like, now. From The Shreveport Times:
The Saharan Air Layer is a warm, dry layer of air, containing dust, that gathers over the Sahara Desert. Trade winds then carry the dust westward across the Atlantic Ocean, and strong winds can transport this dust to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. … Saharan dust can limit overall moisture in the air, which can weaken tropical storm systems and be beneficial during hurricane season.
So maybe we caught a break, because the recent reports out of the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been troubling. In fact, they are starting to make me wonder if we weren’t better off hiring luxury horse-show commissioners to run the joint again. First, there was this story from Reuters:
Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation.
The remark was made during a briefing by David Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, as a joke, or in some other context.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA’s parent agency, said the comment was a joke and that FEMA is prepared for hurricane season. The spokesperson said under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Richardson “FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens.”
I decided quickly that the spokesperson was as full of it as the Christmas goose. His obvious fluency in MAGA-speak was the giveaway. My skepticism was rewarded on Tuesday by a report in The Wall Street Journal:
Click her for full article: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-cargo-shorts-brigade-gutted-fema-disaster-relief-might-be-up-to-the-states-now/ar-AA1G1K9E?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=DCTS&cvid=9eb3f4f66c434a208015c8a611519aab&ei=79