Florida governor has ignored climate change risks, critics say

TAMPA – Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has been ubiquitous in recent days as Hurricane Irma bears down on the Sunshine State, warning of deadly winds and storm surges and imploring residents to heed evacuation orders.

Debris and trash is seen on a beach in Cap-Haitien
 on Sept. 7, 2017, as Hurricane Irma approaches.
 Irma was packing maximum sustained winds of
 up to 185 mph (295 kph) as it followed a projected
 path that would see it hit the northern edges of
The Dominican Republic and Haiti on Thursday,
continuing past eastern Cuba before veering north
 for Florida.

“This is a catastrophic storm our state has never seen,” he cautioned at one of many news conferences.

By all accounts, Scott and other officials have aggressively tried to prepare the state and its residents for the destructive storm’s impact and the immediate aftermath.

But for all of Scott’s vigor in readying Florida for Irma’s wrath, his administration has done little over the years to prepare for what scientists say are the inevitable effects of climate change that will wreak havoc in the years to come. With its far-reaching coastline and low elevation, Florida is one of the states at greatest risk from rising sea levels, extreme weather events – including more powerful hurricanes – and other consequences of a warming planet.

Read the Denver Post story - “Florida governor has ignored climate change risks, critics say.”

Hurricane Matthew: dozens dead in Dominican Republic, Haiti as Cuba's oldest town flattened

A woman cries amid the rubble of her home,
 destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba.

Les cayes, Haiti Hurricane Matthew twisted toward the Bahamas and Florida's east coast on Wednesday after killing at least 26 people and damaging a majority of homes in Haiti's south, and flattening Cuba's oldest town, Baracoa.

The powerful Category 3 hurricane, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, whipped Cuba and Haiti with 230 kph winds and torrential rains on Tuesday, pummelling towns and destroying livestock, crops and homes.

In the United States, more than 1.5 million people were urged to evacuate the south-eastern coast and Florida Governor Rick Scott warned residents to prepare for a possible direct hit that could be catastrophic.

Hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated from the path of Matthew, which caused severe flooding and killed four people in the Dominican Republic as well as at least 22 in Haiti. The two countries share the island of Hispaniola.

Read the Melbourne Age - “Hurricane Matthew: dozens dead in Dominican Republic, Haiti as Cuba's oldest town flattened.”