Head of FEMA says ‘historic’ destruction caused by Helene is linked to climate crisis

Deanne Criswell said that rising temperatures in the Gulf were causing conditions that caused ‘significant infrastructure damage’ that had affected a multi-state area Your support helps us to tell the story Support Now Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth. Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts. Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda. Louise Thomas Editor The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) has said that the severe flooding and subsequent devastation caused by Hurricane Helene is linked to the climate emergency . Deanne Criswell said that rising temperatures in the Gulf were causing conditions that caused “significant infrastructure damage” that had affected a multi-state area. Though the worst of Helene is now believed to have passed, recovery efforts in multiple communities are underway at pace. At least 62 people have been killed and millions have been left without power. The storm, now classified a post-tropical cyclone, is expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley on Saturday and into Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Speaking to CBS’s Face The Nation on Sunday, Crisswell said Helene had been a “true multi-state event” following “historic flooding.” The storm has killed at least 62 people (REUTERS) “This storm took a while to develop, but once it did it intensified very rapidly – and that’s because of the warm waters in the Gulf that’s creating more storms that are reaching this major category level,” she said. The conditions, Criswell said, were creating greater amounts of storm surge in the coastal areas and increased rainfall as the storms moved north. “In the past, damage from hurricanes was primarily wind damage, but now we’re seeing so much more water damage and that is a result of the […]

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