The arrival of the hurricane season has the potential to further stretch already tense emergency responders in Texas and Florida, two of the country’s largest coronavirus hotspots. Corpus Christi and the surrounding beach communities of Nueces County have been particularly affected, with cases skyrocketing during the summer season.
Texas reported nearly 200 deaths from coronavirus on Wednesday, a one-day record. Florida’s coronavirus case count was slated to pass New York’s on Saturday, ranking it second only to California in total cases since the start of the pandemic.
Approximately 4.1 million people nationwide have had Covid-19 infections, and more than 145,000 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor told Good Morning America this week that his agency is ready to simultaneously handle the hurricane season and the ongoing pandemic.
“The agency has been working with Covid-19, but we have also been preparing for the hurricane season,” Gaynor said. “We knew it was coming.”
Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb urged residents to stay home but wear masks if they are forced to evacuate, according to the Associated Press.
Trump has raised his eyebrows in recent years over his dubious statements about hurricanes, alleging that they could be stopped with nuclear weapons. Last summer, after tweeting that Alabama could be among the states threatened by a hurricane despite the storm making landfall to the east, the president showed an apparently tampered map with a Sharpie showing the state in the path of the hurricane.
In addition to monitoring the hurricanes on Saturday, Trump tweeted his condolences to game show host Regis Philbin, who died Friday, and played golf with former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre at his Bedminster club. .
