Brummet contrasts the US government’s response to the hurricane relief efforts in places like Cuba, in particular, which although is often in the direct path of hurricanes, it historically has had very few hurricane related deaths. The day before Hurricane Ian hit Cuba in 2022, 50,000 people were evacuated and taken to 55 shelters. By October 1, less than five days after Hurricane Ian’s landfall, 82% of the residents of Havana had their power restored. In contrast, over 100 people died in Florida as a result of the same hurricane, with many blaming delayed evacuation efforts.Cuba has “drastically lower rates of deaths from hurricanes than we do here in Florida,” says Brummet. “And then when the storm has passed, it’s a priority for the government that everyone’s home is given attention, is repaired.”In the US, “this is not even imaginable,” Brummet claims. “People are often permanently displaced because their homes are destroyed and they aren’t given the resources to repair them. With all the wealth that we have in the United States, we could prioritize making sure that our communities are safe from storms, that people are evacuated, and that where a storm does hit, that people’s needs are met and they can have their homes rebuilt and their lives can continue.”
