On October 9, Rum Santisgovernor of Florida, appeared with a straight face to order the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Milton. “Even if it weakens in the coming hours, it will be devastating,” he warned, addressing his fellow citizens directly. “Their possessions can be replaced, but not their lives.” In parallel, Joe BidenPresident of the United States, stressed the importance of evacuating “towards life or death”.
Both are staunch enemies politically, but they had spoken hours before to agree on the escape plan and the means to humanitarian aid. The first step is the prerogative of each state: the order to evacuate is issued by each governor. However, emergencies involve several federal agencies, including FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), which reports to the White House. Thus, according to American media, the importance of this type of coordination calls goes well beyond courtesy.
The result of this joint action plan was that the “hurricane of the century” caused damage worth 60 billion euros, but only 16 deaths. The data is circulating again these days, unlike the tragic mortality caused by DANA in the Valencian Community, which already totals more than 150 deaths. However, it is important to emphasize that Florida had already been affected by the crisis. Hurricane Helene twelve days before Milton’s arrival, and the combined casualties of the two disasters amounted to more than 230.
Regardless, that figure is meager for a hurricane that potentially affected the majority of the state’s 22 million residents. The organization Ecologists in Action calculated that there were 0.73 deaths per million inhabitants in Florida, they were more than 13 deaths per million in the Valencian Community. Today, many people praise the American weather warning system and the communication of its leaders. “Imagine if someone important had come out to show their face,” said the meteorologist. Francisco Martin Leon.
The role of the National Hurricane Center
Since 2017, the National Hurricane Center (NHC), dependent on the National Weather Service (NWS) – the equivalent of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) of Spain – is responsible for issuing warnings and alerts for all tropical or subtropical phenomena – hurricanes and storms – in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast of the United States. . In 2023, moreover, the Hurricane Hilary forced the CDC to activate its first surveillance in California, on the Pacific coast.
The reform enabled the NHC to issue warnings, monitoring and alerts regarding tropical cyclones and other weather incidents that pose a significant risk to the country’s population. the next 48 hours. Previously, they were forced to wait hurricane formation to issue the highest level of advice, but since 2017 “the advancement of forecasting techniques allows reliable predictions“.
This is a difference with Aemet, which works with opinions observed: it does not move to the red level until it is verified that the maximum precipitation threshold has been exceeded. This opinion then passes into the hands of each autonomous body, which must assign its own risk level per area and determine which emergency measures you activate. Hence the gap between the red notice of Tuesday 29 early in Valencia and the alert in the form of a mobile message at eight o’clock in the afternoon.
Once the notice is published, the NHC must provide all kinds of graphic materials in the form of maps, data and bulletins that will not only inform the authorities, but also the media and citizens. The custom of naming highly destructive phenomena based on a numbered list of proper nouns This started with hurricanes and was copied in Europe for high impact storms.
In addition, the forecast file must include a forecast of the cyclone track, updated hourly, and accompanied by an assessment of associated risks such as flood potential affected areas or swollen (storm surge). It is important to emphasize that this risk assessment is done based on the relative impact depending on the affected area. The emergence of Milton, for example, amounted to fully affect the Tampa areadensely populated and vulnerable to flooding.
The alerts also involve agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and FEMA itself. Additionally, in a society traditionally dealing with natural disasters, Americans are urged to stay informed and prepare, such as preparing their homes, stocking up on supplies, or being ready to evacuate. The system is used Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) that inspired our ES-Alert, and which can be used directly by the NHC without going through other authorities.
The system is not perfect: For example, studies after Hurricane Milton showed that evacuation left tens of thousands of Americans stranded. They cannot afford to buy their own car.. And the reconstruction work showed the need to update flood zone maps. Despite everything, Spanish experts envy its assets: high early warning capacity And excellent tradition of cooperation between regional and central authorities.
