COVICANE?

[etodd]

... a hurricane in the middle of a pandemic was very much on our minds at NORTHCOM. We started calling it the COVICANE. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is calling for an above-average Atlantic Hurricane Season this year with a possibility of 19 named storms.

Foremost, most members of these volunteer organizations are over 60 years old, putting them into the high-risk category for COVID-19. According to the American Red Cross, of their 21,000 trained disaster responders, 42 percent are over the age of 65, 43 percent are between 40-64; and just 13 percent are between 18 and 39. This means the people we need most in a disaster are also among the most vulnerable.

If volunteers aren't available or if they get sick, the hard work of disaster response would fall on to the only other available pool of manpower: the military. This is problematic in its own way. If a COVICANE response stretches a state National Guard to the breaking point, active duty forces could be deployed to help. The Army only keeps a few active units on standby for what is known as the Defense Support to Civil Authorities mission. In a pinch, untrained active-duty forces could fill the gap and do their best. But the real problems would come after their exposure to the virus in the disaster zone.

Read more ....

Texas and the Gulf Coast May Be in Deep Trouble ...

(Article is a political opinion piece. Ignore the politics and the facts above could become significant issues if hurricane season rears its ugly head.)