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Hurricane Milton is currently poised to slam into the western side of Florida in a matter of hours. It will be one of the strongest hurricanes to ever make landfall in the United States, putting the lives of many millions at risk.
President Biden had led an extraordinary operation by the federal government to prepare, as best it can, for the destruction and aftermath of Milton, less than two weeks after Helene tore through several states, devastating those regions.
And yet, we all know what’s about to occur in Florida will be far beyond any suffering the vast majority of us could imagine — and that it will occur in the United States again in the future. And again. And again.
A few years ago, I watched "Five Days at Memorial" on Apple TV, a miniseries about the days at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans following Katrina, based on the book by Sheri Fink.
I immediately regretted watching it. Sometimes, I wish I hadn't. I don't think "brutal" comes close to adequately describing it.
I will never watch it again. Once was more than enough. Honestly, I’m not sure how I managed to finish it.
It's probably the single most haunting show I've ever seen — so painful to watch that I decided, at the time, that it may be wrong of me to tell others to watch it.
Since then, I've often thought it might be the most persuasive and compelling argument for addressing climate change.
Forgive me for saying this, but maybe melting glaciers and increasingly hot summer days and wet bulb temperature and Al Gore’s genuinely brilliant PowerPoint may not be enough to reach those who are too stubborn and too incurious to recognize that climate change is caused by human beings.
But what happens when the social framework breaks down, for any number of reasons, and innocent people are forced to navigate the consequences?
What happens when people are forced to realize that even the most powerful country on earth cannot possibly stop a hurricane and they may someday find themselves, suddenly and unexpectedly, starving and dehydrating in flooded rubble, with no hope of being saved?
Right now, we have a president who's dedicating himself to helping the victims of these hurricanes, but that may not always be true in the future. And at some point, catastrophes become far too large to be met with even all the resources at our disposal.
So, that show is what I think about when climate change comes up, and it's what I've been thinking about during these hurricanes.
As we pray for those in Florida and throughout these hurricane-ravaged states in the coming days—as we donate our money and our blood and our time—it might be wise to also reflect on how profoundly ill-prepared we are to manage the coming disasters that are difficult, if not impossible, to imagine in their horrific scope.
And if you do choose to watch that show, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The Show I'll Never Watch Again