The devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene: The collapse of infrastructure, climate change and the fight for socialism

Hurricane Helene, the largest storm to hit the US mainland this year, slammed into the Florida coast late Thursday, bringing 140-mile-per-hour winds, torrential rain, and a deadly storm surge. It continued north, triggering flooding across a dozen states, and has already claimed over 100 lives, with the toll expected to rise as recovery efforts continue.

The storm ravaged communities throughout the southeastern United States, from Florida to North Carolina and beyond. In Asheville, North Carolina, population 94,000, hundreds of roads have been washed away, leaving people trapped in their homes or cut off from vital services. Large sections of the city are under water. Mountainous areas face the constant threat of mudslides, and power and communications are down in large parts of the region.

“We have biblical devastation through the county,” said Ryan Cole, an emergency official for Buncombe County, where Asheville is the major city. “This is the most significant natural disaster that any one of us has ever seen.”

In Florida, small towns like Keaton Beach have been devastated. Nearly 90 percent of homes in this coastal community were destroyed. Across the state, millions remain without power, and essential services are overwhelmed. In many of the hardest-hit areas, most residents do not have flood insurance because premiums have skyrocketed, leaving them with no way to rebuild their lives.

The devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene is not simply the result of a natural disaster but of a decades-long failure by the ruling class to provide for the most basic social needs. Emergency warning systems were inadequate, and there was no coordinated plan for mass evacuations. Roads, bridges, dams, and levees—basic components of social infrastructure—are crumbling from decades of neglect. This left many communities vulnerable to the full force of the storm, with little in the way of protection.

The absence of an adequate emergency response is not accidental but a result of the subordination of all social needs to the interests of the wealthy. For decades, both Democratic and Republican administrations have systematically cut funding for disaster preparedness, infrastructure, and public services, while funneling trillions of dollars into war and bailing out the banks.

Under these conditions, millions of working people are left to fend for themselves in the face of disasters like Hurricane Helene. The ruling class, meanwhile, continues to protect its own interests. In Florida, for example, major insurance companies have pulled out of the state entirely, leaving homeowners without any coverage as storms become more frequent and more intense. Property insurance premiums have soared by nearly 50 percent in recent years, putting even basic protection out of reach for millions of working families.

This catastrophe is not unique to Florida or the southeastern United States. Across the country, basic infrastructure is in a state of collapse, leaving millions vulnerable to extreme weather events, from hurricanes to wildfires and floods.

This is the reality in the “richest country in the world,” where resources are squandered on endless wars and the obscene enrichment of a tiny financial elite. While communities across the country are starved of the resources they need, both parties funnel hundreds of billions of dollars into the US-NATO war against Russia, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and preparations for war against China.

The storm’s destructive power was intensified by the effects of climate change. Hurricane Helene, like so many other storms in recent years, grew rapidly in intensity as it passed over the unusually warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including hurricanes, floods, and wildfires, with devastating consequences for working people around the world.

The Democratic Party, which claims to uphold science, has done nothing to address the underlying causes of this devastation. While paying lip service to the threat of climate change, the Biden administration has made clear its real priorities: war abroad and austerity at home.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party, led by climate change deniers like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has actively blocked any effort to address environmental threats. DeSantis, like Trump, continues to downplay the dangers posed by climate change, even as his state is pummeled by one devastating storm after another.

The response to climate change mirrors the ruling class’s criminal response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In both cases, the lives of working people are sacrificed in the name of profit. The death and devastation caused by Helene, like the over 1.4 million lives lost to COVID-19 in the US, are not simply the result of natural forces, but of a system that prioritizes the interests of the rich over the needs of the vast majority of the population. Moreover, warming temperatures are increasing the spread of deadly pathogens and the danger of new pandemics.

The Socialist Equality Party calls for a multi-billion program to provide immediate relief to all those affected by the hurricane. Working people and retirees who have lost their homes, vehicles and livelihoods must be made whole. Emergency housing must also be provided to the thousands of people who were homeless prior to the storm due to exorbitant housing prices.  

At the same time, the SEP calls for a massive increase in funding for disaster preparedness, infrastructure repair, and emergency services. This must include the building of modern, climate-resilient infrastructure, the establishment of coordinated national and regional evacuation systems, and the creation of a publicly owned insurance system to provide coverage for all against natural disasters.

These resources exist. They can and must be made available, but this requires a fundamental reorganization of society. The wealth hoarded by the billionaires and corporations must be expropriated and used to meet human needs, not to fund war or pad the stock portfolios of the rich. The trillions of dollars wasted on imperialist wars and corporate bailouts must be redirected to build the infrastructure needed to protect lives and livelihoods.

The only force capable of carrying out this fight is the international working class, through the fight for socialism.

Vote Joseph Kishore and Jerry White in the 2024 US presidential election! Mobilize the working class to fight for a socialist future!