California and Florida: A tale of two hurricanes

American Thinker ^ | 10 Oct. 2026 | Monica Showalter

[MtnClimber]

The responses to the natural disasters will show the difference between red and blue rule.

Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis and California's Gov. Gavin Newsom have mixed it up on various occasions as to whose state is better governed.

Now that two hurricanes are hitting each state at the same time, it's time for those claims about response management to be inspected side by side.

Here we have Florida, whose panhandle was beset by Category 2 Hurricane Isaias: [Numerous X posts from Florida at article]

We see leadership and communication from De Santis, weeks of preparation including securing federal resources, helpful pointers on how to protect pets, and credible warnings to potential looters of severe consequences.

There's also California, which is dealing with Hurricane Rachel, which has been downgraded to Tropical Storm Rachel, but which is reportedly gaining strength again and could become Hurricane Rachel again. It's supposed to hit San Diego square on, but as of this writing, we haven't seen a drop of rain or even significant wind. Other areas north of us, though, have had coastal floodings: [Numerous X posts from California at article]

There doesn't appear to have been much of any preparation to defend it, despite what everyone knew. So they got this: [X posts about California flooding.

And instead of focusing on disaster prevention, Democrats talk about climate change:

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TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: california; florida; gavinnewsom; rondesantis

[MtnClimber]

It will be interesting to see if damages are ever fixed.

[GMMC0987]

The most important concern in California is to make sure all that nasty rain water is quickly diverted into the ocean.

[V_TWIN]

Well if the wildfires that burned the Pacific Palisades parts of Malibu and other areas to the ground is any indication, I’d say the answer is a resounding NO.

[chajin]

DeSantis: “We prepare for severe weather because government can organize people to help each other and rebuild”

Newsom: “Never let a crisis go to waste”

[GOPJ]

A few years back some reporter was standing beside a Florida ‘island to shore’ bridge that had collapsed during one of two hurricanes that season - she was saying it could be a year or more before the bridge was fixed... DeSantis took it as challenge - - the bridge was fixed and drivable 3 days later.

[KrisKrinkle]

Well, California doesn’t have a lot of experience actually handling disasters.

[John Milner]

Creating them, yes. Handling them? No.

[NewHampshireDuo]

Wait ‘til the San Andreas really lets go.

[Bon of Babble]

I live in So Cal and as of 7 AM PST, it is pouring down rain.

All anyone need look at is the High Speed Rail fiasco that is going on in California - 18 years, $13B spent and not a single inch of track has been laid down.

I seriously doubt Ron DeSantis would allow this idiotic project to go on - a train from nowhere to nowhere.

[ClearCase_guy]

Conservatives face Reality and deal with Reality as it comes, and they fix problems when they occur.

Leftists love problems and do not want to solve anything, because ongoing crises of any kind enable further accumulation of power and money.

[broken_clock]

Well, California doesn’t have a lot of experience actually handling disasters.

You have to go back to Governor Pete Wilson (R) and his handling of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. He offered monetary incentives to construction crews to rebuild the collapsed bridges and they were repaired under the timeline.

Of course we the people voted on a 1/4 percent tax hike to help out and I think we are still paying it though the money is now part of the slush fund…

[napscoordinator]

Unfortunately, Florida has had some deaths from this hurricane. I’m not so sure California has.

[Fiji Hill]

It’s been raining here in North Orange County, Calif., but it’s expected to clear up later today. The last big hurricane to hit the Southland was a Category 1 storm in September, 1939, which caused a lot of damage and some fatalities.

[Freee-dame]

There is quite a big difference between a category 2 hurricane and a tropical storm.

[BipolarBob]

Karen Bass and DeSantis will conveniently be out of state and on vacation. The devil takes care of his own.

[June2]

Did you mean Newsom?

[BipolarBob]

Oops yes. Brain fart.

[j.havenfarm]

Very important point, and I researched it a couple weeks ago when it happened before:

First, hurricanes in the southern and eastern Pacific are called cyclones, though I’m cool with calling it hurricane for clarity

As stated, in 175+ years of records, only one hurricane is confirmed to have made landfall in CA, with o e or two others before wind records were recorded. The waters offshore are too cold to support hurricanes at hurricane strength, though the waters offshore Southern CA are relatively warmer and can better support decaying tropical storms.

In the same period, just over 100 tropical storms have had significant impacts. All that moisture has to go somewhere and sometimes the impacts are quite severe. This one is forecast to make it all the way up to Montana and become the first winter storm, dumping perhaps 2 feet of snow over the northern Rockies.

[bobbo666]

You are unfair. You are comparing a tribe of morons to -—— most any other group in the universe. Plus, nothing you hear from CaCaLand will be the truth.