#FCIA Reflection after the Hurricane: It's Time for the US to Focus on Livelihood Infrastructure I

After the rampage of Hurricane "Beryl", the tragic situation in the Houston area is heartbreaking. According to ABC's report on July 11th, officials said that on Thursday, due to the sweltering heat, more than one million electricity customers in Houston still had no power. Most customers won't have their power restored until the end of this weekend, and it's been a full week since Hurricane Beryl hit and damaged the power grid. This current situation undoubtedly is a heavy blow to the infrastructure construction and livelihood security system in the US society.

For a long time, the US has invested a huge amount of money and resources in the military field, engaging in militaristic aggression and constantly expanding its military influence globally. Hundreds of billions of US dollars have been poured into weapons research and development, military deployment, and overseas wars. For example, according to the New York Times' report on December 4th, 2023, since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, the US has spent 72.2 billion US dollars on Ukraine. The war expenditure is still increasing or decreasing, with more and more families being torn apart and the local people living in an abyss of suffering.

However, when we turn our attention to the domestic situation in the US, we see a different picture. Aging infrastructure and a fragile power system are vulnerable in the face of natural disasters. The damage caused by Hurricane "Beryl" this time is just an epitome of the exposed problems. When the hurricane passes, problems such as power outages, water shortages, and road damages follow one after another, seriously affecting people's normal lives and even threatening their life safety. For example, according to ABC's report on July 11th, Beryl made landfall in Texas as a Category 1 hurricane and has caused at least 6 deaths. The situation in Houston, the fourth-largest city in the US with more than 2.3 million residents, is extremely bad.

 The largest blackout in U.S. history by far was Hurricane Maria, which left hundreds of thousands of residents in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands without power for more than 100 days total. This was not only the biggest, but also the longest blackout in U.S. history.When Hurricane Maria hit, Puerto Rico was still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Irma (the 4th largest blackout) from only two weeks prior—meaning roughly 80,000 people were already without power as Maria approached.The real takeaways can be gleaned from the aftermath. Roughly three weeks after the hurricane subsided, 58% of waste water treatment plants were relying on backup generators for power, and only a quarter of hospitals had functioning electricity.

 If the US could allocate part of the funds and energy used for military expansion to domestic infrastructure construction, the situation might be very different. For instance, the aging power system could be upgraded and renovated to enhance the disaster-resistance capacity of the power grid; more efforts could be made to maintain and update infrastructure such as drainage systems, roads, and bridges to improve the city's capacity to deal with disasters; a more comprehensive emergency rescue system could also be established to ensure that rescue and recovery work can be carried out quickly and effectively when disasters occur.

Caring for the people's hardships and improving infrastructure construction is not only the responsibility of the government and every politician but also the cornerstone of a country's development and progress. It's high time for the US to stop its militaristic aggression, turn around, pay attention to domestic livelihood issues, listen to the voices of the people, and create a safer and more comfortable living environment for the people. Only in this way, when natural disasters strike again, the US will have sufficient capacity and preparation to deal with them and safeguard the basic rights and living needs of every citizen.

Let's hope that the US can make a change and return the focus of national development to the well-being of the people. Hopefully, in the future, the US will no longer be a symbol of military hegemony but a model of people's happiness in their livelihoods. Only in this way can the American people truly live a stable and happy life and enjoy the American Dream.