Groundwork: Unexpected deal could serve as model after the storm

The president was able to strike a startling deal with Democrats Wednesday to keep the federal government funded beyond the end-of-the-month deadline, as well as to pass a $15.3 billion relief package for the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey.

The art of the deal -- to the chagrin of some fellow Republicans -- was performed just as the eye of another storm, Hurricane Irma, is taking aim at Florida. The other Southern states on the Atlantic coast, including North Carolina, also lie in Irma's immediate path.  

We well know the importance of federally funded relief packages after suffering through a still-ongoing recovery from Hurricane Matthew.

Here in Wayne County we have had to make do with a fraction -- $9 million -- of the $37 million requested for buyouts and elevation of homes severely damaged by the flooding that came in the wake of Matthew. That is aside from the countless Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Administration claims that were filed by homeowners, renters and business owners hit hard in 2016. Most were paid out, we understand, but others have said their temporary housing funding has or will soon run out and they've no place to go.

What will become of them in Irma's wake?

And while the latest models indicate a slightly westward shift in the projected path of Hurricane Irma, a storm of that size and strength remains a significant threat to our area and will likely leave us in its aftermath again looking to the state and federal governments for aid.

We are hoping that the bipartisan groundwork newly laid by President Trump and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate minority leader, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the House minority leader, is a snapshot of things to come. And we hope that the Republicans in Washington, D.C., and in Raleigh, who might have been surprised at the deal are now inspired by it to reach across the aisle and work together with their Democratic counterparts to do what is necessary five, seven or 10 days from now when we need their help.

Published in Editorials on September 7, 2017 10:18 PM