Irish Examiner view: Milton's destruction difficult to quantify
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Millions are without power along the east coast of America. The top of a sports stadium was torn off by high winds. Emergency services simply cannot respond to calls in some areas because the conditions are too dangerous. Everywhere one looks there are indications of the sheer power of the storm.
In some parts of Florida, the rainfall is so heavy it is being described as a once-in-a-thousand-years event.
It might seem strange to view the hurricane and its aftermath through the prism of politics already, but these are strange times in American politics, to put it mildly. In recent weeks, Hurricane Helene ravaged different regions in Florida and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump quickly tried to make a political catapult of the disaster.
Mr Trump was critical of the response of the federal government in helping those affected by the storm, but his claims were so blatantly untrue that even Republican state governors such as Brian Kemp of Georgia have pointed out that they are getting all the help they need from the Biden administration and its agencies.
It is possible that Mr Trump may refrain from similar comments in the wake of Hurricane Milton, but to do so would be a wrenching break with his character.
In a wider context, the ferocity of Hurricane Milton should give all of us pause, even those thousands of miles from the path of the storm, because of the way climate change is making these storms more powerful.
As noted here yesterday, new analysis has found climate change increased by 10% the amount of rainfall hurled down by Hurricane Helene, and also made Helene’s winds about 20km/h, or 11%, more intense: Climate change has made storms as severe as Hurricane Helene about two and a half times more likely than in the pre-industrial age.
The fact that Mr Trump is a well-known climate change sceptic adds a layer of unwelcome irony to the situation and does not augur well for the future.
Encouraging news yesterday from the UAE with the announcement that a senior figure in the Kinahan crime cartel has been arrested.
Sean McGovern was arrested in relation to a Kinahan-Hutch feud murder and for directing organised crime, and the Irish authorities are seeking his extradition to Ireland, despite there being no extradition treaty between the two countries.
He is to be brought to a court in Dubai for a judge to decide whether he can be extradited to Ireland; it may be worth noting that the UAE has deported criminals in the past to Italy and the Netherlands.
It is fair to view this development as the culmination of hard work on the part of state organisations such as the gardaí in terms of detective work in building a case against McGovern, as well as ongoing efforts by the Department of Justice to organise an extradition treaty with the UAE.
The arrest of McGovern also shows that criminal gangs cannot operate with impunity, no matter how fearsome their reputation. The Kinahan group was once part of what the US Drug Enforcement Agency described as a “super cartel” of international criminal gangs, but many of its senior figures are now on the run in the UAE.
If the Department of Justice succeeds in working out an extradition treaty with the authorities, then that will be one less sanctuary that they can rely on.
The influence of gangs such as this on Irish society is corrosive and corrupting, undermining the very idea of the rule of law. Remorseless criminals intent only on draining resources from the country, if left unchecked they would not stop until the state was no longer able to function.
Those who have persisted in the pursuit of these criminals deserve the highest praise for this week’s arrest. They have demonstrated the strong commitment to law and order that must underpin any functioning society — and shown criminals that no matter where they flee, they will be held accountable for their crimes.
Tennis fans wake up this morning adjusting to the fact that one of the sport’s all-time greats, Rafael Nadal, has announced his retirement and ended a golden age for the game.
The 38-year-old plays in the Davis Cup next month, his last professional outing. Over the course of his professional career Nadal collected 22 grand slam titles and enjoyed titanic rivalries with the likes of Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Novak Djokovic.
Yet that may not be the most seismic tennis news of the last week.
In time, there will be other great players, but from 2025 on there will be no line judges at Wimbledon.
The All England Club announced this week that from the 2025 championships onwards, electronic line-calling will be used, after it was successfully tested this year.
Other tournaments have already phased out human line judges in favour of their electronic counterparts but an institution such as Wimbledon is different. With 147 years of history, it is the embodiment of tradition, perhaps irritatingly so on occasion, but its move to electronic line-calling marks a watershed moment in the adoption of technology in sport.
It also leads one to wonder: What sport will next abandon humans in favour of electronic officials?
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