As America Floods and Burns, It’s Foreigners to the Rescue

[Editor’s note: A version of this first appeared on Vancouver writer Chris Cannon’s Substack Communication Breakdown.]

It would not do for America to say thank you.

It wouldn’t look good for a country with such xenophobic ambitions to admit they need help from their neighbours.

But they do.

When California was on fire, Canada was there, sending two air tankers and more than 60 firefighters and support staff to battle the January blazes that killed dozens and consumed 57,000 acres. On standby were experts from a host of agencies — the Canadian military and coast guard, Natural Resources Canada, Parks Canada and Transport Canada — all ramped up and ready to deploy.

“Canadian firefighters are on the ground, working shoulder to shoulder with American crews, helping wherever they can. More Canadian crews are on the way. We’re proud to help our American friends, and grateful for the first responders working in the toughest of conditions to save homes and keep people safe,” said then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Mexico kicked in as well, dispatching 72 doctors, engineers and bomberos to preserve American property and save American lives.

“Emergencies have no borders — we are deeply grateful to our neighbours in Mexico for their unwavering support during one of our greatest times of need. Thank you to President Claudia Sheinbaum for lending the best of the best,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged.

Even Ukraine, under a different kind of fire, mobilized for America.

“Ukraine’s offer of support to California during these devastating wildfires is nothing short of extraordinary,” posted the California National Guard. “President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s leadership and the preparation of 150 Ukrainian firefighters are a testament to the power of global partnerships. @TheCalGuard is proud of our 30+ years of working with Ukraine through the State Partnership Program. Together, we stand stronger.”

That was January, and it was California. From President Joe Biden down to local fire departments, the gratitude and solidarity were palpable.

But now it’s July, and we’re in Texas, where floods have left at least 135 residents dead, a number grossly exacerbated by budget cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and the National Weather Service that delayed both warnings of the danger and rescue efforts in the aftermath.

Before the feds even got out of their pyjamas, volunteer rescuers from across the border in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico — members of the Dirección de Protección Civil y Bomberos de Acuña, the International Tlatelolco Azteca Rescue Brigade and Fundación 911 — left the relative safety of Mexico, braving the elements (both political and environmental) to work side by side with Texas crews to save Americans from the muck of their own making.

Have you said thank you once?

Over the following weeks, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took great pains to thank the National Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety and nearly two dozen other local, state and federal agencies for their help in rescue efforts, including individual tweets for every state that lent a hand. He said:

“Thank you, Florida, for your support in the aftermath of these devastating floods.”

“Thank you @TeamPillen and our fellow Americans in Nebraska who deployed their Type 3 Urban Search & Rescue Team to help with the aftermath of flooding in Kerr County.”

“Thank you to Tennessee for aiding in the search for missing loved ones after the devastating flooding in Texas by sending K-9 teams.”

“On behalf of Texas, thank you Louisiana for springing into action to help our state recover from the catastrophic floods.”

“Thank you, Governor @SarahHuckabee [Arkansas], for deploying aid to Texas.”

“Thank you, Governor @GlennYoungkin and Virginia, for providing swift water boat squads to help our state respond to the deadly floods in Central Texas.”

“Thanks to the @CAgovernor for sending K-9 teams to Texas.”

“Oklahoma’s ongoing support plays a crucial role in our response and recovery.”

“Thank you, South Carolina, for your support during this devastating time in Texas.”

“On behalf of Texans, we thank @GovEvers and the state of Wisconsin for answering the call and sending Wisconsin Task Force 1 and a K-9 Team to help with search and rescue.”

“North Dakota & @GovArmstrong — thank you.”

“Thank you, @GovMikeDeWine and the state of Ohio, for deploying state troopers and a K-9 team to assist in search and rescue efforts.”

“To @GovMurphy and our fellow Americans in New Jersey, we appreciate your support after these deadly floods.”

“Thank you, @GovernorKayIvey [Alabama], for your support of Texans.”

“To @GovJanetMills and the Maine Voluntary Agency Liaison — thank you.”

But for Mexico... crickets. Abbot gave more credit to prayer than to the Mexican first responders.

Know what else the Bible teaches? Not to be a racist dick.

The sin Abbott is committing here is called rhetorical erasure — the intentional omission or distortion of the narrative to favour the party telling the story. Abbott has been a key screen diva in Donald Trump’s imaginary border-invasion drama, portraying the stream of legitimate asylum seekers as an “invasion” by “foreign enemies infiltrating Texas.” He can’t be seen thanking the people he has built his political career demonizing. It’s not good optics.

Trump has been mum on the foreign assistance even as he praises a Department of Homeland Security leader who holds her office the way one might hold a hostage they have no intention of letting live, and who has somehow turned a disaster-relief effort into an even bigger disaster. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was “right on the ball,” Trump claimed, “she was there right from the beginning,” even though she created the 72-hour delay in mobilizing FEMA’s search and rescue efforts, as well as closed FEMA’s switchboards shortly after the flood so only about a third of the calls could get through.

David Richardson, the acting head of FEMA who was famously surprised to learn there’s a “hurricane season,” is somehow still employed even though he has no experience, showed no interest in the relief effort and didn’t bother visiting the disaster area, which seems like the least you could do if that is literally your job.

America First (and only)

Let’s be clear: Texans are dead — dozens of them children — as a direct result of this administration’s assault on science and the mind-boggling incompetence of these unqualified ideological governauts.

But they are taking the credit, claiming that their failures are successes and ignoring the outsiders who had their boots full of water before Trump was able to find Kerrville on a map. Add it to the list of disinformation practices that drive “America First” policy: paint your allies as enemies, or at least as bad neighbours.

Fortunately, much of the cross-border disaster co-operation between the United States, Canada and Mexico is managed by local agencies, who know how valuable a good neighbour can be. Even now, U.S. fire crews are in Canada to help with wildfire season, already deploying to four provinces in June, part of a decades-long pact between these countries and Australia, New Zealand and Portugal.

But it would not do for isolationists to praise co-operation. The better play — if you want to get re-elected — is to portray your friends as threats and pretend you are standing up to them. This is what a group of Republican representatives did last week when they demanded that Canada please curb its wildfire smoke — Republicans, by the way, who support climate change denial and want to privatize weather forecasting.

So let’s leave the last word to a president actually qualified for the job — if for no other reason than they speak truth — on why private Mexican citizens risked their lives to help their American neighbours.

“That is the people of Mexico. That is our culture... Mexicans are supportive and fraternal, always. And what's reflected in firefighters going and risking their lives, as they also did in California to save others, is the essence of the Mexican people. It's humanism.”

That would be Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.