Well geez...that sounds like the use of magick. Those aren’t Xtians, they’re witches!
I used to keep a count of loud-mouth preachers who said this or that was a punishment or curse from god. I lost track, but IIRC the evangelical/fly-over/red states fared much worse over the past 40 years than the blue states. Cedar Rapids, New Orleans, Tornado Alley, etc.