Hypothetical: If Area H had twelve bands from Region 13 not attend Area contest because of a hurricane hitting Corpus and them being caught in storm damage, does it diminish the number of schools that qualified for advancement?

Should they have fewer schools advance to state? (No)

Should the other three regions in Area H be "penalized" for this? (Obviously not)

Why should the rest of the bands in Area C have less of a chance to advance than any other area just because many schools choose the military track and don't attend area?

Area C gets a number of spots based upon the number of area qualifiers just like everyone else.