Smith College has joined the list of colleges offering a semester full ride to students whose university education is interrupted by the aftermath of the hurricane:
https://www.smith.edu/sites/default/files/media/Spring%202018%20Visiting%20Semester%20for%20Students%20from%20UPR%20and%20FAQ.pdf
Applications close Dec 6 so if you know of a student, get the word to them quickly.
Over 156,000 Puerto Ricans have moved to Florida since the hurricane. Number from here http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/andres-oppenheimer/article184816303.html
Florida CCers - are you seeing a big impact in your schools or rental real estate markets?
I am trying to think through the implications for PR. If the people with means to get out have left, it would follow that the very vulnerable are a higher % of those remaining. Is there a profile of who has left such as the professional class or small business owners? How will this affect the PR economy and recovery?
My H got everything PR related dumped into his lap two weeks ago (including working the $$$ requested by the PR Gov to Congress the other day) and what the $$$ amount needed by schools and to house people coming to NY. This is on top of his regular work - which fortunately for him most of his staff can pick up the slack. From our convos I know NYS is expecting FEMA money to reimburse and I would assume FL will be, also.
@emilybee. Is this insurance claim estimates? Or FEMA estimates? Keep us posted with anything you can share. I know most of the info is confidential until it goes to Congress or something
The request to Congress was for fed disaster money to rebuild PR (like Texas and Florida’s request after Harvey and Irma.) I’m not sure exactly how they come up with the $ estimates - although I know some came from 3rd parties like Moody’s. I also know some of the estimates were based on the cost of repairing/rebuilding after Irene and Sandy.
NYS and I assume Florida will be asking FEMA to reimburse them for costs like housing in hotels/rentals etc for people coming from PR - plus NYS will be asking for money to reimburse them for NYS personnel being sent to PR (like state police.)
“More than 168,000 people have flown or sailed out of Puerto Rico to Florida since the hurricane, landing at airports in Orlando, Miami and Tampa, and the port in Fort Lauderdale. Nearly half are arriving in Orlando, where they are tapping their networks of family and friends. An additional 100,000 are booked on flights to Orlando through Dec. 31, county officials said. Large numbers are also settling in the Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach areas.”
^ This is remaking Florida (and changing both PR and Florida forever).
My guess is that those fleeing are those who have the means to, or have networks, or have education/skills they have good hope to use on the mainland.
It also means about 250,000 new citizens arriving to a swing state, changing the political calculus.
I’ve read that a lot of Puerto Ricans are moving to the Atlanta area as well.
Article documenting the uncounted deaths in PR during the hurricane and immediately following when care was not available.
Neighbors are originally from PR where her parents and their kids currently are. They’re cooking a turkey to bring (short enough Tampa flight) since still not great conditions even in the nicer parts of San Juan. Sounds similar to third world India of H’s childhood- not modern day US (or India). Water, power, (cell) phone service…
Delays in returning power to PR:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/20/us/puerto-rico-power-whitefish-halts-work/index.html
There’s a 9x discrepancy between the official and unofficial/unreported death toll (55 vs 499).
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/20/health/hurricane-maria-uncounted-deaths-invs/index.html
It’s an interesting unintended consequence to see all the Puerto Rican residents moving to FL and GA where their votes might exert an influence in elections. It’s an odd situation where their votes don’t count in PR, but in FL and GA they do.
There was a good article today about how Best Buy supported its employees in the aftermath of the hurricane. Everyone has been getting paid even though the stores and distribution center have been closed and gave everyone an extra $1,000 to purchase emergency supplies. They chartered planes to bring in family supplies and evacuated the staff that wanted to leave or had medical issues. For me it is a bright spot in the otherwise miserable conditions the island is suffering.
http://www.startribune.com/best-buy-spends-750-000-helping-puerto-rico-employees-after-hurricane/464844203/
I read that hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans had left and settled in Florida, that 1/3 houses were still destroyed and many people still didn’t have electricity, that FEMA had decided to just … stop disaster relief. Is it the case in Texas too? Have people been totally abandonned?
I just heard today from a friend whose child was recently in the ER that there is a national shortage of IV fluids because one of the two major producers is a factory in Puerto Rico that’s been off-line since the hurricane.
In contrast to the “official” death count of 64, it is estimated that over 4,600 people died in PR as a result of the hurricanes.
From the Skimm this morning on this topic:
" For context: that’s more than two times Hurricane Katrina’s death toll.
What caused this?
Delays in getting medical treatment. Or not being able to get any treatment at all. Damaged roads made it hard for people to get to doctors’ offices or hospitals, and the lack of power made it impossible for things like hospital generators to work. Another major problem: the gov was slower to respond to Hurricane Maria than other US hurricanes.
Some areas of Puerto Rico still don’t have power eight months after the storm. And with the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season about to start, it’s unclear if the island is prepared to take another hit."
These people are US citizens. I find this really unacceptable.
That is unacceptable. There must have been heavy pressure on the government to keep the death toll count low, although it is very difficult to accurately attribute deaths that might have occurred months later for things like kidney failure, etc.
The article states that Puerto Rico has commissioned an independent review of the death certificates to get a total of deaths related to the hurricane. That should produce a better record than this survey of 3,000 households.