Here’s a good list of places to donate to for Puerto Rico and some other islands:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/world/americas/hurricane-maria-donate-charity.html?mcubz=1&_r=1
60% of Puerto Ricans don’t have potable water, according to the governor. That’s over two million Americans that don’t have potable water.
Just sent to Direct Relief. It’s insane that there doesn’t seem to be a national response, or at least I’m not hearing about one.
@garland there isn’t. We’ve essentially abandoned Puerto Rico. It is a national travesty and a humanitarian disaster. The response has been abysmal.
I have been told by several people from Puerto Rico that this is the place to give to: www.mariafund.org It funds grassroots organizations and unlike with Red Cross, 100% of proceeds go to PR. This is what I have been donating to.
On top of this disaster, Puerto Rico has been in dire financial ruin for quite awhile now.
The hospital ships have not been sent because the ports can’t handle ships their size at the moment.
They could figure something out, for sure, such as a tender service. It’s done all the time for some of the larger cruise ships visiting some islands. Time to get creative.
"Thomas LaCrosse, the Pentagon’s director of defense support to civil authorities, said U.S. officials discussed deploying the USNS Comfort to Puerto Rico over the weekend but decided that it should stay in Norfolk because it could not get close enough to any port to avoid using helicopter support to get patients to and from the ship.
True enough, the behemoth ship’s deep draft of 30+ feet bars it from San Juan harbor’s 32 to 35 foot channels even at the best of times (and these are far from San Juan’s best times). But, unmentioned in the WaPo article quoted above, that’s nothing new for the Comfort, which routinely anchors a mile or two offshore to serve disaster sites, as it did following Haiti’s devastating earthquake or, again, as it fearlessly did in 2007 in the teeth of a “storm of a decade” off Corinto, Nicaragua, where it anchored 1.5 miles offshore to receive patients. It is such a common fact in the life of this ship of mercy that militaryfactory.com notes as a mere aside that
“Comfort has a deep draft and, in many ports, she has to stand offshore at least a mile. To receive wounded, Comfort has a large day-and-night helo pad.”"
They should also suspend the Jones Act, which requires that all shipments to Puerto Rico from the mainland be on US-flagged ships. There is no reason for this rule to be in effect at this time.
I’m going to give non-blog links here for doschicos information.
The Defense Department says the USS Comfort would have to use helicopters to ferry patients back and forth in Puerto Rico so it won’t be sent. But the USS Comfort routinely anchors offshore; it has a large helipad for day and night use.
Department of Defense says USS Comfort can’t get close enough to Puerto Rico, would have to ferry patients by helicopter, and so they’re not sending it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/trump-administration-facing-pressure-to-speed-up-recovery-efforts-in-puerto-rico/2017/09/25/18f4571c-a203-11e7-b14f-f41773cd5a14_story.html?utm_term=.a3a2ab2c3251
USS Comfort anchored off Haiti after earthquake: http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=51807
USS Comfort anchored off Nicaragua: http://bridgedeck.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/2009-D-July-August-MMP-Magazine.pdf
So, in other words, that “no available port” excuse sounds like poppycock. We, as a country, should be better than that. These are American citizens!
But we still are not immune to physical laws or have god-like powers. btw- the people may have US citizenship but those living in PR have a horribly mismanaged government leading to so much infrastructure deterioration. Mother Nature is more powerful than any country.
The no available port IS legitimate- there was minor damage (meaning able to fix sooner than later) even to south ports. Tampa was lucky that the port could handle fuel tankers (and highways open) shortly after Irma did its glancing blow here. Logistics in our part of Florida were complex, PR dealt with more problems and less advance preparation.
The USS Comfort is now on its way.
The no available port excuse is bogus because it doesn’t need a port. It can anchor in deep water offshore.
Poor infrastructure is another ball of wax, and a complex one, that deserves attention at a later time but no excuse for not putting forth our complete and full efforts as quickly as possible. Let’s stop justifying and setting the stage for blame.
Saying the US Military can’t deal with a minimally damaged port just rings hollow.
I really can’t respond to this without getting political, but maybe look more into their “horribly mismanaged government.”
There was and continues to be a lot of government decisions that negatively affect PR, but it’s mostly a government that is out of the hands of the Puerto Rican people to change.
Saying “they have US Citizenship” sounds like talking about US Nationals who happen to be a foreign country. That’s not what PR is. It IS part of the USA.
And I’m dismayed by those who bought the “can’t come close enough to the port” line, which was so transparently bunk, since in many disasters, as referenced above, ferrying back and forth with helicopters is the normal way it operates.