More help coming from NYS.
And now trump is blaming the mayor of San Juan and people of PR.
http://us.cnn.com/2017/09/30/politics/trump-tweets-puerto-rico-mayor/index.html
Today, I’m ashamed to be an American.
The friend I posted about quite a while ago that we were taking up a collection for has decided to take a leave of absence for the semester. She is Puerto Rican and essentially had a mental breakdown after the USVI where some of her family lives and then PR where everyone else lives.
The effects of this are more wide ranging than the vast majority of Americans will ever realize.
General Honore had some things to say.
Makes sense that NYS is sending so much help to PR, since they have the most Puerto-Americans of any state.
@romanigypsyeyes , I’m sorry about your friend and her family, and thank you for pointing out the wide-ranging effects of natural (and human-exacerbated) disasters.
Thanks, rose.
Bravo to General Honore. He is spot-on.
Read Tampa paper and talked to neighbor today. There is a warehouse with goods a plane was supposed to transport Monday still waiting for it (ie late Friday). There are goods in San Juan that aren’t getting to where they are needed. I doubt it is truckers’ unions. Obstructed roads (and bureaucracy probably not helping) and physical barriers interfere. No internet, cell phone, power- regardless of personal financial wealth. Running out of cash and ability to get it from ATM’s. The H brought some ATT&T prepaid phones to San Juan and they have a little bit of intermittent communication- keeping short talk in case the connection is lost. Her father’s flight for today got cancelled. She is not optimistic about other flight plans made and rescheduled. At least the H is retired and isn’t away from a job he can’t afford to miss. She looked distressed and stated she was feeling powerless. All we could do is point out the good/not bad- alive, well, undamaged main house… Time for being a Pollyanna to help her deal with the situation.
A major disaster that I believe it when I heard will take decades to deal with. Poor infrastructure that was wiped out. An island- no driving from several states away like happened with Texas and Florida. Mountains with difficult terrain. Poor economic management for so long. Immediately getting supplies in and people out (less strain on resources).
Makes Houston and Florida look good even if many are still suffering on the mainland.
I still want to know why we’re not doing air drops.
The Mayor of San Juan needs to be focusing her effort on moving the thousands of pounds of goods stuck at her port to the people that need it, not crying on TV. Her people need a leader, not someone that is going to throw a tantrum at the President (who we all KNOW will just throw a tantrum right back at her, thus accomplishing nothing except wasted time).
If she wants to complain, complain later. Right now she needs to get the supplies that have been delivered to her city to the people.
Drivers are not showing up to work. Air drops are risky for both the air crews and those on the ground. Some air drops are being done.
I see the NYTimes headline now: “Airdrop kills 15 Puerto Ricans when thousands of pounds of food land on them”
How many airdrops does it take to get supplies to hundreds of thousands of people?
Air drops are incredibly labor intensive.
How many people have the correct skill set to prep and execute an air drop?
Which supplies do you not want to send to the island, as you will be using the same aircraft to conduct air drops, so each air drop takes away from supplies that can be brought to Puerto Rico.
Please keep in mind the US Military is engaged in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, as well as Houston, South Florida, and USVI among other places. And it is dealing with a lack of readiness caused by sequestration (also see: the Navy ships that crashed recently).
I bet Puerto Rico wishes it didn’t protest away that military base now…
Just a guess, but I don’t think they want to do random air drops with out a way to distribute the aid in an orderly fashion.
There are supplies sitting at the docks, does PR not have a National Guard or some sort of civil patrol that can help get those supplies to the people that need them? Is the Red Cross there? Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a quick fix to such massive devastation.
I think lack of communication is a BIG issue, I just don’t understand why government/emergency personal didn’t have satellite phones before the storm, didn’t they learn anything from Andrew where south Dade County lost all cell towers and there was no cell service for months?
@soccerguy315 I was actually thinking about the riots and hoarding that can happen with air drops especially with little or no communication.
This article is from two days ago: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-responded-to-haiti-quake-more-forcefully-than-to-puerto-rico-disaster/2017/09/28/74fe9c02-a465-11e7-8cfe-d5b912fabc99_story.html
the governor said the Federal government is answering every request.
^^^ @soccerguy315 you have made very valid points, we are the United States of America (and territories in this case) the Federal Government can only do what the states (or territories) request, this was made very clear during Katrina. Both Texas and Florida learned this lesson well and asked to be declared federal disaster areas well before the storms land fall and asked that resources were in place if needed.
I think we should give as much aid and support to PR as possible, but it’s not the Federal Government’s place to intrude on states or territories unless asked to do so. I’m sorry but PR’s governor dropped the ball big time on this one.
I was wondering how the Keys were doing after Irma. Their power company got power back up within days. Their poles were built to withstand a Cat 5 storm. They kept up with tree trimming so falling trees wouldn’t cut the line. They knew one day they would be hit with a big storm and the system was built and maintained with that in mind.
http://wlrn.org/post/hard-hit-keys-power-was-restored-within-days-after-hurricane-irma-why
Puerto Rico has been in a financial crisis for a long time. I’m not surprised that money was not spent to put the infrastructure in better condition before this storm. Even states that have better finances are not necessarily doing well by their infrastructure upkeep. Think about the bridge collapse in the Twin Cities 10 years ago.
Honestly, I’d rather be in Puerto Rico than wondering if dioxins from a flooded superfund site got in my house in Texas. Or be breathing in the benzene while scooping globules of mercury out of my yard.
Those things might be happening in Puerto Rico, particularly in Vieques, but they’re not as likely.