Hurricane Maria: Evacuation Puerto Rico

I have been posting messages about Hurricane Maria on this blog that were written contemporaneously to the unfolding tragedy.  Since there was no power, I took time during the day to write out on notebook paper what was happening and what I saw.  Now that I am back in the States (thank you JetBlue for rescuing us!), I can't believe what I am seeing or reading from people thousands of miles from the crisis in Puerto Rico who know nothing. 

First, I have to thank the employee at JetBlue who seemed very mean at first but recognized that my wife was in crisis and would have been hospitalized if she was turned away again at the airport.   Our second flight had been cancelled and we had waited another 1.5 hours in a line and when she said the earliest flight would be October 20, that was the end.  Thank you for recognizing our desperation and thank you for getting us off the island. 

A couple of inaccuracies or spin that I heard when I got back that need corrected. 1. This is a Caribbean nation that should expect Hurricanes; be better prepared for Hurricanes; and tourists should not go there during Hurricane season.   The last major Hurricane to hit the island was Hurricane Georges in 1998 so nearly 20 years ago.  They just were touched by Irma so what were the chances that a second powerful Hurricane would hit so soon after Irma?  We made the plans over a month ago, and did not even hear about Maria until the Sunday before it hit on Tuesday September 19.  There was no way to get off the island by Sunday.  When we were traveling, we were more concerned about Hurricane Jose and not Maria.  Who could have ever predicted that the Hurricane would have winds above the Category 5 level or that the island would take a direct hit?  It snapped concrete telephone poles in half and ripped off roofs from many buildings.

Inaccuracy #2: The people of Puerto Rico were not helping.  This is the most outrageous of the myths about Puerto Rican response to the disaster.  Within hours of the disaster, there were people cutting down trees moving debris into the street and separating the biodegradable rubbish from the building parts and glass.  I saw guys with forklifts helping out and using machetes to move fallen trees from the roads.  If they had had access to cherry picker trees, I am sure they would have been putting up electrical wires.  They did all they could with the equipment they had.  My issue was that they were not complaining and not demanding more urgency from their government.  If the power grid was completely eliminated and there was no running water after one week in any other American city, there would be riots until the Mayor/Governor gave a timeline for restoration of basic services.  The native population were going to work to serve the tourist economy.  They were standing in long lines and they were cleaning up when they had the right to protest, yell and scream. It was not until Carmen Yulin Cruz spoke up last Friday did we hear any anger on the island.  Remember also, that most people in Puerto Rico did not hear the Mayor's comments or the disgraceful response from the White House.  They have been in the dark for two weeks now. 

Inaccuracy #3 This was a good news story about the federal response to this crisis.  This comes from someone who has no clue and has never had to face hardships to survival.  This comes from people who have never had to walk a couple of miles in the hot sun to go to the bathroom.  These comments come from a perspective of individuals whose biggest challenge is that their cell phone battery only lasts half the day.  These elites would never sit in a three hour gas line, opting to pay a person of color to wait for the box office to open for Hamilton tickets.  They made these comments on the lush green of the most impressive Public Housing in the United States or while resting at a Country Club golf course.  How out of touch do you have to be to insult the victims of a Hurricane?  Imagine those nuns working at the old people's home, watching the generator, terrified that it would run out of diesel and all those in their care would die.  These comments out of Washington are cowardly and demonstrate how messed up things are today. Everything, even relief, is political. 

Inaccuracy #4 There were 10,000 federal employees delivered to the island and plenty of supplies.  This is a misunderstanding of the problem.  My observations and I think that the Mayor's comments back this up, this was a problem of inaction not ignoring the island. Mayor Cruz said,  “'Mr Trump, I am begging you to take charge and save lives,' she added, pleading for a more robust federal response," was how the Guardian described it.  I saw plenty of people both local and federal employees from FEMA, the military, and HHS who were present but doing nothing.  Why did it take two weeks to get the airport full power?  If Irma had also hit Puerto Rico why were there not resources on the way to help recover from Irma?  Why was the port still not cleared of sunken ships from Irma so that new ships could not use the port?  Here is a picture of an empty passenger port one week after the Hurricane had hit. The shipping port had only one supply ship coming in on this day.  Why was the navigation system still not working properly at the airport after 10 days?  Why was there no plan to get all the tourists off the island so that they would not suck up the resources?  Who the hell puts relief workers up in hotels including US Military personnel displacing tourists, to force tourists to live in the disaster center? Why were there no food and water trucks on the street when the banking, supply chain, and running water were all compromised?  The third word in FEMA is "management," but I saw no supervision, management, or oversight going on at all.  I saw a lot of drinking coffee, waiting for food, waiting for the ATM line in the air conditioned Convention Center by FEMA employees going on, but very little action.  I saw people getting a good night sleep at the Sheraton and then punching in at 8:30 or 9 a.m. to push around paper. 

Inaccuracy #5 This disaster threw the federal budget out of whack and the debt is going to need to be dealt with by Puerto Rico.  No where else did we talk about debt while delivering aid.  No one said, "Hey Florida and Texas if you had expanded Medicaid, we could have handled the distribution of health care for a lot cheaper during this crisis." No one, while giving out food bags in Houston, said, "Hey you know you local people are going to have to pay 20% for these groceries."  I just have to wonder if this is racism or ignorance behind these comments.  The Puerto Ricans have no control over their own fate with regard to the debt.  They have a constitution that the US Congress refused to implement.  They have laws such as the Jones Act which makes it expensive to get supplies.  You can basically swim to the Dominican Republic, but Puerto Rico has no ability to trade with them or order supplies from there.  Everything has to come from the United States.  They are indentured servants to the 535 members of Congress to provide a vacation spot for the rich. 

Inaccuracy #6: Puerto Rico is surrounded by water, in fact ocean water, and therefore hard to deliver aid to.  I don't remember the same complaints about President Bill Clinton in 1998 when Hurricane Georges hit the island.  There were no complaints about slow assistance and Georges, a category 4 Hurricane went on to hit Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Florida Keys, and Louisiana.  This year was government incompetence, pure and simple.  This was because we do not have many positions within the government filled and we have unqualified people in positions of authority.  There is no spin here.  I saw all this with my own eyes.  I was embarrassed for how Washington treated US citizens.  It is a disgrace that no doubt resulted in people dying.  Wait until the government is functioning and we will see a large number of tragic stories. 

by Brian Davis