Puerto Rico Needs More Aid. And it Needs it Fast.

Esquire: News & Politics
an hour ago

The people of Puerto Rico are not just trying to recover from the property damage brought by Hurricane Maria, they’re fighting to survive. At least 10 people have been confirmed dead following the first Category 4 hurricane to hit the island in 80 years. The number of fatalities will surely rise as communications are restored on the island that received more than 38 inches of rain by Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Esquire spoke to someone in Puerto Rico hours before the Hurricane hit, but we were unable to reach anyone on the island over the weekend. For the 3.4 million citizens of Puerto Rico, power is out, cell service is nonexistent, hospitals are running out of fuel for backup generators, a major dam is on the brink of collapsing, and the island is not yet receiving the full amount of aid it needs.

Puerto Rico can’t handle this alone. The island has a declining economy due to an ongoing recession, 58 percent of children live in poverty, and the island survives largely off local agriculture, which was completely decimated by the storm. The New York Times reported that “in a matter of hours, Hurricane Maria wiped out about 80 percent of the crop value in Puerto Rico."

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below On Sunday, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló called on the Pentagon to provide more aid.

“We need more resources from the Department of Defense so we can get helicopters and resources,” Rosselló told Politico. “We know that there are capabilities in the surrounding areas, helicopters, planes and so forth … Whatever relief package we have, whatever impact we have, we are U.S. citizens," Rosselló said. "We shouldn’t be the lesser for it."

The President pledged his support via Twitter on September 20, the day before the storm made landfall. He has since made no mention of the crisis while the island still awaits federal disaster declarations for 24 of its 78 municipalities. But Trump’s been busy over the weekend. Since Saturday, he’s tweeted about healthcare seven times, North Korea twice, the travel ban once, and sports (mostly the NFL) 15 times.

Regardless of the President’s inattention to the humanitarian disaster, Governor Rosselló has made clear the consequences of the federal government not stepping up aid efforts soon. He told Politico:

“My fear is we’re going to have some side effects that are devastating both for Puerto Rico and the United States. Mainly massive migration that would deteriorate our [economic] base here in Puerto Rico and would provoke significant demographic shifting in other areas of the United States.”

For now, Puerto Rico is still without power. The storm wiped out the entire power grid, and it’s unknown when it will be restored—it could be four to six months before the lights come back on, according to The New York Times. That's half a year, in a tropical climate, without air conditioning and without pumps to transfer running water to home.

Puerto Rico, esta noche, no se verá desde un satélite; pero brilla más que nunca. El corazón solidario de nuestra gente ilumina el camino.���� pic.twitter.com/QG0sGQ8bcT— Pedro Julio Serrano (@PedroJulio) September 23, 2017 Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

To make matters worse, there is no getting in contact with people in-country. More than 95 percent of wireless cell sites are not working while thousands of people in the mainland United States are desperately trying to make contact with relatives. The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration opened hotlines around the island where people can reach state agencies or disaster management offices and hopefully reach their loved ones. A Facebook group was also created to answer questions and connect loved ones.

A doctor at one of the few functioning hospitals on the island told CNN that they were running out of fuel and that the facility only had two or three days worth of supplies and medicine. The CNN team visited three hospitals and none of them had running water. Unfortunately for medical centers outside San Juan, most major highways are damaged and helicopters are not immediately available.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below “If this is not taken care of, people are going to start dying,” a medical director at Centro Medico told Reuters. He also noted that it's only a two-and-a-half hour flight to Miami where people could get the medical attention they need.

But the airport in San Juan is damaged and flights are just now starting again. Travelers are being told that non-ticketed passengers won’t be able to get out until the first week of October, according to Reuters.

Relief efforts are in motion but they're moving slowly. The island's main port only opened on Saturday, when 11 ships brought 1.6 million gallons of water, 23,000 cots, generators, and food, according to ABC News. More is needed though, and it needs to get their fast. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is leading relief efforts, is also taking satellite phones to cities and rural areas to open up communication channels. The National Guard deployed 2,500 service members to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands while the Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers work to reopen ports.

The Daily Beast reported that arrests are being made nightly and tensions over fuel scarcity are rising, prompting some gas station owners to close up shop entirely. A local secretary of Public Affairs told the only working local radio station, WAPA Radio, “Tensions are really bad in gas stations. We have reports of fighting and arrests have already been made.”

Private organizations and individuals are stepping up to help, but the federal government needs to elevate the amount of attention and aid allocated to the Americans in Puerto Rico.

If you want to help the people of Puerto Rico, here is a list of local and national charities to support.