The plight of Puerto Rico - one year later

Last Thursday, Sept. 20th, was the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria's devastation of the island of Puerto Rico, the worst storm to hit the island in 100 years, according to some estimates.

Now remember that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States;  it's people are citizens of the United States -- and as such entitled to the full services of agencies such as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).   President Trump claims his administration should get an A+ for its performance in assisting Puerto Rico's recovery.   According to most of the residents this is a bad joke.

In many ways, FEMA did a lot.   But there was so much to be done . . . and so much still left to be done.   According to the New York Times, $1.6 billion was allocated to funding for direct emergency home repairs;   and another $1.4 billion was made available in the form of grants to make home repairs and pay for temporary lodging.  And that's only looking at individual residences.   There's also the whole infrastructure, including a totally destroyed electric grid.

But of the 1.1 million people who requested FEMA help for housing repair, about 58% were denied.  Inability to produce a deed was a common cause of denial.   The median grant that was given, $1,800, compared with about $9,127 given out to the victims of the Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

Again, from the Times, "A new roof of cheap corrugated zinc typically starts at about $5,ooo [in Puerto Rico] and might blow off again in the next hurricane;  a concrete roof that could survive future storms costs about $15,000.

Meanwhile, the island is still dotted with at least 60,000 blue tarps as temporary roofs covering damaged homes . . . one year later.    It's true that part of the problem is the low rate of homeowners who had insurance, plus a general lack of infrastructure and excessive bureaucracy in the local government.   And, yes, President Trump, it is an island surrounded by lots and lots of water, which makes getting in supplies and workers a little more difficult.

But let's be honest, even if our president won't be:    Puerto Ricans are treated as second class citizens, even though they are entitled to all the rights as any other U.S. citizens.   Would these conditions be acceptable in Texas -- or, this year, in North Carolina?

Ralph

PS:   I just read in the New York Times that, due to the tariffs imposed by President Trump, construction costs to rebuild in North and South Carolina following Hurricane Florence's devastation will be 20 to 30 percent higher than last year.  Much of that is from the tariff on Canadian wood prices, which are up by 40 percent.  Presumably, the same will be true for the continued rebuilding costs in Puerto Rico.