Thinking of the day Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico
The images are vivid.
Today, marks a year that Puerto Rico went under dark — no electricity, food or communication. Puerto Rico became a graveyard and a political nightmare. Over 3,000 Americans died.
I remember this day clearly, fear entered in my heart not knowing the wellbeing of my family and friends.
A year after, the people of Puerto Rico are trying to make sense how come the federal government continues to neglect them and ignore their cry for help – kids and the sick are going without food and proper care. The trauma and financial hardship is real.
This is genocide.
Drumpf and his administration do not care.
This is what happens when an Island is colonized for years and exploited for its natural resources.
The People of Puerto Rico are strong and resilient.
~MAYOR OF SAN JUAN, THE CAPITAL CITY OF PUERTO RICO~
Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto (born February 25, 1963) is an American politician who is the current mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Cruz is affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party.
~Wikipedia~
I have to confess that I didn’t know anything about this woman.
The first time I heard about her was during those terrible days after Hurricane María battered my country. I live in the mainland. I’ve been away from home since 1999.
She became the voice for those in the diaspora as we hungered for news about our country.
To this day you will hear negative comments about her.
She didn’t do her job, she took advantage of the situation to benefit her own political ambitions, she forgot about the people of San Juan, she’s posing because she wants to run for governor, she’s a socialist, she aligns herself with Puerto Rico’s independence while pretending to be a member of the Partido Popular Democrático, etc., etc.
I don’t care what they say about her, I don’t care what they think … to me, she became that voice that we desperately needed to hear.
She’s the only political official who has stood up to Drumpf and his administration.
I was hungry for news about the Island after the devastating hurricane
I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. I lived there all my life. I lived through many hurricanes, not María, of course. I know the landscape of my country. I know how the towns in the central part of the island were affected without me being there. I know, without being there, how the medical needs couldn’t be addressed because of lack of power. I knew 16, 64 deaths were not correct. There are at least 11 refrigerated vans at the forensic facility containing bodies … the capacity to conduct autopsies and eventual identification has been overwhelmed.
I have family and friends who were without power for 11 months. When communication was possible, I finally was able to get in touch with them. I sent care packages to them including the most basic items that we generally take for granted. I already went back to see.
By the time I returned, there was a semblance of recovery.
Yes, power is restored … not totally. And it’s still very fragile.
Power outings for hours and days at a time are commonplace.
Politics in Puerto Rico is ‘the national sport’.
My political ideology related to Puerto Rico has gone through a gamut of feelings, ideas and a new conviction. The relationship with the United States is difficult to define.
Track the route of San Juan’s Mayor Cruz after Puerto Rico was slammed by a catastrophic hurricane. The city leader stood up and fought for relief aid, becoming the heroic voice of her struggling island and the Puerto Rican people.
~~Mayor Carmen YulÍn Cruz~~
Breaking Big
~~Published on Sep 14, 2018~~
As Carmen Yulín and Drumpf enter another Twitter war, find out how the mayor of San Juan fought her way to international prominence.
“I am done being polite. I am done being politically correct. I am mad as hell,” she famously said as she fought against the entire U.S. government in managing the response to two hurricanes that devastated the Caribbean.
One year after Hurricane Maria made landfall, she’s no less mad.
Watch the season finale of Breaking Big to follow Cruz’s story from humble beginnings to becoming one of the most vocal mayors in the United States. Breaking Big is a new documentary series from the minds of OZY and PBS.
Nearly 3,000 people died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
~HEADLINES~
On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma carved a merciless path of destruction through the Caribbean, killing at least 12 people, leaving thousands of others homeless and plunging more than 1 million residents of Puerto Rico into darkness.
Hurricane María the storm made landfall on September 20. María wreaked havoc on the island, causing a level of widespread destruction and disorganization paralleled by few storms in American history. Almost two weeks after the storm abated, most of the island’s residents still lack access to electricity and clean water.
The aftermath of these hurricanes are well known to all Puerto Ricans.
The federal response, under the watch of Drumpf, was deficient, miserable and responsible for the deaths of 3,000+ Puerto Rican citizens.
The numbers have changed: 16, 64, 1,400, 2,975, 4,645 …
I believe that the real number will never be known.
They died in pain, at home, of kidney failure unable to access the dialysis clinic for weeks.
They died, gasping for hours near the end, when the oxygen tank they needed to breathe gave out.
They died in the dark and the heat of unsanitary ICU units, of burns or gunshot wounds received before the hurricane that they almost certainly would have survived otherwise.
They died, burning up with fever, of leptospirosis from being in touch with flood waters during the effort to save their neighbors.
They died in fear and confusion after being forced to go off their regular medication.
They died of heat stroke.
They died of diseases of antiquity, in a crisis of neglect unworthy the greatest, wealthiest and most powerful nation in human history.
They died. But we lived. And we remember.”
~Eleazar David Melendez~
Facebook User
Drumpf denied this reality as a hurricane barrels toward the Carolinas
“3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000.
Earlier this month, the island’s governor formally raised the death toll from Hurricane Maria to an estimated 2,975 from 64 following a study conducted by researchers at The George Washington University.
CNN’s own reporting reflects similar numbers.
The university study accounted for Puerto Ricans who succumbed to the stifling heat and other aftereffects of the storm and had not been previously counted in official figures
“I think Puerto Rico was incredibly successful,” Drumpf said Tuesday in the Oval Office, noting that the island location is “tough” during a hurricane due to the inability to transport vital equipment and supplies by truck. “It was one of the best jobs that’s ever been done with respect to what this is all about.”
Now, after a study done by professionals, the official number is 2,975.
Who can anyone be sure?
Shame on Drumpf … it won’t matter because he doesn’t care!!
She’s the only person who has been vocal about the situation in Puerto Rico since Hurricanes Irma and María battered Puerto Rico!!
San Juan mayor says the Drumpf administration killed thousands through neglect during Hurricane María
Washington (CNN)
The Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, said Wednesday, August 29, that bureaucracy and inefficiency across local and federal government entities are to blame for the deaths of nearly 3,000 on the island in the wake of Hurricane María, which came to light as part of a newly released study commissioned by the Puerto Rican government.
In particular, Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz blamed Drumpf, federal officials and Puerto Rican officials for not providing more assistance in what the Puerto Rican government now acknowledges was a storm deadlier than Hurricane Katrina.
“You know, everybody is responsible because there were people in power that had the opportunity to request more aid, to request more aid when it was reasonable, to request more aid when it was needed, to tell the truth and they didn’t,”
“It’s 2,975 people and they’re still calling it an estimate – 2,975 people that will never see the light of day and many of them died because of what was done by the administration and that was silently approved by most of the political class in Puerto Rico.”
He went to Puerto Rico and threw paper towels at them.
Thousands of people died and he congratulated himself.
Shame on Drumpf
~~San Juan Mayor: People died from Neglect~~
~~Published on Aug 29, 2018~~
In an interview with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, San Juan mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz blames the Trump administration’s neglect when asked who is responsible for the close to 3,000 death toll from Hurricane María reported.
“Decía que detrás de cada evento revolucionario, hay traición, muerte y desengaño, pero que aún así vale la pena morir por un sueño, por cualquier utopía de justicia y paz.” ~Hiram Lozada Perez, Los Dڳías De Abril~
Steve's body of work spans conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture alike - yet always retains the human element. www.stevemccurry.com
When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy, And the dimpling stream runs laughing by; When the air does laugh with our merry wit, And the green hill laughs with the noise of it.
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