‘Are You FEMA?’ A Reporter Returns to the Islands to Find Despair

An article in Vox mentioned that most of the U.S. military ships that had been sent to Texas and Florida - with people and goods to assist in care and cleanup - were diverted north instead of to Puerto Rico, leaving three smaller ones to continue to P.R. Who would have done that, and with what reason? There may have been good reason in the moment but it seems they weren't then restocked and sent, again, to P.R. and the Virgin islands. Where are the Seabees to engineer and build temporary roads and bridges? Why is Elon Musk the go-to for power instead of the U.S. military?

It's not clear how concerned individuals on the mainland could act on this information, in a way that made a substantial difference. What would an updated Christianity look like, if Jesus had grown up in our world, what would he be exhorting his followers to do?

I was planning a dream visit to St John in June 2018. With the storms' impacts, we are delaying, but still hoping to have the pleasure of meeting the wonderful people there someday. My heart is with you all.

Sadly, Trump does not know or care that Puerto Rico needs more government assistance to recover as compared to Florida or Texas. The Miscommunicator-In-Chief egotistically misrepresents the people of Puerto Rico and his willingness to make America great for Puerto Ricans hurricane survivors who are Americans.

I recall Hurricane Betsy's effects on Cape Cod 60 years ago. A good friend of mine once lived in the Virgin Islands and returned after a particularly nasty storm and could simply no longer recognize the place he had fallen in love with. Some places in the world are subject to severe storm weather damage. In exchange for the luxury of living near the water or in specially wild placesw, one must learn to take the good with the bad. The abuse in the last century and a half of the oceans as a carbon sink has ruined whatever balance once existed between the weather and the luxury. It will only get worse from now on, much like a pot of noodles left on the fire until they boil over. Our planet' oceans are boiling now and where the water isn't flowing at hurricane speed, the methane ice in the sea bottoms is melting and bubling to the surface where it enters the eco system bass-ackwards, causing even more damage and an increase in the frequency of storms. We are only seeing the beginning of severe weather. . . Soon, the hurricanes season might last longer, tornadoes move north and areas never that suffered before will get their baptism of wind and water. When the government refuses to discuss these issues, out of respect for the dead-they are desperately trying to escape the corners they're painted in to.

It is entirely undemocratic that the Virgin Islands does not have a voting representative in Congress. More than 100,000 people live in the Virgin Islands who have almost no voice in American politics. They have just one non-voting representative in the House of Representatives, and no Senators. Of course, the same is true for American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and even the District of Columbia. Together, these places are home to more than a million people -- a million people without a meaningful voice in Washington. But the worst of all is Puerto Rico, with its 3.5 million people, and just one non-voting representative in Congress! Puerto Rico has more people than 21 states. The state closest in population to Puerto Rico is Connecticut, with roughly the same number of people, but seven voting representatives in Congress. Puerto Rico's population is approximately equal to that of Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota and South Dakota combined. But these five states together can boast a total of 10 voting representatives in Congress. How is that fair? Of the disenfranchised places listed here, only people in the District of Columbia are allowed to vote for president. Meanwhile, in American Samoa, though it is a U.S. Territory, people born there are not automatically Americans citizens. They are "non-citizen nationals." Ironically, many choose to serve in the U.S. military, despite being disenfranchised non-citizens.

Trump continues telling the Big Lie(s). It has become so ridiculous that when Trump opens his blow hole to speak we can be assured that approximately 90% of his comments are lies, or contradictions, with him saying one thing one day and the diametrically opposite thing another. Good grief, does this guy get it? Except for his disciples, America and the world do not believe a word he says. Trumpians have been so completely brainwashed, refusing to believe any actual news organization's reports. Any notion that there exists such a thing as American Exceptionalism has been put to rest. About the only thing the US is becoming known for is that it put a complete buffoon, a semi-literate imbecilic bully into its nation's highest elective office. Making America great? You've got to be joking.

As many journalists have stated, the exodus of a talented workforce out of PR began long before Maria; the pace of that migration will only hasten once people can get off the island. Meanwhile, many, many thousands of talented and educated Syrians, experienced in everything from medicine to construction, are dying for a new home. I'm sure a Syrian would trade living in a tent city with bombs exploding overhead for a temporary tent city in PR with hope for a better life in a new place. Wouldn't that be a win-win situation if we could get those Syrians over to PR? Something for the governments around the world (maybe the UN) to think about...? Unfortunately, with the recent news of hurricanes, shootings, North Korea, etc., the Syrian humanitarian crisis has become yesterday's news.

Thank you for adding coverage of the US Virgin Islands, which I fear are as underserved as Puerto Rico but haven't been getting as much media attention. It would be helpful if your coverage could include mention of charities that are doing good work there and need our support.

Please keep these stories front and center every day NYT. We must remember the struggles and suffering of our fellow Americans and fellow human beings on non-U.S. islands. And we must call for much more aid and less political "discourse" for all of them.

All this is true, but they live on an island, that's the way it goes. They're free to move if they like.

I don't understand the point of the article.

When it rains, people get wet......

The reality—versus a babbling delusional Trump.

Thank you for the continuous coverage of the Virgin Island. I hope that it will draw attention from the Powers-That-Be to help them. Quickly. Before the next hurricane shows up.

Donald Trump’s blundering and cruelty is sentencing many not only to despair, but to an untimely death. Just how is the dialysis patient supposed to undergo life-saving procedures? How about cancer patients who need their chemotherapy?

Trump’s deliberate abuse of Puerto Ricans should be an impeachable offense.

Please keep researching and sharing the personal stories of our fellow Americans on the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. It is important that their ongoing crises not float out of our collective consciousness. To be ignored by the federal government, to which they pay taxes, is tantamount to being stateless. Without the NYT highlighting their plight, they are vulnerable to not just neglect but also to opportunistic vultures.

A district that's 80% black and unable to vote - what GOP dreams, and humanitarian nightmares, are made of. Perhaps Trump will show how much he cares by donating a golf trophy, then turning up and throwing rolls of toilet tissue and bottles of water at the victims while he disparages their leaders and their recovery efforts.

This is a national disgrace. But your average Trump supporter has no sense of shame or responsibility to others, so it's going to come down to how much blood can be squeezed out of the congressional stone. The government of Puerto Rico is better off buying lottery tickets.

Thank you for this article. There's been too little coverage of the impact of the hurricanes on the US Virgin Islands.

So sad. These people are American citizens and their islands are beautiful.

And so... how can we help? We can send donations to charities helping Americans. I started with the One Nation appeal for Hurricane Relief but I need to be more targeted. Some of the agencies they work with may be one way to go. I'll keep looking. I don't have a lot of money but many donations will help.
Today I was talking to a student who is experiencing the trauma of vision loss. Like our neighbors in the islands, he needs contact with people and he needs to know that we care. He needs to feel safe because he is frightened and sometimes afraid of his own anger and sadness. He needs to feel that his life will eventually become more stable.
In the islands they need all of this and real practical assistance.

Any visitor to the Carrib'-ian (not care-uh-bee'-an) Islands, from the Bahamas in the north to the leeward chain extending to South America, who did not spend their entire visit in beach hotels and ventured into the 'outback' would know that even a Cat 1 storm would render extensive damage to a majority of the fragile homes, commercial buildings and infrastructure there.
The misery these islanders now suffer is beyond comparison. The question becomes: What aid will a country that spends billions of dollars on foreign wars that never end offer to these downtrodden? Given the attitude of this Administration and Congress, who only respond to their corporate benefactors.....probably little or nothing.

There are no words to say about this tragedy. One hurricane has brought these people's lives back 100 years.

It is clear that the disaster recovery plan has very different dimensions and priorities compared to when it hits mainland.

Help could be immediately mobilized and dispatched to Houston and Florida.
However, when islands get completely destroyed, it requires massive mobilization of personnel, supporting infrastructure, food, water, medicines, generators and fuel.

From the reporting so far, it doesn't appear FEMA and/or other related agencies were/are prepared for holistic effort like that.

I can't imagine how those islands and its residents will recover. Their economy is so heavily dependent on tourism and it will take many years and more money than I can fathom to rebuild so the tourists will return. Those poor people are in for a very tough time, even after the communication system and electricity are restored.

Are all these islands going to be rebuilt only to be trashed again in the next hurricane season? Will the Federal Government pay for people to live in 'paradise' which isn't, anymore? Hurricanes are predictable although severity isn't. I never got federal funds for living in a blizzard zone. I planned ahead and made enough money to pay the heating bills. I had house insurance for anything more drastic. If it's not possible to stockpile supplies and repair material nearby to rebuild immediately after these events, then maybe we should give them back to nature and move everyone off them. Let the millionaire playboys and 'consumer' tourists go without their vacations, maid service and umbrella drinks, because obviously their local economies aren't up to anything more sustainable for the natives who live there. And maybe the NYT could stop printing expensive ads from these 'luxury spa' locations, encouraging people to go there?

Perhaps a long range plan for underground utilities could eventually help the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Some of the most beautiful places in our country. No comments all day? I suppose people are weary everywhere. Let's not forget them, and thank you for sharing some of their stories.

Rather than trying to restore the centralized electric grid, which was obsolete & will only get destroyed again, both the Virgin Island and Puerto Rico should consider going to 100% renewables, with micro-grids and a completely decentralized power supply system.

As someone who spends a significant amount of time in this region, it is quite obvious to me that the Caribbean and its peoples are an afterthought for most Americans. Sure, the Caribbean is a great place to go for a vacation, but what people don't realize are the colonial legacies of these island nations and their deep dependency on tourism, agriculture, and some manufacturing (depending on the island) and the kindness and largess of others. In spite of their painful histories, Caribbean peoples are resilient, generous, and friendly, and they need our help now, not self-congratulations from our commander-in-chief, with photo-ops tossing paper towels for a feel-good moment.

Thank you for continuing to cover the tragedy of these hurricanes. I have looked at the NYT website the past three days and seen article after article about Los Vegas, the shooter, and his partner--and few articles about the aftermath of these hurricanes. There's little new information about the Los Vegas situation (although it obviously is horrifying and riveting). But there is so much to report on about the situation unfolding in the islands and Puerto Rice. Please cover them more.

Thanks for describing what it is like there. When I hear the facile descriptions of hardy whites in Texas overcoming Harvey, and lazy hispanics in Puerto Rico waiting for others to do things for them, it makes me want to scream. Even in the worst hit areas of Houston, safety, food, shelter, electricity, Walmart, and clean water was never more than 1 mile away. For every person whose house was destroyed, there were scores of people unaffected within 5 miles, who had surplus time where they could offer to help. They had surplus time because they did not need to spend all day hunting for a few liters of water and a few morsels of food, all while trying to build a shelter to protect against the rain.

If you're looking for reliable ways to support the relief efforts on St John, here are some organizations recommended by a local: --St John Rescue (http://www.stjohnrescue.com/donate) is helping providing generators and other resources for those who need them. --Coral Bay Community Council (http://coralbaycommunitycouncil.org/), run by Sharon Coldren, has been the center point of communication for Coral Bay, hosting an 11am daily informational meeting and supporting dissemination of information. --Animal Care Center (http://www.stjohnanimalcarecenter.com/home) has been getting animals off island and making sure they are safe. Thank you for writing this piece and keeping people's eyes on the absolutely dire situation in St John. I know there are others like me whose lives have been transformed by a visit there, and would like to help the locals recover their livelihoods.

The status of these islands under the United States flag is a mistake. We need to fix this, either make them something separate or take them in more fully. As it is, they are responsibility, but it is clear we, the people of the U.S., don't want that responsibility. A democratic nation should not have virtual colonies, but that's what we've got. By the way, remember the status of the District of Columbia is not that far removed from that of the islands. There is a representative in Congress, but she has no voting power. Until the 1960s, DC residents could not vote for president, either. The laws made by the DC city council are subject to review and revocation by Congress. Is this stupid or what? DC's status came about because the governor of Pennsylvania refused to call out troops when those meeting at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia felt they were threatened by mobs. So, they created a national district where federal rule would be supreme. They weren't concerned with the undemocratic aspects and, over the next 200 years, the District was isolated from the nation and democracy. Gradually, changes have been made, but the citizens of DC are still second class, like the islanders in the USVI and Puerto Rico. The fact that DC was majority black for many decades gave politicians, especially from the south, a reason to keep it apart. All of these inequities should be addressed and corrected. To be part of and yet out of the United States is not acceptable.

I was distracted by the author's comment that the electrical system has been "neglected." I'm wondering why? Unfortunately, the author did not delve into this issue, which seems to me an important one.

This is the preview of the future. We in the U.S. have the world's largest and most mobile military, but we have not built rescue-re-establish civilian life capabilities to match the realities of global warming impacts. It shows here and in Puerto Rico. I suspect in Texas as well, but I haven't read the follow up reports on all those who didn't have flood insurance and either have to entirely re-do the interiors or tear the house down and start over. The Fed. Reserve has reported that about half the American public could not meet a small financial emergency of $400-$1,000 dollars: these emergencies are on the order of $50,000-$200,000. The money appropriated by Congress doesn't begin to meet... To me at least, there is the logical and scientific need to rebuild the electric grid in an alternative energy de-centralized way. The facts laid out here are the blueprint...everyone, even in the American coastal South could learn from a different model, which is not eco-speculation but practical common sense to meet the future storms. And they are coming. With so much work to be done, on the mainland and the Caribbean, there is no reason for anyone to be without a job. A CCC/WPA geared to meet current and future needs makes sense. To some of us, at least.

After Trump cancelled his so called plans to visit the Virgin Islands, one has to wonder if that's not a good thing. During his visit to Puerto Rico, which he managed to finally do after spending extended time at his golf resort where he tweeted insults in-between rounds, he tossed paper towels into a crowd, lavished praise on himself and rated his administration's great response to the hurricane in the Caribbean, and told the people of Puerto Rico that they were running up his budget.

A tragic, sad but entirely predictable event. Massive hurricanes occur regularly in the Caribbean destroying buildings and infrastructure. The Virgin islands get hurricanes about every eight years with a destructive major storm about every twenty for the past two centuries. Why do people seem so ill prepared and surprised? Look at the weather history.

Very sad story. And it doesn't help at all that the Real Estate developer now occupying the White House has no empathy for those suffering. Instead, he keeps insisting on a job well done and "congratulating" victims of the storm for not dying. What a fool. Too bad for Puerto Rico that Obama is no longer President. I'm sure you would have had a very different response then.

As I wrote a few days ago....I fear that in the near future Puerto Rico will cease to exist as we know it today. One of the first things they will do, or should do, is declare themselves independent, not part of the U.S. and go to the U.N. for help - they cannot be supported solely by the U.S as has been shown. The population will soon decline precipitously as people leave for the safety and jobs in other places. Industry will depart since there will be few workers. The island may be able to survive as a small tourist destination. We shall see. I wish them well and better times.........

This is a good article describing ground conditions on the islands. Disaster recovery for the islands is different than the mainland .

I would say that FEMA got caught with it’s pants down. It should have a section or group that has expertise on island disaster recovery. There should be a plan to do so. They are not doing a good job though they are trying.

The first part of that plan should have been a guidance document on when to bring in the military and when to turn over command and control to them. C&C was turned over to the military a week too late.

Doesn't have anything to do with the Jones Act does it? Seems priorities need to be revamped. This is an island in an area where hurricanes are rampant. Maybe repair of cellphone towers and heavy equipment for roading clearing should be on the top of the list. One can't perform surgery without surgical tools.