This is how Trump treats Americans that cannot vote. It's true Trump and disgusting, but we've come to see this every day.
VOTE HIM OUT - and anyone who supports him! If everyone in PR would get their relatives and friends on the mainland to vote, perhaps this would not happen again - but THEY MUST VOTE!
5
This is a tragedy. Anyone who has lived through a major hurricane knows that it takes 2-5 years to fully recover. There is no instant fix - especially when the infrastructure has been ignored for many years.
The larger tragedy for all island residents is the 'lost 50 years' when Puerto Rico could have become a shining star of the Caribbean - when Cuba was persona non grata. Instead, its government squandered the 'once in a lifetime' opportunity. As a result, the citizens have to endure lengthy repair cycles and remain dependent on government.
1
Why not name the Secretary of the Interior whose "son had been an intern at the company prompted accusations of insider dealing... ?"
Ryan Zinke and still Secretary of the Interior.
14
Puerto Rico just barely taped together and just in time for a new season of hurricanes! God Bless them all! The people of Puerto Rico have endured neglect from their own government and neglect from the US government. Trump will continue to overlook the Puerto Ricans so they will have to come up with solutions by themselves. That's the reality of the situation. If the island is lucky to avert a disastrous hurricane this year, I hope they can start to build the infrastructure they need. The how and where the monies will come from need to be creative. I wish them well.
8
The federal government is responsible for providing disaster assistance, but it isn’t responsible for providing Puerto Ricans water and electric services. The lights quickly went back on Texas after Hurricane Harvey because the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and private utility companies ensured that, despite outages and damage to the electric grid, the majority of Texas’ 28 million residents remained connected to the grid. The overall electric system remained stable and electric and water utility providers continued to operate. However, Puerto Rico’s grid was unprepared, underfunded and poorly maintained when Hurricane Maria hit. San Juan, not Washington, is to blame for Puerto Rico’s slow recovery.
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@William Case
Really? Here's Washington's record in PR:
1. Closure of 2 military bases in Vieques and Roosevelt Roads removing thousands of jobs
2. Expiration of tax credits for US companies causing additional job loss and tax revenue
3. Failure to remove the Jones Act limiting the growth of the port of San Juan
4. No oversight on muni bond issues after loss of revenue above
5. Removal 1984 bankruptcy provision for Puerto Rico to allow debt restructuring
6. Little assistance in combating the Zika virus pandemic
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@Tim
The Department of Defense has closed hundreds of military installations on the mainland also.
The Jones Act increases the goods of some import, but Puerto doesn't import water and electricity.
Puerto Ricans residing in Puerto Rico pay no federal income taxes. That's a huge subsidy.
The lack of caring and empathy is endemic to what America has become.
I'm thankful that I have become an expatriate to a country that still takes care of its citizens.
This neglect in Puerto Rico and the general selfishness of the Trump administration makes me ashamed to be an American!
15
Very glad that Ms. Méndez finally has her power back on. But the slow pace of federal relief to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria is a national disgrace. None of us in the 50 states would give this Administration a passing grade, if we were in the same situation.
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@Joel Geier
The problem with the island is it is riddled with corruption at all levels of the government there. Plenty of money and "stuff" has been sent to PR and much of it went to waste. Local contractors not being paid for their work due to their own government's inefficiency and corruptions. Not even mentioning the outside contractors. This is not just recovering from this storm this is almost a complete rebuild of the island. I agree government is too slow but even when the help was there it was misused.
6
All good comments so far (just 3). I agree with HD about the potential for installing solar and wind for the money spent on restoring a very vulnerable system to barely-working status. Penny-wise, pound-foolish. And I smell several rats- many of the contractors, not limited to Whitefish. Prepa is no hero either.
7
We lived without municipal power for 91 days after Maria. Even with a generator, it is difficult to describe the daily grinding worry and work that this means. You must be on top of fuel and replacement parts, and have the knowledge to mechanically tend the machine or know someone who does.
The power profile of a generator is going to eventually burn out practically everything electrical in your house. Your TV, washer and dryer, water pump, freezer, refrigerator, computers, light bulbs, everything will begin to fail. Each day turns into the guessing game of what will fail next. You'll become hypersensitive to the sounds of machines in distress, so you can stop one before it burns itself out.
From this experience, I've learned to always have a generator, no matter where I live. We were able to save most of our food and our neighbors', as well as giving people things like showers and a place to recharge cellphones. But it's for short-term outages, not months at a time. And that leads to the next rule -- never live in a place you can't drive away from.
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@Hypatia
Maybe the power generators you have would not burn out if you didn't use it to power your T.V. washer and dryer water pump freezer refrigerator computers light bulbs and everything else.
I lived without a computer for a long time.
I really don't need it.
Neither do you.
I have a washer and dryer and I know the dryer uses a lot of electricity.
You shouldn't use it.
A freezer is not essential for all foods.
Stop eating ice cream and stop eating meat,
I have friends who do not eat meat and very little ice cream who are very healthy and do not feel they are deprived.
Instead of a computer and TV buy a radio.
Instead of a dryer hang your clothes on a clothes line to dry them and wear clothes that don't need a dryer to make them dry.
If you do not want those generators to fail you have to stop using them the way you do.
5
@lucky I'd love to see a picture of the off-the-grid mud hut you live in, in Brooklyn. Spoiled ignorants like you make it difficult to explain what happens after a major disaster like a Cat 5 hurricane. Or two.
3
@Hypatia I've seen the argument below. They're familiar from the island "resilience" community. Squatting in the mud with a coal pot, cooking skinned iguana, all that. Go primitive.
What they don't talk about is that "resilience" comes from plane after plane of C-130's bring food, water, generators, medicine, and skilled personnel who can fix the power. I was there, I saw the lines for food and water, I was there when stores were violently looted for money and liquor. I was there to see the community working to help each other and celebrating the line workers with dinners and cookies and widespread applause and respect.
There are many kinds of generators. I am familiar with pretty much every kind now, from the smallest "clackety-bang" that can run a single fridge and maybe a water pump to the "whole house" type. Each one will eventually burn your electrical stuff if you are talking about months, no matter how careful you are. In short, "lucky" is going to have to provide some proof about his self-righteous generator management.
5
It is good to know that the NYT hasn't forgotten about the people of Puerto Rico. I cannot say the same for our elected officials.
14
PREPA is a good example of socialism (public ownership of enterprises) at work. Public ownership responds to public pressures, meaning higher wages and pensions at the expense of other activities (maintenance, depreciation, adequate funding for pensions, etc.). The complaints on inadequate funding for the infra-structure of the US are all in the public sector. The problem is that in a democracy the political process is extremely
short-sighted: the next election. The more economic activity we allocate to the public sector , the more we will see problems the like of which PREPA has experienced.
1
Yeah, like the great work that a private company did on the bridge in Genoa.
2
PR could be the proverbial "canary" in the "coal mine" of infrastructure in the remainder of the US. The current Civil Engineering grade for many parts of the US transportation system... C- or less. Major sections of the electrical grid have not been upgraded in many decades and their vulnerabilities are rampant now. Same goes for most of the water utilities, the sewage utilities, the roads, the airports, the trains... you name it, if it is "public" infrastructure, it's probably obsolete compared to other "developed" countries.
Which does the US need more, big $trillion corporations or big infrastructure designs, upgrades and maintenance?
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@Taoshum
Without those corporations the government would not have the money to pay for big infrastructure designs, upgrades and maintenance.
1
Being without electricity for 11 months and finally having it restored just in time when the new hurricane season begins . . .
I am in awe at the immediate reaction of Jazmín Méndez when power was restored, “The first thing I will do is give thanks to God,” she said. Such a positive, enlightening, inspiring and gracious attitude. The next time I lose power due to a storm and don't have cable or Internet access, I will remember this article and this woman and her family. What's few hours or even a day without power in comparison to what so many of these families endured for months on end.
I sincerely hope and wish the new hurricane season is less destructive for all that may come into it's paths.
16
You could install a lot of solar and wind generated electricity for those billions. PR is a tropical island bathed in sunshine, ocean waves and wind, especially in its mountainous interior. That's a lot of clean cheap renewable energy just waiting to be put to use.
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@HB Yes, all you need is a Federal Government, where all those billions came from, to show some interest in renewable energy.
12
@HB I am thinking along the same lines. The article is written from a 21st century North American urban perspective.
2
@HBUnfortunately our government has forgotten that PR citizens are US citizens, penalized them for their local government's fiscal mistakes, and totally abandoned them during this monster environmental disaster. What are the chances that it will make the investments needed in sustainable energy for PR, a "mere" US territory, when it is busy dismantling sustainable energy and environmental policies in its own states (read, those with electoral college votes) on the continent?
1