stephrc79:

poalakoala:

poalakoala:

poalakoala:

Puerto Rico from somebody on the ground

I’ve had many people in the US ask me how they can help, and I’ll be honest that I haven’t had the time to sit down and properly think about it (doesn’t help that I have access to information on the internet for approx 15 minutes every day), but now I’m going to throw this out there. It’s going to be long.

Firstly, you need to understand the situation. Our infrastructure is destroyed. We have no power, in fact, the 4% of San Juan that managed to get electricity back lost it again. Last I read only 45% of the island had clean water services. This isn’t just a lack of food and water. In case you hadn’t heard, we’re also approximately $72 billion in debt, and this hurricane is estimated to have cost over $30 billion in damages.

You can send all the food and bottled water you want, and by all means please continue to do so because we are short on those, but there’s also a huge distribution problem. Many supermarkets have not been able to open again because of structural damage. People are making lines for hours to be able to get into the few that are operational again. Gas stations? 80% were supposed to open again by Tuesday, September 26, yet people are still making literally 8+ hour lines (this is not an exaggeration) in the HOPES that they will be allowed to get some fuel. Many banks are only dispensing cash, which is vital because the vast majority of establishments can only accept cash at the moment, and the lines for the atms also can take hours. People have 5am to 7pm to be able to do all these things in one day because of curfew. Some hospitals are running out of diesel already, meaning that their back up generators are shutting down, so all those patients are being transferred to government hospitals that were already understaffed and understocked BEFORE Maria.

To recap, in San Juan, where conditions are better, people are wholly dependent on cash to buy basic necessities, people have no power, in many cases no water, no communication with the outside world or the rest of Puerto Rico, no gasoline to get around, barely any places to get food, and entire hospitals are being evacuated. Literal boatloads of supplies are sitting in ports because the government can’t distribute them, and some ships are just sitting there with their cargo.

It’s much worse outside of San Juan. Entire towns have no working gas stations, no hospitals, no running water, and no operational supermarkets (on top of no power or communication). Maria destroyed the vast majority of our crops. Many of these towns were also hit the hardest by the hurricane and saw thousands of families completely lose their homes. Now back to the distribution problem: you can send tons of food and articles of basic necessity, but if the government is having a hard time distributing them in the metropolitan area, it’s literally downright impossible to get them to some of these towns.

But what about the aid that has already been sent? Not enough. We need more resources, personnel, money, everything. Many of the rescue personnel and federal authorities already here came weeks ago because of Irma’s devastation in other Caribbean islands and can’t focus entirely on the disaster in Puerto Rico. Like I said earlier, distribution and mobilization is one of the key problems. I go around San Juan and don’t see any of the people that came to help. Entire towns elsewhere in the island have not seen a single paramedic, soldier, or FEMA worker. The only places I’ve seen them are in the hotels they’re staying at, so there’s clearly a massive problem with mobilization.

American politicians? I’ve seen some pay lip service to the plight of Puerto Rico, but not a single package or proposal. Local officials had to beg Congress to notice what was happening. President Trump was kind enough to give $1 million of his vast fortune to efforts in Houston (notice the sarcasm), yet he hasn’t offered a single penny to efforts to rebuild Puerto Rico. He thought that criticizing NFL players exercising their right of free speech was more important.

So what can you, member of the diaspora or concerned non-Puerto Rican do?

1. Call your Congressmen and Congresswomen. Flood them with phone calls, go to their town halls, DEMAND that the crisis in Puerto Rico receive the attention and action it needs. Organize. Reach out to all Puerto Rican and Latinx organizations, come up with a coordinated strategy to make. Sure. We. Are. Heard. Live in Florida? You’re in a swing state. Use that leverage. Pledge to note vote for any politician that doesn’t do everything to help us.

Btw, Trump originally refused to lift the Jones Act for Puerto Rico (which he did for Texas and Florida after Irma), meaning we literally couldn’t receive foreign aid by ship. Now there’s a 10 day waiver, but that’s nothing, and it’s clearly being done to make critics shut up. He cares so little about us and making sure we receive the foreign aid we need that he said he didn’t want to suspend the Jones Act because the shipping industry was against it. The Jones Act has historically crippled the Puerto Rican economy ever since it was imposed on us in 1917. We need, at the very least, a months long suspension, and many are calling for a permanent repeal. Put pressure for that. Make him pay. Make everybody that’s against suspending the Jones Act pay in the voting polls.

Update: Trump is too busy playing in his golf courses to care about Puerto Rico, and he’s lording our $72 billion debt (Florida’s is $180 billion and Texas’s is $272 billion) against us in this time of humanitarian crisis.

2. Look for donation efforts and charities that are focusing on more than just food and water. We need to rebuild everything. We need the materials to rebuild, at the very least:
– houses
– roads
– communication networks (i.e. cell service towers)
– power lines and infrastructure
– water infrastructure

3. We shouldn’t have to rely on just gas and diesel. We need other sources of energy (solar works very well in a tropical island) so that hospitals don’t have to literally shut down if the diesel runs out. If you have the knowledge of how to get those alternate sources quickly and efficiently to the island, please let it be known.

4. Do you work or have any connections to companies that would be willing to donate materials? I’m talking generators, materials for construction, hospital supplies, fuel, i.e. not just food and water.

5. There’s hysteria in the airports because flights are limited. People are making lines for hours, literally staying overnight, in the hopes of getting a ticket out. We need more flights and ships that can transport elderly, children, injured, sick, etc. out. Very importantly, these have to be AFFORDABLE, not the thousands of dollars that were being charged a few days ago. Pressure airlines and cruise companies to join current efforts.

6. If you work in a hospital, see if you have the capacity and personnel to take in patients from the island. The situation for those in need of hospital care and even basic medical services is dire.

There’s a lot more that can be done, and maybe some of my ideas aren’t even that good or feasible to begin with, but I wanted to get this out there before my service left.

@weavemama could you please signal boost?

The Mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico and where millions live, literally breaking down in tears and begging for help because PEOPLE ARE DYING AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS NOT DOING ENOUGH: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/353163-san-juan-mayor-i-am-begging-begging-anyone-who-can-hear-us-to#

I just posted this whole thread on Twitter if anyone wants to RT it there.

Same handle: stephrc79