Puerto Rico: Victim of Hurricanes and Federal Neglect
Puerto Rico has encountered many disastrous hurricanes over the years and have suffered deeply because of it. In times of disasters like this, Puerto Rico has been neglected and undersupported financially and politically. Located 1,100 miles Southeast from Miami, Florida, the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is an island located on a hurricane belt, which is why it receives so many hurricanes. The territory has many islands but it only has two that people live on, Culebra and Vieques. The collection of islands became a U.S. territory after the Spanish-American war in 1898.
Sources say that even though, legally, Puerto Rico is a part of the U.S., it is distant and often neglected. There is not even a representative for them in the Electoral College or Congress. They are a “self-governing commonwealth.” Puerto Rican residents are also ineligible to vote in presidential elections. Their struggles should no longer go unnoticed. Financial debt, distinct population decrease, lack of substantial government management, and more continue to push Puerto Rico in deep despair.
Two of the more “famous” and catastrophic hurricanes that Puerto Rico has faced are Maria and Irma. Hurricane Irma made contact with Puerto Rico in early September 2017, directly following Irma came Hurricane Maria. Maria had a death toll of around 3,000 people in Puerto Rico. These two hurricanes caused severe damage to the infrastructure and natural elements, which in turn created flash floods accompanied by torrential rainfall. During the times of these hurricanes, two major disaster declarations were made by former President Donald Trump: “ –September 26, 2017, the [former] President’s authorized one hundred percent federal cost share for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, for one hundred and eighty days from the start of the declaration beginning on September 17, 2017.” That same year, Trump traveled to Puerto Rico to assess the damages. On his trip, he made a comment about “how much [Puerto Rico] [was] costing the US before lobbing paper towels into the crowd.” Although Hurricane Maria caused around $100,000,000 in damage, many thought this was an unnecessary and insensitive comment to make. Recently, President Joe Biden traveled to Puerto Rico where he mentioned that he plans to spend $60,000,000 to help prepare for future storms, and recover from previous ones. He wishes to rebuild the structures of the islands to withstand severe storms. From these storms, Puerto Rico has had many road blockages, power outages, food sparsity, and other issues. It was especially hard for the territory to bounce back since they were hit by not just one, but two major hurricanes.
Historically, Puerto Rico has not gotten the help they need but that notion is on its way to changing for the better. Puerto Rico’s push for a better legal representation in the U.S. government, and disaster clean up help from the U.S. will prevent future occurences of these problems.
By Peyton Louie