Hurricane Maria

Vagabond

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I was absolutely appalled by his tweet this AM about how we can't keep FEMA there "forever".

I would like someone from the news media -- Fox News would be fine for all I care -- whether he believes that Puerto Rico should be an independent country. It is the logical conclusion from what he said.
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
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58,281
Except we have troops in countries all over the world. Some of them have been there for decades.

I just read that we aren't giving Puerto Rico aid but a loan. WTF? Did we give cities impacted by Irma & Harvey a loan? If we did and this is SOP, I will stop being outraged. Otherwise.... I may have to exercise my 1st amendment rights. Again.
 

Vagabond

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Except we have troops in countries all over the world. Some of them have been there for decades.

Troops? Who said anything about troops? I was responding to something about FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
 

topaz

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15,236
Except we have troops in countries all over the world. Some of them have been there for decades.

I just read that we aren't giving Puerto Rico aid but a loan. WTF? Did we give cities impacted by Irma & Harvey a loan? If we did and this is SOP, I will stop being outraged. Otherwise.... I may have to exercise my 1st amendment rights. Again.

It's straight up racist. Brown people are absolutely despised by this president. It's been long time since the US had a white supremacist in the oval office(we've had racist presidents before) but over the course of TRump's life, it is extremely hard to deny his hatred for people of color.

Puerto Rico and USVI's treatment is absolutely abhorrent. Can they appeal to WHO or UN for assistance and bypass the Trump admin?
Lord .. I am absolutely discouraged right now.

ETA: My aunt finally arrived back in St Croix yesterday. She lives in Christiansted Her flight was changed so many times. She's been in NYC since two days before Maria hit the island. Please keep my aunt, her other relatives and USVI in your prayers. I haven't seen my aunt in 6 years but St Thomas /St Croix are always in my heart. My goal has always been to retire to St. Croix and live near Rainbow beach. Also, I love Cane Bay and Turtle Beach on Buck Island. I simply love those islands and the people. It breaks my heart to see how shitty they are being treated.

Rainbow Beach before the hurricanes... http://imgarcade.com/rainbow-beach-st-croix.html
 
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MacMadame

Doing all the things
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58,281
Troops? Who said anything about troops?
Trump.

He said "the military", "FEMA", and "First Responders". "The Military" is "Troops" and we have them all over the world in countries besides ours. Therefore, I don't think you can extrapolate that he believes PR should be an independent country from what he said.
 

Lara

Bonjour/Hi to everyone at Worlds!
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19,396
Cousin posted on FB she’s still without power or water.

It’s hard to keep hope that things will recover. But they’re much stronger and resilient under these circumstances than I could be.
 

Catherine M

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13,279
Cousin posted on FB she’s still without power or water.

It’s hard to keep hope that things will recover. But they’re much stronger and resilient under these circumstances than I could be.

Does your cousin have a generator? That seems to be the most precious item in Puerto Rico right now, especially the smaller ones that don't take so much gas.

I saw a news story (can't remember where) that showed a son in New York buying a generator at his local big box store and then flying down with it to help his dad out and I thought how sad is that he has to go through all that just to get a generator but then its also a beautiful story of a son's compassion for his dad.
 

Lara

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Does your cousin have a generator? That seems to be the most precious item in Puerto Rico right now, especially the smaller ones that don't take so much gas.

I'm not sure about her own place but one uncle definitely has a generator and is currently housing other cousins, so it's probably a similar situation with her immediate family. Her post was to let us know that she was ok and had gotten internet back (I'm guessing via cell) which is something at least...
 

Buzz

Socialist Canada
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37,308
Desperate Puerto Ricans are drinking water from a hazardous waste site, and according to the article 35% of residents still don't have safe drinking water.

Friday afternoon, CNN watched workers from the Puerto Rican water utility, Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, or AAA, distribute water from a well at the Dorado Groundwater Contamination Site, which was listed in 2016 as part of the federal Superfund program for hazardous waste cleanup.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/13/us/puerto-rico-superfund-water/index.html
 

Vash01

Fan of Yuzuru, T&M, P&C
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55,380
I tried to make a donation on line to Oxfam's Maria fund, but the website kept giving me an error message even though I was sure that everything I had entered was correct. May be they don't want a donation that is less than $25? I gave up. I am not going to waste my time making phone calls to Oxfam. I can donate to another organization.
 

Buzz

Socialist Canada
Messages
37,308
Employees of the department HHS in Puerto Rico to help with disaster relief enjoyed a "spa day" at tax payers expense. A doctor who witnessed what was going on shared photos and quit her job. She has since spoken to CNN and plans to stay in Puerto Rico to help.
https://www.salon.com/2017/10/13/pu...quits-after-government-funded-spa-day-report/

ETA:
Here is the original Rachel Maddow report and in it she also mentions the U.S. navy ship Comfort has 800 beds but only 8 patients.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OCiyjlq3ncE
 
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Vash01

Fan of Yuzuru, T&M, P&C
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55,380
Employees of the department HHS in Puerto Rico to help with disaster relief enjoyed a "spa day" at tax payers expense. A doctor who witnessed what was going on shared photos and quit her job. She has since spoken to CNN and plans to stay in Puerto Rico to help.
https://www.salon.com/2017/10/13/pu...quits-after-government-funded-spa-day-report/

ETA:
Here is the original Rachel Maddow report and in it she also mentions the U.S. navy ship Comfort has 800 beds but only 8 patients.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OCiyjlq3ncE

Shame on them.
 

Jimena

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4,305
It's been almost a month since Maria, and things aren't improving. All those articles are right. Distribution of goods is terrible. There's no ice and there's a food shortage. There are a lot of goods at the port of San Juan but they don't get out of there. There's a huge boat hospital (USNS Comfort) that is inaccessible to most people because of the admission requirements. The response is a disaster. I never ever thought that it could be this bad. The percentage of people with electricity oscillates between 8% and 15%. It has never been higher than 15%. Right now, we are at 8%. The island cannot function like this at all. It's been raining non-stop and because of all the debris still on the roads and the erosion, flooding is almost immediate following the rain. It's awful. I'm doing as well as I can be. My daughter is going to school and I'm working but it's really bad for a lot of people.

But truly, we should be more outraged. We are being completely ignored and neither the territorial government nor the federal government are in any way, shape or form up to the task of rebuilding the island. Ricky Martin can make it to the "uncommunicated" areas; Luis Fonsi can make it there to deliver supplies; the Mayors make it there; the foreign press gets there. The military, FEMA and the territorial government? Oh, they're having transportation and logistical problems. It really is outrageous.

In addition, the health department is trying its best to avoid finding out if there is anything wrong. They just would rather not know, thank you very much. Because if they don't know, they can protect their own butts by saying "Oh, we didn't know of any leptospirosis/scabies/conjunctivitis/gastroenteritis outbreaks! Nothing has been confirmed! And if we don't know, it doesn't exist!". They're awful, awful, awful people.

I've entered a different stage in my reaction to this debacle. I'm so, so, so angry. Yes, I'm one of the lucky ones. But someone needs to scream at our leaders. Really. The racism and disdain shown by the idiotic president are just flabbergasting. We've been completely left behind. We have a mass exodus of Puerto Ricans because there are barely any jobs since everything is closed due to the lack of electricity and there is no economy to speak of. It is horrible. And I will not put a positive spin on things this time around. There is nothing good happening. No tangible improvements. The good that has happened is because of individuals and NGOs making it happen. We have complete incompetence all around us. And no one cares. We don't matter. And that's the bottom line.
 
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skatesindreams

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30,696
(((((Jimena)))))

I wish that I could drop our "leader" down in the middle of the worse of the conditions and force him to stay there!
 

Lara

Bonjour/Hi to everyone at Worlds!
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There's only so much I can say when I'm not the one experiencing it, so thank you @Jimena. Even if it's both heartbreaking and enraging.

I was initially worried about the economic implications when it became clear PR would get hit by Maria, but I'm seriously terrified of the public health consequences now.
 

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