Month: June 2018

Global News Post 6 – Puerto Rico

Is Puerto Rico Prepared For This Hurricane Season?

Morning after Hurricane Maria

“Morning After Hurricane Maria”. Roosevelt Skerrit. https://flic.kr/p/YFixXU. No copyright.

As hurricane season officially began on Friday, June 1 in the Atlantic, many are asking if Puerto Rico is prepared in the instance something like Maria happens again. A lot of the preparation has revolved around the death toll numbers that have been reported from the island’s government and other studies. Public safety officials claim that there they have no reason to lie about the death toll and the studies they are carrying out to figure out the actual numbers and that because it is so high they are preparing for the worst this hurricane season. When the journalist of this article went to Puerto Rico she visited the FEMA warehouse, where she said there used to only be one, now there are four. They are stocked with tarps, water and cots and were sending a message from FEMA that they will have a plan in the instance something like Maria happens again. However, despite the appearance of being prepared, the mayor of Humacao stated that he feels his municipality is unprepared and that there is a disconnect between the government and the people.
The dialogue from this interview was interesting to see, because as I have reported before, the island and their government officials claim to be transparent, but it seems that same transparency isn’t being reciprocated if the people of Puerto Rico still have not recovered and feel unprepared in this new, upcoming hurricane season. Even the journalists there reporting on the story was unsure of the preparedness of the people due to their concern. This disconnect goes to show that the national perspective is far more deceiving than that of the local people and that can’t happen going into another hurricane season.
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/01/616257726/is-puerto-rico-prepared-for-this-hurricane-season

Global News Post 4 – Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico’s governor says there will be ‘hell to pay’ if officials withheld mortality data

La Perla

“La Perla”. Vxla. https://flic.kr/p/95eDBB. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Other than relief funding being a major talking point in regard to the devastation that occurred due to Hurricane Maria, the death toll has been another issue that has been reported on. Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, spoke with the news saying that he defends his government’s efforts in tryin to get accurate numbers for the death toll of the resulting hurricane. Researchers not from the island concluded that the actual number that died from the aftermath was 4,645, which is almost 70 times higher than the original, official tally of 64 reported by the Puerto Rican government. Rossello stated that George Washington College would carryout another official study to get an accurate number for the death toll, and that the study has been delayed due to difficulty of obtaining correct death certificate information. However, according to a researcher apart of the Harvard study that was carried out stated that they did not receive any data from the government they requested. Despite these allegations Rossello stated, “I really want this to be very transparent. I want the truth to come out. That’s the bottom line. And I want us to learn from this tragedy”.
In the interview done with Rossello it appeared that he was unaware about data being withheld from researchers by his government, but he insists that they are doing all they can to be transparent with the people. Transparency seems to be a common thing among officials, especially with Rossello, following the hurricane, after recently mentioning the massive amounts of debt the country is in and why it sought so much aid from the US.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/us/puerto-rico-governor-responds-to-study/index.html

Global News Post 3 – Puerto Rico

Chairman Pai Proposes $954 Million Plan For Puerto Rico and USVI

Ajit Pai

“FCC Chairman Ajit Pai speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.” Gage Skidmore. https://flic.kr/p/GBJEcW. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Following the devastation in Puerto Rico, Chairman of the FCC, has proposed a $954 million plan to help restore networks in Puerto Rico. After months of struggling to get the much needed assistance the island sought from federal relief aid, the chairman proposed the long awaited plan back in March. The plan will direct the funds toward short-term assistance to help get communications back to normal operating standards and long-term assistance to help rebuild and restructure the broadband networks of the island for better and efficient access across the island. Not only will the funds be used to help repair the communications on the island, but also to ensure processes are in place to prevent anything from this extent to happen again in this years upcoming hurricane season.

This news was released by the FCC in attempts to make the public more aware of the efforts being taken to help the neighboring island. Further analyzation of this article also led me to the discovery that Puerto Rico was a major proponent for the repeal of the net neutrality rules, that was recently carried out by the current presidential administration. One of the major reasons the island may have been in favor of the new legislation is because according to the chair of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, the same Verizon funded group that is helping to allocate funds for rebuilding on the island, is the same group that was in favor of putting the new legislation in place.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/chairman-pai-proposes-954-million-plan-puerto-rico-and-usvi (the actual article will have the option to be opened as a word document or pdf)