The Governments Unnoticeable Position After a Disaster
The government has been overlooked during disasters within our communities.
They usually have the skills, money, and knowledge to help people and structures to heal and redevelop. People often believe that the government does the best things and doings in order to help, but that is not the case for many of the historical disruptions. The events that took place around the world with minimal effort shown by the government are seen as Hurricane Maria that covered the island of Puerto Rico, the Bhopal’s Isocyanate gas leak within the book of Animal’s People, and the volcanic eruption in Guatemala.
Hurricane Maria that occurred on September 20, 2017 to the people of Puerto Rico struggled with limitations across the island. The devastation created the island to pause in electricity, fuel, food, and other goods. The catastrophic winds and relentless rain shut the island down as the people became desperate and frustrated. Since 2012, there has been a reduction in employees within the Electric Power Authority of Puerto Rico. The calculation of over 30 percent of the workers have been laid off for the past six years. This can be the reason in the minimal help offered after the hurricane. The island ran out of resource within the few days and struggled to help people with food, medication, and services. After about two weeks, the United States sent help for the redeveloping community of Puerto Rico. Journalist describe this event as if Puerto Rico was defeated in a war and had many individuals without food or shelter. Till this day, Puerto Ricans claim that fake media about their condition was published multiple times which made this situation seem taken care of by the United States. The publications estimated the number of deaths to be 64 but earlier this month Harvard calculated more than 4,600 people were killed because of the Hurricane and the aftermath limitations. Our president seems to ignore the new number of deaths and instead seems to be proud of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, even though they were late to help the island and the people. The help of this natural disaster was wrongly published and helped as the government showed up late. The media and the government created false data about the event to show dominance of the situation.
The Isocyanate gas leak in Bhopal, India that occurred on December 3, 1984 killed at least 3,800 people and caused illnesses to many thousands more. The company had a leak of more than 40 tons of the toxic gas. The company quickly attempted to vanish from legal responsibilities for the deaths and those suffering. The company later paid 470 million dollars for medical services. The Indian people wanted more as this did not cover all of the peoples’ expenses. A first-hand account from this event shares his story in the book called Animal’s People.Animal is a teenage boy that walks with both his hands and legs because of the distortion in his back caused by the gas leak. He shares the number of victims harmed by the leak, contamination of water, and the injuries of those who survived the leak. Animal explains how their city is poor and had small and very little services. The people of the city believe that the factory created the gas leak intentionally in order to get rid of them. The United States then came to help but people are also suspicious of them and attempt to boycott any of their help and services. The people struggle for help as their city is very poor while they confront trust issues with the help that was offered.
The volcanic eruption in Guatemala that occurred recently on March 25, 2017 killed hundreds and lost hundreds more. The Guatemalans are upset of their president and government contribution during these tough times. The people of Guatemala are attempting to remove Jimmy Morales from his presidential position. A march of thousands of individuals asked for justice and carried lanterns around the streets of the city. The people classify this tragic as corrupt and signs of ignorance from their country. The community of Guatemala seeks for new representatives for their country and the recollection of the people that are currently suffering from the volcanic eruption. Candles were used to represent the people missing in the disaster. The number of people missing was at 197 but many believed the amount to be higher. The people were extremely disturbed by their president as he did not have the characteristics to face an emergency and the proper task for a president were out of his capabilities. The search and rescue services have been cancelled because of the weather around the volcano. It is understandable to know that volcanic eruptions are difficult to prevent like other natural disasters, but the government should support their people when facing difficult situations.
The government in situations of disasters are the first ones to create help with in those that have been affected. They tend to take fully responsibility of difficult situations as Hurricane Maria, the gas leak in Bhopal, and the volcanic eruption in Guatemala are disasters that in the past but some are recent to today. The case was different for both of these events as they lacked help when the disaster recently occurred. The media was portraited wrongly and differently by the government in order to make them look superior as an overall leader.
Works Cited
Cheslow, Daniella. “Puerto Rico Releases Data On Hundreds Of Deaths Following Hurricane Maria.” National Public Radio, 13 June 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/06/13/619440877/puerto-rico-releases-data-on-hundreds-of-deaths-following-hurricane-maria/.
Fernández Campbell, Alexia. “Sen. Warren Blasts FEMA For Doing Nothing About Puerto Rico’s Hurricane Death Count.” Vox, 13 June 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/6/12/17453012/warren-democrats-fema-puerto-rico-death-count/.
Hays, Jeffrey. “Bhopal Disaster.” Facts and Details, June 2015, http://factsanddetails.com/india/Nature_Science_Animals/sub7_9c/entry-4268.html/.
Sanchez, Mariana. “Guatemala Volcano Eruption: Anger Over Lack of Government Warning.”Aljazeera, 11 June 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/guatemala-volcano-eruption-anger-lack-government-warnings-180611075406833.html/.
Sinha, Indra. Animal’s People. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009.
Telesur. “Thousands of Guatemalans Protest President Morales, Demand His Resignation Over Fuego Volcano Crisis.” Telesur, 10 June 2018, https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Thousands-of-Guatemalans-Protest-President-Morales-Demand-His-Resignation-Over-Volcano-Crisis-20180610-0006.html/.
