Unidos Por Puerto Rico — Climate Change & Natural Disasters
Frank Twomey
Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean, floating just southeast of Florida. It was claimed by Christopher Columbus on behalf of Spain on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, and was a Spanish colony until the end of the American-Spanish War in 1899. Since then it has been owned by the United States, with many Americans being rather unsure of Puerto Rico’s status within the Union. Officially Puerto Rico is an organised unincorporated territory, which means it is self-governing but the laws of the US Constitution do not necessarily apply. Puerto Ricans are US citizens, but do not get to vote for President, nor do their representatives in Congress get to vote. Puerto Ricans have voted to become a state several times, though the decision is ultimately not theirs to make. Still, many Americans & Puerto Ricans alike consider the island to be a state in all but name.
Being an island, Puerto Rico is predictably open to the elements. However, no amount of rainfall could prepare the islanders for what 2017 had in store for PR. In late-August/early-September, Hurricane Irma hit the Caribbean hard, affecting much of the islands there. Puerto Rico, despite declaring a state of emergency and deploying response teams, was badly hit. Waves reached over 30feet tall, and a wind gust of 111mph was recorded on the sub-island of Culebra. Two people died in the rainstorms in the run-up to the storm, and two people died during the hurricane. Homes were completely destroyed in the rural parts of the island, and more than a million of the island’s (roughly) 3.5m people were left without power. Governor Ricardo Rosselló declared the islands of Culebra and Vieques to be disaster areas — it was the worst natural disaster in history to ever strike in Puerto Rico. It would hold that record for little over a fortnight.
On September 18th, Hurricane Maria struck the island. Unlike with Irma, PR was hit by the full brunt of Maria. Having not yet recovered from the effects of Irma, Puerto Rico was unable to adequately prepare for Maria. By the time it hit Puerto Rico there were sustained winds of 175mph, and pressure of 908mbar, making it the 10th most destructive hurricane in Atlantic history. Some 80,000 Puerto Ricans were still without power before Maria, and the Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority was severely in debt before the hurricanes (roughly $9.1b in debt), and had filed for bankruptcy. There were also issues with clean drinking water, as much of Puerto Rico’s supplies did not meet US clean drinking water standards. Gusts of up to 113mph were recorded in the capital of San Juan, and there was heavy rainfall on the islands, peaking at 37.9 inches in Caguas. Storm surge and flash flooding trapped hundreds of people, destroying homes. The power grid was completely destroyed by Maria, leaving the 3.4m people without access to electricity, which seriously affected hospitals, banks and other key services. Around 90% of Puerto Rico’s cell phone coverage dropped, meaning many islanders had no way of contacting relatives in the outside world. PR was left devastated by Maria, isolated and without power or much drinking water. Hospitals told some patients that they would be better off going to the mainland US for treatment, if they could — the rapper Pitbull even chartered flights for people in critical condition. Puerto Rico’s standing as an entity less than a state within Trump’s US meant that it received less help & aid than some mainland states, even though the damage there was significantly lesser than in PR. When the mayor of San Juan drew attention to this in the media, Trump’s government spun it as some sort of paid hit by the Democrats, not the legitimate point it was. And as PR reps have no vote in Congress, Puerto Rico couldn’t exactly stand up for itself in the House. Even today, some six months after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico hasn’t come close to recovering. The official death toll for Puerto Rico is around 64, with another 60 people missing, though most experts consider that this number is, sadly, much too low.
The reaction to the catastrophe on Puerto Rico from mainland US, especially from the government, was appalling, but was endemic of the attitudes that Trump’s America has to climate change. Puerto Rico saw two of the worst natural disasters in its entire history in the space of two weeks, and to say it is not linked to climate change is a ridiculous notion. Since the 1970s, hurricanes that reach category 4 and 5 (the strongest, most destructive sort) have roughly doubled in number. NASA predict that global warming could affect storms due to the decreasing difference in temperature between the poles and the equator. This change in temperature is said to drive the increase in amount & strength of the storms & hurricanes in the Caribbean & Atlantic.
We should’ve done more for Puerto Rico, for Dominica and the Caribbean. We can still do more for them by donating to charities like Unidos Por Puerto Rico, for example. Saving the environment and combating climate change isn’t just about saving the forests or the Arctic tundra in the future, it’s about saving lives in the here and now. We must unite for Puerto Rico, because no one else will.
