/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56735771/image_1__maria_goes_91817.0.jpg)
The most recent in a string of natural disasters, Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico and devastated much of the infrastructure of the island. Puerto Rico's office of emergency management confirmed that 100% of the island had lost power, and although Maria has caused a significant amount of destruction, no deaths have been reported so far. Abner Gomez Cortes, the director of the office of emergency management and disaster administration agency, provided a relevant connection to what we have been studying recently when he said "We will rebuild our island with federal and state funds, hard work and the spirit of all Puerto Rican citizens." After this disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has released availability to a number of families in need of assistance. Grants like this from the federal government show one of the important uses of having two levels of government; in an emergency situation a state (or territory) is able to rely on federal funding as well as the state governments own wealth.
Do you think any more can be done to help the citizens of Puerto Rico, and all of the other places that have been hit by recent environmental disasters? Do you think any more should be done?
3 comments:
I believe that we are going towards the right steps in aiding and relieving areas that were hit hard by this year's tropical storms. Our response time is much better than what happened with Katrina, and I think we are much better suited in helping others post-disaster than before. I think it is good we are focusing our attention the parts we need the most and my heart goes out to the victims.
Immediate relief, of course, is of the utmost importance right now. But we also have to consider that the most effective long-term way to prevent future devastation of this scale is to acknowledge and address climate change. Many people make the fallacious argument that there is no way to prove that these storms are the result of climate change. Yes, it is true that one cannot point to any single storm and say, "that was caused by climate change," but that is beside the point, because climate change isn't about isolated events, it is about an overall trend of natural disasters and extreme weather events becoming more frequent and more severe. Just check out this article from NASA explaining the link:
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/RisingCost/rising_cost5.php
I believe that it is a good thing, like you mentioned, that the federal government will also be assisting Puerto Rico to overcome the losses caused by the disaster. Upon more research, I found that Puerto Rico's power company was actually bankrupt even before Hurricane Maria hit( https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/when-will-puerto-rico-have-power-again-why-its-hard-n803861). Therefore, if the federal government did not offer up any support to Puerto Rico, they would struggle quite a lot. In terms of if there is anything more that should be done, it seems that power has still not yet been restored, which is definitely an issue. However, it is understandable that aiding those who are injured or at high risk is more important than restoring power.
Post a Comment