Natural Disasters Affecting Puerto Rico

Introduction

The world is changing fast due to climate changes such as droughts worsening, hurricanes becoming stronger with a longer duration period, rainfall is now heavier and more frequent, and temperatures are rising resulting in extensive damage to economic health, life and property in affected areas. Natural disasters have made the 21st century an unforgettable one. In December of 2004, an earthquake occurred followed by a Tsunami near Indonesia. While tsunamis are limited to coastal areas, their vicious power can be massive.

During the “harbor wave”, the epicenter was under the Indian Ocean in earth, which aggressively shook the ocean resulting into vicious waves that were meters high causing more than 230,000 deaths and millions missing in 14 countries. In August 2005, the southeastern area of the United States faced one of the deadliest hurricanes in the century caused by Hurricane Katrina. This hurricane struck Florida, hit the cities of Mississippi: Biloxi and Gulfport, and caused the most damage to New Orleans.

Roughly 1833 people were died followed by floods and caused more than 100 billion dollars in property damage due to high winds and major storm surges.

This century inaugurated a record earthquake period, causing severe damages throughout the Caribbean as well as the Chinese regions. Just in 2016 to date, there have been several earthquakes with magnitudes above 6.0 including Japan, Ecuador and Indonesia. In 2005, the world witnessed the disturbing impacts of a major earthquake in the Kashmir region. This disaster claimed over hundreds of thousands of deaths, more than 70,000 injuries and about 4 million people became homeless.

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Another major disaster occurred on January of 2010 in Haiti. This became the deadliest earthquake causing 220,000 casualties. The California Wildfire, European Heat Wave, Tornado Outbreak, Los Angeles Windstorms, Midwest Ice Storm each caused threats that impacted community resilience due to vulnerabilities and potential consequences that affected the environment, public health and safety. Extreme events go to show that when severe weather collides with civilization, the results are deadly and expensive.

Given the devastating loses of the 21st century, it would be at least a small relief to consider this century an anomaly unlikely to be repeated. However, it seems as though the number of natural disaster events continue to rise, as do the social and economic cost, which brings me to discuss the worst natural catastrophe on record to affect Puerto Rico. Recorded history has shown that Puerto Rico has been the eye path of more than 50 tropical storms concluding that this island is by far no stranger to such severe events; up till now, this is the worst this island has ever seen. A Puerto Rican even described Hurricane Maria “as an atomic bomb”, concluding that this storm may have been a force of nature, but the disaster itself was a man-made event. Some of you may know that 2017 was the most expensive year on record for natural disasters in the United States, totaling 312 billion dollars due to droughts, six major hurricanes and wildfires. Amongst those six major hurricanes in 2017, Maria was the third costliest storm in U.S. history. This storm damaged or destroyed more a little a half million homes, left over two million people without power, caused approximately 100 billion dollars in damage, and over 2,500 deaths. In this case study, we will observe the resistance, recovery efforts and creativity in regards to Hurricane Maria impact on Puerto Rico.

The Aftermath

Damages

It has been little over a year since Hurricane Maria “swept away” this Caribbean island. With tourism still booming, cruise ships still docking on schedule and the crowded airports; Puerto Rico has not recovered. Quite frankly, it is undoubtedly close to collapse as it has ever been. Due to major factors like the government struggling through bankruptcy, being recently hit by Hurricane Irma and the island weakened infrastructure; Puerto Rico may never be on their feet again. Hurricane Maria brought irate winds; storm surges, and endured flooding on this island. According to the National Hurricane Center Tropical Cyclone Report, “…marinas and harbors were severely damaged due to the combination of the waves and currents associated with the surge. A storm surge also caused significant damage over the northwestern coastal area of Puerto Rico” the report goes on to say, “…numerous trees were downed, splintered and/or defoliated. River flooding was unprecedented in some areas, especially in the northern portion of the island. The La Plata River flooded the entire alluvial valley including the municipality of Toa Baja, where hundreds of families needed to be rescued from their roof tops”(Pasch et al., 2018,p.7). The storm also completely destroyed Puerto Rico’s power grid, 80 percent of the island’s agriculture were shredded, communications networks were disabled, municipal water supplies were knocked out, and thousands of homes suffered varying degrees of damage.

Recovery Efforts and Response

Within a week of the Hurricane Maria disaster, some might say recovery efforts were more complex due to Puerto Rico’s location; President Trump was apart of that group. According to reports from the Washington Post, the President of the United States mentioned “Its very tough because it’s an island”, he goes on to compare the recovery efforts due to Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria stating, “ In Texas, we can ship the trucks right out there, you know, we’ve got A-pluses on Texas and Florida and we will also on Puerto Rico, but the difference is this is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean, and it’s a big ocean.” San Juan mayor, Carmen Cruz, in return felt that the federal response to Hurricane Maria was inadequate and slow. Cruz also criticized the US response during a news conference stating, “We are dying and you are killing us with the inefficiency”. A recent research report I read supports these claims. According to a research report, Far From Recovery: Puerto Rico Six Months After Hurricane Maria, “The federal government showed delays and inaction in a number of urgent and even life saving areas, such as timely investment of resources, staffing the response, and executive actions to address the crisis”(Rose et al., 2018,p.1). With these slow responses from the federal government increased higher tolls of

Due to the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the U.S. territory faced a charitable crisis. The governor of Puerto Rico pushed for Congress to approve an adequate relief package. Former U.S. presidents, celebrities and national charities vowed their support to help Hurricane Maria victims on this island. Donating funds and volunteering to an array of non-profits and aid organizations are ways to help recover Puerto Rico and avoid using resources to transport donated goods. Some of the aid organizations were International Medical Corps, Direct Relief, Mercy Corps, Catholic Relief Services, All Hands Volunteers, Habitat for Humanity, One America Appeal, UNICEF, Save the Children, Water Mission, and Project HOPE. These charities provided safe and clean water system restorations, medical and emergency supplies, health care safety net, tents, kitchen kits, shelter, food, water and much more. Long-term local solutions were also provided.

As far as the non-profit organizations (NPO’s), Hispanic Federation, First Book, Global Giving, Amigos de Los Animales, Heart to Heart International, Casa Pubelo, and Mission 500, each played a role in providing educational resources for children, animal rescue, grants to more than 70 municipalities, medical care, long term recovery assistance, solar energy systems and other aid resources. United for Puerto Rico was well known for their help since the beginning to provide and help the victims in Puerto Rico. Some vital supply needs were baby formula, diapers, wipes, mosquito repellent, blankets, pillows, canned milk and construction supplies (e.g. electric generators, hammers, pop –up canopies, extension cords and wood panels). Not only did NPO’s and charities play a vital role, but volunteer organizations contributed to aid as well. Para La Natureleza, Visit Rico,Instiuto Nueva Escuela,Chef Jose Andres’s World Central Kitchen and Americas for Conservation and Arts were amongst those organizations. These volunteer groups help paint schools, repair playgrounds, mentor children affected by school closings, help with volunteer organization, cleaning and taking care of environmental species, and deliver fresh meals to recovering communities.

As mentioned earlier, Puerto Rico is in major debt, to the point where their assets are currently being managed by a federal control board due to the U.S. territory being millions of dollars in the hole. Being that Puerto Rico is overwhelmed, they are looking for private investors to help them since the government has no hard cash. Also, being able to have an affiliate with currency is intriguing. By playing devils advocate, I assume the problem comes in when investors have to be repeatedly reminded that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory. If America could see that Americans and Puerto Ricans are both citizens of the U.S, then an all-inclusive strategy could help Puerto Rico towards relief efforts and response just as rapidly as the efforts towards Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Harvey impact.

Even with hesitation, some private sector organizations have played a role by escalating their support efforts due to monotonous relief attempts from the federal government. Sonnen and Tesla were two of the several private sectors companies that tried to keep the ball rolling, which the American government did not. Sonnen, which is an energy storage company based in Germany, got involved by using materials to create micro-grids to function without a grid connection. This helped areas that were still losing power whenever heavy rain or extreme winds hit the unbalanced power lines. Tesla was another Energy Company that assisted in efforts to build micro-grids as well as giving hundreds of housing batteries to restore power from solar panels. Gaining knowledge on these energy companies’ efforts, I believe that applying resilient energy solutions would be a great idea in order to prepare for upcoming natural catastrophe and blackouts.

Where is Puerto Rico now?

Even after a year, thousands of residents from this island are still recovering from the storm, paradoxically when hurricane season has begun to start this year. Federal disaster organizers have tried their absolute best by providing billions of dollars in funds for Hurricane Maria disaster relief and knowledge that has spread through the island, helping to fix thousands of homes, reopen businesses and restore power to all areas of the island. Even with this expertise and funds, it seems like the hurricane just hit yesterday. Without a doubt, Puerto Rico access to clean water has improved and the power has been restored, but the people are still convalescing from the obliteration and distress of Hurricane Maria. Jernonimo Candela, the Director for Mercy Corps in Puerto Rico supports my statement the best, “Though the island is steadily recovering, hidden destruction remains. Puerto Ricans are still feeling the psychological and economic toll”.

While larger cities such as Ponce and San Juan have seen a quicker response to resurgence, places like Punta Santiago, which received the most impact of the storm, have not. This patchy rate of recovery for residents in Punta Santiago doesn’t begin to capture the actual condition of things on this island. Their recovery is appalling due to less federal funding and international focus. These residents are still living in dilapidated homes with harmful molds, caved in walls, and soaked possessions As for Puerto Rico in general, access to clean water and lack of electricity were the main factors for this island to slowly return to their somewhat normal lives. For several months, communities purchased bottled water and were under an advisory to boil their water in order to get the clean water they needed. Areas like Yabuca were the first and last communities to see power due to this storm.

To call recuperation uneven and hesitant is an understatement. In a recent article I read, Puerto Rico is still coping with unfavorable impacts. According to Mercy Corps, “As of now, hundred of families are still displaced, living in shelters or at hotels with assistance from FEMA”. The article goes on to say, “Power outages are still occurring in rustic areas, some residences have tarps instead of roofs, and collapsed utility poles and uprooted trees are common.

Weakened Infrastructure, Vulnerabilities and Healthcare Capacities

Hurricane Maria excessively affected areas with residents that had fewer assets to help them rebuild and mend. As stated earlier, Punta Santiago and Yabuca were the areas “crying for help”, as well as rural areas and isolated mountain towns like Morovis and Utado. The elderly and people with disabilities that depend on social security checks and public assistance were also heavily vulnerable from this storm. As for Puerto Rico’s infrastructure, the island was already experiencing a humanitarian crisis long before the storm hit. Their bridges, homes, floodgates, water pump stations and roads were starving for attention. Restoring electricity from blackouts was a challenge due to weak power grids and dead electric generated plants surrounded by overgrown weeds and rusted steel. With these tenuous power lines, health care facilities were struggling to keep required medications refrigerated.

Even when power was restored, “persistent power outages made electricity erratic for many people, preventing reliable access to water, refrigeration, food preparation, and light”, according to Oxfam America (p.5). It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that these constant power outages come from decades old damaged energy grids. With electricity being the main source for water pumps and refrigeration, it made it difficult for families to gain access to water and keep perishable food cooled. The lack of electricity also made it impossible for children to go to schools as well as being a challenge for citizens for basic services like potable water services and clinics. Although some had a small amount of preparedness, it still resulted in other issues. For example, some citizens had generators in order to have back-ups when their electricity went out. Even though these generators were resourceful initially, the pollution from these generators caused problems in the long run (e.g. respiratory problems). Just like generators having their pros’ and cons’, so did fuel. Since fuel was also another back up, it caused financial strains with hospitals, schools and families due to fuel being very expensive.

Water services were also a huge factor. Yes, we do know that drinking water was limited due to contamination. But what about the other negative physical health impacts Puerto Ricans had to endure. Hygiene and physical challenges, both played a role due to depleted water services. Certain areas of the island turned to rivers for basic needs since washing machines and showers did not work due to failure in electricity. Residents bathed and washed their clothes in these banks. These rivers were good for cleaning but were dangerous too since currents were extremely fast. As for the physical impact, hauling buckets of water and expending additional labor to wash clothes increased physical burdens for these citizens (Oxfam America, 2018,p.6).

With help from the storm, road conditions became worse. Along with road terrible conditions, dangerous debris from fallen trees and branches made it even more impassable. With these two factors in mind, I can conclude traveling was difficult for patients to get to hospitals in order to receive their treatments (e.g.. dialysis, oxygen and insulin). Areas like Utado, were inaccessible due to their only bridge connected to refinement ripped away because of extreme flash flooding. This severe surge came from the weakened floodgates caused by years of neglect, which created water contamination from soil and mud run off leading to a disease called leptospirosis. Years of government negligence showed that this island was in dire straits to begin with.

Lack of Preparedness

To say FEMA (The Federal Emergency Management Agency) failed to properly prepare for last years hurricane season, is an understatement. Emergency-supply warehouses in Puerto Rico were practically empty and FEMA were shorthanded before Hurricane Maria even hit. Due to supplies being rerouted to the Virgin Islands and focused disaster coordinators being deployed, appropriate and sufficient support was not given to hurricane victims in need. Communication challenges also resulted in a lack of preparedness due to over 80% of cell towers being down. Since majority of the communication networks were out and not enough working satellite phones were available, communication was difficult to deal with the extent of the damage that had taken place. As mentioned before, response decisions were delayed as well. Due to items being untrackable, it was hard to see what items were being shipped from private sector organizations and the federal government. The short amount of generators was also an issue in order to help hospitals, clinics and homes. As you can see, the lack of planning dealing with key supplies and experienced staff caused a major hurdle to the response for protecting the islands vulnerable and disabled communities.

What can be done to help withstand and recover quickly in the future?

Building Community Resilience

While the All Hands and Hearts volunteers help to rebuild disaster resilient communities in Puerto Rico, other organizations help to address the communities’ urgent need as well. Hundreds of buildings lost their roofs and recent rainy weather haven’t made it any better by further damaging these places causing a delay in residents returning to their companies, residences, and normal life routines. The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico has partnered with the Tarps Campaign, looking to provide tarps to buildings and homes in order to protect from elements, slow the structural damage and overall help the populace rebuild. Other parts of the funding goes towards helping community centers become durable to serve residents needs such as giving them solar panels and water filters.

Building Community Health Resilience

In order to be properly prepared for the future, health care centers should review their existing disaster plans and realize the flaws that were initially implemented so it can be changed promptly. Creating data and communicating unnecessary plans will be helpful too. Also, going around to every clinic sites and accessing their grave infrastructure could help in rebuilding better and stronger hospitals. I think by stressing the need to develop another way of communication between health care staff members would be effective. Since there were no phones or Internet connection due to power failure, communication was a huge issue. Between going to the affected corners of the island to check on facilities and staff as well as using What’s App, was the only way to keep in contact with emergencies. Providing solar power and battery solutions could help prepare blood banks services, dialysis centers, diagnostic service clinics and hospitals. By retaining this information, I observed that community resilience and community health resilience have an overlap.