Puerto Rico
[Hurricane Maria Aftermath]
BLOG SESSION
October 7th, 2017
Welcome back to our wonderful Blog everyone! We are going to be discussing a serious issue today ~ the aftermath of Hurricane Maria as it relates to Puerto Rico. If you have been following the News reports, then you already know that Puerto Rico took a heavy blow. The number of deaths was at 39 at last count. However, that count could increase. Here's why . . .
As of September 28th, 2017, Leovigildo Cotté died after not receiving the oxygen he needed at the only shelter that exists in the town of Lajas on the southern coast of Puerto Rico, which has been without electricity since Hurricane Maria careened through Puerto Rico. Not even his connections to the government could save him.
What's worse, “The generator never arrived,” said Lajas Mayor Marcos Turín Irizarry, who said he looked for oxygen for Cotté — father of the former mayor of that same town — “turning every stone” but could not find it.
Cotté is one of the unaccounted victims of Maria, the potent hurricane that devastated all of Puerto Rico with sustained winds and gusts of up to 200 miles per hour.
The Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI, for its initials in Spanish) has confirmed that there are dozens of hurricane-related deaths and the number could rise to the hundreds.
Hurricane Maria
Puerto Rico Aftermath
[Photo courtesy of Global NEWS]
The storm-related fatalities are mounting with each passing day, and official numbers are not counting patients who are not receiving dialysis, oxygen and other essential services.
Among those at risk are people such as Pedro Fontánez (79) who is bedridden at the Pavía Hospital in Santurce in San Juan and was due to be released even though he lacks electricity at home to support the oxygen and gastric tube-feeding he needs to keep him alive. His daughter, Nilka Fontánez, went to the government’s Emergency Operations Center desperately seeking help, but was told they were not accepting patients. “There’s no information,” said a frustrated Fontánez. [News Sources courtesy of the Miami Herald and Courtesy of CPI]
Puerto Rico - Hurricane Maria Aftermath
The story is sad, and the lives are real. The dead are at the hospital morgues, which are at capacity and in remote places where the government has yet to go. In many cases, families are unaware of the deaths. The government’s Demographic Registry is responsible for certifying deaths so bodies can be removed by funeral homes, many of which are not operating because of lack of resources. The agency began to certify some of the dead, Health Secretary Rafael Rodríguez-Mercado confirmed in an interview.
The continuing lack of communication has kept many people from knowing the whereabouts of their families. Since the storm’s immediate aftermath, many people have gone daily to radio stations so the on-air personalities can announce the names of family members with whom they have been unable to communicate.
Puerto Rico - Hurricane Maria
The Aftermath
A week after Maria, the government of Puerto Rico was struggling to supply basic services, such as fuel, road access, and electricity.
This story is being shared with you today, because we discussed effective Leadership, (or the lack thereof) in a previous Blog Session here. You may find all of our past Blog Sessions in our "Blog Archive" over in the far right column.
The commander in charge in the case of this disaster which affected Puerto Rico is the President of the United States. What did he do when he arrived in Puerto Rico and held a News Conference?
President Donald Trump
...throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of local residents
affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits
Calgary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Ricoon Oct. 3, 2017.
[Jonathan Ernst / Reuters]
I don't know about you, but if I had been one of the residents of Puerto Rico there in the room, I don't know if I would have any respect for a person who is in an Office as a World Leader who comes to throw paper towel ~ Really? Puerto Ricans were missing, dying, without proper resources, without communication, some close to death because they could not get their medicine and/or medical supplies ~ and in his hand was paper towel. And not only that, he threw it at hurricane victims.
And if that were not enough of an insult, the president also piled on more criticism of San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, who has been a vocal critic of his administration’s response. Trump said Cruz “really did not do a very good job in fact did a very poor job.”
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz
Hugging a Hurricane Victim
The San Juan mayor made an impassioned call for increased federal aid late last month and criticized Trump’s response to the hurricane.
She had also taken issue with him throwing paper towels and provisions at Puerto Ricans.
“The terrible and abominable view of him throwing paper towels and throwing provisions at people, it does not embody the spirit of the American nation,” Cruz said in an MSNBC interview with Rachel Maddow last Tuesday, the day Trump visited Puerto Rico.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz
Let us all pray for the citizens of Puerto Rico, strength for San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, and the citizens of Puerto Rico. And let us pray deeply for timely aid and Godly Leadership in times of crisis.
Until Our Next Blog Session ~
Peace, Love & Light
By René Allen
©Copyright - René Allen - 2014-2017 - All Rights Reserved
