Equal Access to Government

Harvey stormed ashore off the Gulf of Mexico smack into Texas; then it backed up and hit it again; it backed up another time, took aim to the east a bit and slammed into Louisiana. Meanwhile the storm system continued to dump enormous rain totals throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and points north.

Then Irma slammed the northern Caribbean islands and finally took full-on aim for Florida; eventually it moved west and up the western Gulf coast of Florida. The entire state of Florida was affected by the storm but not as badly as originally feared. Irma continued up to the north and Mid-Atlantic states and then petered out. Jose followed Irma but turned north over vast reaches of ocean and went up towards Maine and Canada; it never did much damage to the US mainland.

But Maria came along in short order and slammed the Caribbean again, raked across all of Puerto Rico, and moved north into the Atlantic threatening some damage to US coastal areas but none actually happened.

Backdrop to all of this storm activity were two earthquakes in short order for Mexico. No damage in the US but a lot of death and destruction in Mexico.

Unsettled was Mexico and America and the Caribbean island states. Where to turn for help? Each other, of course, but so many were occupied at the same time with their own woes. Response times were swift but hampered. Some response was downright late as in Puerto Rico. But help finally arrived.

What is fully needed and what will be provided over time is still an open question. And this is somewhat reasonable given the enormity of all that has happened in a short period of time. But still, help will need to be delivered to Puerto Rico.

On the American mainland resources exist for the immediate disaster, then regional and national aid is available as follow up until the entire job is done. In the island territory of Puerto Ricco the damage was huge and systemic. Other than air drops or helicopters, not much direct aid could be sent to help; only coastal aid approaching ports, docks and some airports. As those facilities were cleaned up enough to receive aid shipments, aid was received, and redistributed via land routes as best as possible.

Truth be told, infrastructure was so damaged in Puerto Rico that secondary and tertiary airports were still not serviceable. Ports were rehabilitated enough to continue to receive shipments but the problem continued to be distribution routes into interior areas of the island. In many cases aid shipments were stalled for many days. Roads were washed out as were bridges.

That is an indication of the severity of the problems Puerto Rico suffered from. And it is an indication of just how much they needed massive aid from America. Eventually it came, but distributing it all will continue to be a problem until the infrastructure is cleared and repaired. That will take months in many cases, and years in some.

The issue eventually comes down to access to government services. We can imagine the difficulties. Especially given the rash of damaging storms which strained the nation’s abilities to respond again and again. But in Puerto Rico’s situation, much more help was needed faster and more thoroughly.

We can only hope that a better far-reaching plan will be developed in time for implementation for the next Category 4 or 5 hurricane. This is an issue for both the regional and territorial government as well as America’s FEMA organization.

I can’t shake the feeling that Puerto Ricans did not receive equal access to America’s help when it needed it the most. 

October 5, 2017