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Puerto Rico increases Hurricane Maria death toll to 2,975
Officials in Puerto Rico now say 2,975 people died following Hurricane Maria - a devastating storm that struck the US island territory in September 2017. The revised death toll is nearly 50 times the previous estimate of 64.
Governor Ricardo Rossello "accepted" the findings in a long-awaited independent investigation. The mayor of the capital, San Juan, accused the US government of deliberately downplaying the impact of the storm.
Puerto Rico has struggled to repair its infrastructure and power grid since the storm, and is asking US Congress for $139bn (£108bn) in recovery funds.
[...] The government's initial number was for those killed directly by the hurricane, crushed by collapsing buildings, drowned or hit by flying debris.
But the new report also counted those who died in the six months following the storm as a result of poor healthcare provision and a lack of electricity and clean water. Repeated power cuts also led to an increased number of deaths from diabetes and sepsis.
George Washington University (GWU) report: Ascertainment of the Estimated Excess Mortality from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Previously: Puerto Rican Death Toll From Hurricane Maria May be Many Times Higher Than Official Estimate
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Barenflimski on Wednesday August 29 2018, @06:50PM (17 children)
...Oh yea, they are.
Because Puerto-Rico is an island, it costs more to help people out when in dire need. That comes with acquiring the rights to the island. Saying that they can't be helped because they are too far away from the mainland is absurd. This would be from the same country that has the worlds largest mobile military. The government seems to be able to ship nukes and personnel to Guam, why not food and help to Puerto Rico?
If the United States government isn't going to treat the island and its people as a resource that it cares about, it should cede back control to the people of the island and divest.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 29 2018, @07:01PM
Butbut there's no money!!!
(We put it all in the $700 billion military budget.)
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday August 29 2018, @07:09PM (12 children)
"In March 1952, Luis Munoz Marin, Puerto Rico’s governor, proclaimed Puerto Rico a freely associated U.S. commonwealth under the new constitution; the status was made official that July. Though nationalist agitation for the island’s complete independence from the U.S. was a constant—as were calls for Puerto Rico to become a state—subsequent referendums confirmed the decision to remain a commonwealth." https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/puerto-ricans-become-u-s-citizens-are-recruited-for-war-effort [history.com]
The problem stems from the fact that they aren't a State. Yes, they are US Citizens, but that's relatively new as well. "Barely a month before the United States enters World War I, President Woodrow Wilson signs the Jones-Shafroth act, granting U.S. citizenship to the inhabitants of Puerto Rico. " -- From the same article referenced above.
While, I do sympathize, the fact is that it wasn't as simple as Louisiana getting slammed with Hurricane Katrina or Houston getting slammed with Hurricane Harvey. I'm not so up and up with my history of Puerto Rico, but it would seem to me that they've been happy not being a US State. It would have been much simpler to implement emergency aid, if they had been a US State.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Touché) by Barenflimski on Wednesday August 29 2018, @07:32PM
Yes, that sounds like the logic being used in this case.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 29 2018, @07:35PM (3 children)
In a June 2017 referendum (before the hurricanes), 97% of the votes were for statehood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_status_referendum,_2017 [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 29 2018, @08:04PM (2 children)
True enough, although there was a boycott [wikipedia.org] and pretty low turnout.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Wednesday August 29 2018, @08:17PM (1 child)
That's not how democracy works.
You don't vote: your opinion doesn't count.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 4, Funny) by takyon on Wednesday August 29 2018, @08:31PM
Luckily, it was a referendum in which nobody's opinion counted.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 29 2018, @07:38PM (1 child)
I would have expected Aristarchus to report an event that happened a century and a year ago (1917) as "relatively new." Do we have a second immortal in our midst? How many of you immortals are there anyway? And I thought that there could only be one!
Are you able to give us more details about the difficulties their lack of statehood presents? Any details?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 29 2018, @07:52PM
The difficulty is that it gives assholes an excuse to not help people out. When they can weasel their way out of something it is very hard to implement that something.
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Wednesday August 29 2018, @07:49PM (4 children)
Why?
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 29 2018, @07:59PM (3 children)
It may seem unfair to US citizens who pay IRS income tax that federal disaster aid goes to places that don't pay the tax.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by NewNic on Wednesday August 29 2018, @08:12PM (1 child)
So the USA should not provide any aid abroad? Perhaps the US government should cut off farm aid to states that receive more money from the Federal government than they send?
How about the fact that the Jones act needlessly increases the costs of living on PR?
Financial arguments are not valid. These people are US citizens and they deserve the best assistance the USA can provide. They didn't get it.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday August 29 2018, @11:38PM
"United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization
Since 1953, the UN has been considering the Political status of Puerto Rico and how to assist it in achieving "independence" or "decolonization". In 1978, the Special Committee determined that a "colonial relationship" existed between the US and Puerto Rico.[195]
Note that the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has often referred to Puerto Rico as a nation in its reports, because, internationally, the people of Puerto Rico are often considered to be a Caribbean nation with their own national identity.[196][197][198] Most recently, in a June 2016 report, the Special Committee called for the United States to expedite the process to allow self-determination in Puerto Rico. More specifically, the group called on the United States to expedite a process that would allow the people of Puerto Rico to exercise fully their right to self-determination and independence. ... [and] allow the Puerto Rican people to take decisions in a sovereign manner and to address their urgent economic and social needs, including unemployment, marginalization, insolvency and poverty".[199] " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereigntism_(Puerto_Rico) [wikipedia.org]
They don't necessarily want to be a State. In which case, they get to deal with the added complexity / issue of emergency aid. Emergency aid is built-in for States. I do support aid for others, but that doesn't mean it will be as seamless as providing emergency aid to a State. As it stands, they certainly aren't paying for it.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Informative) by termigator on Wednesday August 29 2018, @08:15PM
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Puerto_Rico [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Thexalon on Wednesday August 29 2018, @08:19PM
So here's what's really going on: They care about the island a great deal. They'd just as soon most of its people drop dead. There's all this prime tropical coastline real estate, that's just begging for resorts, hotels, etc for tourists, and the only thing standing in their way is the property's rightful owners. So what they'll do is:
1. Allow Puerto Rico to be unliveable.
2. Wait for most of the Puerto Ricans to decide that maybe they should try their luck on the mainland US and sell off everything of value including their land to make the trip. This land will now be at a steep discount.
3. Real estate developers (who may or may not just happen to be part of the presidents' companies) will then buy up the decent land, build those resorts, and poof you have a paradise for rich Americans with insane profits for said real estate developers.
This little maneuver has happened many times before, e.g. New Orleans after Katrina.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday August 29 2018, @09:25PM
After Hurricane Andrew in Miami, there were rumors of mass deaths of undocumented migrant farm workers being covered up.
Officially, there were 15 direct fatalities and 29 indirect fatalities in Florida, but I personally knew a man who was ~50 years old, diabetic, and so psychologically damaged by the storm (he literally seemed shell shocked, just dazed and depressed) that he went off his meds and ended up dying within months, he's not counted in the 29.
I never had any personal contact with evidence of a secret mass grave for the migrant farm workers, but the rumors did reach me from multiple independent sources.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 29 2018, @11:32PM
The Navy has a ship on each Coast dedicated to Medical services. They should have sent that ship down to Puerto Rico right away. The Army could have used the disaster recovery efforts as training in getting the area under control and stabilized. Same with the National Guard.