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struggle4progress

(118,290 posts) Tue Sep 11, 2018, 05:38 PM Sep 2018

Hurricane Maria: the forgotten scandal

Richard Wolffe

... Several thousand Americans died. Not because of the storm itself, but because of the botched recovery. Yet until very recently, government officials dodged all accountability by clinging to the lie that just a few dozen lives were lost.

We still don’t know the true death toll in Puerto Rico. A group of Harvard researchers estimate it could be close to 5,000. Another at George Washington University say it could be almost 3,000.

It should not take a group of researchers to figure out these numbers a year after the hurricane. The only reason for dodging the truth like this is to block all the awkward questions that follow: why did all those American citizens die, and who was responsible for their deaths?

Either number makes Maria far more deadly than Katrina, when the botched response effectively ended public support for the Bush administration ...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/11/trump-scandal-hurricane-maria-puerto-rico

5 replies

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Highlight:

Hurricane Maria: the forgotten scandal (Original Post) struggle4progress Sep 2018 OP

A stain for FEMA struggle4progress Sep 2018 #1

Yes. Followed closely by the scandal of the separated children Golden Raisin Sep 2018 #2

Puerto Ricans won't forget throwing paper towels to hurricane survivors struggle4progress Sep 2018 #3

Offensive, blatantly false Puerto Rico remark struggle4progress Sep 2018 #4

There must be hearings on this scandal next year malaise Sep 2018 #5

struggle4progress

(118,290 posts)

1. A stain for FEMA

Reply to struggle4progress (Original post)

Tue Sep 11, 2018, 05:40 PM

Sep 2018

BY ROBERT VALENCIA ON 9/11/18 AT 6:00 AM

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria plowed into Puerto Rico with winds of 155 miles per hour, leaving the island in shambles. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz’s voice quivers as she speaks of that day and the man-made disaster that followed. “I feel anger and sadness because this should have never happened,” she says. “It has been a difficult year for Puerto Rico.”

In a recent bombshell revelation from a Harvard study, the number of hurricane-related deaths jumped from the original 64 .. to 4,645. And life continues to be challenging for survivors: Thousands of Puerto Ricans are dealing with a deteriorated electric grid and crippled infrastructure, coupled with a crushing $70 billion debt that weakens the island’s economy.

Maria was actually the second hurricane to hit the island that season, following Irma in August. In their aftermath, Cruz, 55, became the harshest critic of the Trump administration’s handling of the crisis. “We are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy,” she told the White House at a press conference last year. In response, President Donald Trump accused her of poor leadership ...

https://www.newsweek.com/san-juan-mayor-slams-trump-fema-after-hurricane-maria-1114137

Golden Raisin

(4,609 posts)

2. Yes. Followed closely by the scandal of the separated children

Reply to struggle4progress (Original post)

Tue Sep 11, 2018, 05:40 PM

Sep 2018

struggle4progress

(118,290 posts)

3. Puerto Ricans won't forget throwing paper towels to hurricane survivors

Reply to struggle4progress (Original post)

Tue Sep 11, 2018, 05:42 PM

Sep 2018

BY ARIS FOLLEY - 09/11/18 12:34 PM EDT

... “Racism and discrimination have nestled in the White House, and abuse against Latinos has found a powerful instrument in the president,” she argued. “Puerto Ricans will never erase from their memory images of Trump throwing paper towels to <hurricane survivors last October>” ...

http://thehill.com/latino/406069-san-juan-mayor-puerto-ricans-will-never-forget-images-of-trump-throwing-paper-towels

struggle4progress

(118,290 posts)

4. Offensive, blatantly false Puerto Rico remark

Reply to struggle4progress (Original post)

Tue Sep 11, 2018, 05:43 PM

Sep 2018

BY MICHAEL BURKE - 09/11/18 05:08 PM EDT

Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) on Tuesday slammed President Trump over his claim that the federal response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year was an "unsung success."

"This is an offensive, hurtful and blatantly false comment from the president," Schumer tweeted. "Nearly 3,000 of our fellow citizens died in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. That is the complete opposite of ‘success’" ...

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/406140-schumer-trumps-puerto-rico-comment-offensive-blatantly-false

malaise

(269,020 posts)

5. There must be hearings on this scandal next year

Reply to struggle4progress (Original post)

Tue Sep 11, 2018, 07:14 PM

Sep 2018

After the elections

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