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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'It's like the end of the world' inside San Juan's steaming airport
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico There's a new front in this island's growing humanitarian crisis in the wake of Hurricane Maria: the airport.
Thousands of sweating, hopeful passengers have thronged inside Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, desperate to catch a flight off the storm-ravaged island.
Airlines, which have canceled dozens of flights over the past week, began commercial flights to the U.S. on Sunday. Passengers wait in long lines inside terminals running on backup generators with no air conditioning. Many have spent the night inside the steamy terminals, hoping for a chance to leave.
"It's like the end of the world," said Andrew Arteaga, who spent five nights at the airport with his wife, Marjet Mendez, and 8-month-old daughter, Ayla.
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/25/thousands-weary-travelers-stuck-steamy-san-juan-airport/699581001/
Warpy
(111,267 posts)Think about all the people who are trapped there, looking at 6 months before the lights go back on and they can have a fan to cool them off a bit.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Been in that Airport on many occasions . Couple of times when the A/C was out. Remember what the Cabby said the first time we were in PR,we wash you at 7 and dry you at 11.
And yes,those without the cash to escape,they are so screwed. With Trumps new immigration garbage,many of these same people can not take Ferries to other Island's for safety.
genxlib
(5,528 posts)One of the few things they have going for them is the legal right to come here. I suspect that many will come to stay with friends and family while things are bad.
I suspect that it will end up being permanent for many whether they intend for it to be or not. Six months is a lifetime and there may not be that much to go back to.
I would not be surprised if the population in PR is lower in 2-5 years than it was before the storm.
Warpy
(111,267 posts)Most will come to the mainland US but some will likely emigrate to Latin American countries where they won't have to cope with English.
I remember the minor real estate crash in Florida after the 4 hurricanes came through in 2004. The main event happened 4 years later, but neighborhoods had forests of "FSBO" signs in the front yard as people planned to decamp to high ground in the interior of the country.
genxlib
(5,528 posts)But there are plenty of communities in the US (including South Florida) where Spanish is not a hindrance.
Indeed, it is easier to get by in Spanish than it is in English in Miami
Warpy
(111,267 posts)although I don't see too many people going from the lush tropics to the high desert, honestly. They'd finally get to dry off but the lack of green out here would get to most of them, that and this thin stuff we call air.
genxlib
(5,528 posts)And what you just described sounds nice to me. Tired of the heat.
Warpy
(111,267 posts)but if you live at altitude, it's not nearly as bad as Phoenix. It's a dry heat, meaning sweat evaporates almost as soon as it appears, so you can get dehydrated pretty easily if you don't keep on top of it. Weird thing is drinking something with ice in it, there's no condensation on the outside of the glass on dry days, not even a little fog.
Stuart G
(38,427 posts)just like Alaska and Hawaii were before they became states....
maxsolomon
(33,345 posts)about Puerto Rico... can't quite put my finger on it...
B2G
(9,766 posts)Warpy
(111,267 posts)However, his FEMA head has more brains than he does (a shocking appointment, really, he does know what he's doing) and supplies have begun to be brought in, along with helicopters to deliver them to remote areas that have been cut off nad heavy equipment to clear and repair roads. It's happening, but after a disaster on this scale, it just never happens fast enough.
Stuart G
(38,427 posts)Anything and anyone to help our people there...Get the electricity back... asap..
JoeStuckInOH
(544 posts)There's a lot to be said for domestic military presence in the middle of the Atlantic an edge of the arctic. There's not a whole lot to worry about from the Puerto Rico region that can't be accomplished via bases around the Gulf and SE Atlantic.
onethatcares
(16,168 posts)from Little Rock AFB. They are there. They are trying to put things in order with supplies/generators/massive tent barracks/soup kitchens, and all those trivial things like showers for hundreds, toilets that work, all that stuff.
This kind of stuff does not happen overnight. Logistics, logistics, logistics. You don't drop electrical generators out of airplanes on populated areas. It will take some time, but believe it or not, it will come together.