Puerto
Rico devastated
By
Michael Webster, Syndicated Investigative Reporter.
The
number of Puerto Ricans who died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria
is 70 times greater than official estimates released by U.S.
Territory officials, according to a study released by Harvard
University.
After
Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September, causing an
estimated $90 billion in damages, the official death count was 64.
According
to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health study published in
the New England Journal of Medicine the
actual mortality number is closer to 5,000.
The
result agrees with other independent estimates that indicated
the death toll was much higher.
“The
official death count of 64 is a substantial underestimate of the true
burden of mortality after Hurricane Maria,” researchers wrote. “Our
estimate of 4,645 excess deaths from September 20 through December
31, 2017, is likely to be conservative since subsequent adjustments
for survivor bias and household-size distributions increase this
estimate to more than 5000.”
The
study found that the delay or interruption of medical care in the
months after the hurricane was the No. 1 cause of death.
Nearly
9 percent of households in remote areas
said
they were unable to reach 911 services.
Rep.
Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who serves on the House Committee on
Homeland Security, issued a statement calling the Harvard totals
"heartbreaking" and describing the federal response to the
storm as "woefully inadequate."
"The
2018 hurricane season begins this week, and it is critical that we do
not repeat the mistakes of last year," Thompson said. "We
can and must do better for all Americans.”
Only
one hurricane to hit the U.S. has taken more lives than the study
estimates Maria did. The Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900
killed more than 6,000 people.
More
than 1,800 people died when Katrina roared across the U.S. Gulf Coast
as a Category 5 hurricane in 2005. More than 1,500 of those deaths
were in Louisiana.
Researchers
wrote that health care disruption in the U.S. after Hurricane
Katrine, Superstorm Sandy and Hurricanes Harvey and Irma were also a
major contributor to storm-related deaths.
The
Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, has claimed that they
have approved $1 billion in individual assistance grants for
residents of Puerto Rico. More than $500 million has been designated
for repairs to bridges, government buildings and other
structures, which many survives question..FEMA unprepared and lacks
per strategic planning Published
on October 9, 2017 Hurricane
Maria is President Trumps Katrina. The President relies on Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) for all disasters in the United States,
which includes every state and territory. Hurricane Maria was an
extraordinary act of nature that spawned one of the worst human
tragedies in America. It was one of the most destructive natural
disasters in American history, laying waste to Puerto Rico and the
American Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. Puerto Rico is the largest
of American territories. It is an Island 100 miles long and 35 miles
wide, and an area the size of the United Kingdom, with an American
population of 3.5 million people. In the American Virgin Islands, the
storm surge obliterated coastal communities and left thousands
destitute. Puerto Rico and the islands were overwhelmed by 175 miles
per hour winds and waist high flooding in many areas. The storm
knocked out all power and communications on the islands.
As
a result all told, many American citizens lost their lives, over 3
million people suffered without basic essentials like fresh potable
water, food, fuel, and shelter has become so muscle bond and powerful
it can’t seem to get out of its own way in times of large or mega
disasters.
Can
you imagine with no water, toilets don’t flush and they back up
quickly and American citizens had to go out doors in the elements to
relieve themselves for weeks and in most cases without any toilet
paper?
FEMA
had known for more than a week that Maria was likely to hit Puerto
Rico and the American Virgin Islands where there were nearly 4
million people and property at dangerous and live threatening risk.
Much of the suffering is continuing and is expected to in the days,
weeks, months and yes even years after Maria has passed.
This
did not happen in a vacuum; instead, the blame lays squarely with
FEMA – the failure of FEMA to plan, prepare for and respond
aggressively to the storm. These failures were not just conspicuous;
they were pervasive. Among the many factors that contributed to these
failures, long-term warnings went unheeded and FEMA officials
neglected their duties to prepare for a forewarned catastrophe;
FEMA
officials took insufficient actions or made poor decisions in the
days immediately before and after landfall; The systems on which
Puerto Rico and the American Virgin Islands relied on to support
their emergency response efforts failed, and FEMA Administer Brock
Long failed to provide effective leadership. These individual
failures, moreover, occurred against a backdrop of failure, over
time, to develop the capacity for a coordinated, national response to
a truly catastrophic event, whether caused by nature or man-made. The
results were tragic loss of life and human suffering on a massive
scale, and an undermining of confidence in our governments’ ability
to plan, prepare for and respond to national catastrophes.
Effective
response to mass emergencies is a critical role for FEMA and every
level of government. It is a role that requires an unusual level of
planning, coordination and dispatch among governments’ diverse
agencies. FEMA leadership either knew or should have known the
disaster was near at hand and FEMA should have ordered the evacuation
of the islands peoples most at risk. The Government has the authority
to request or if necessary commandeer cruise ships and passenger
airliners.
FEMA
should have used that authority and evacuated the islands
immediately. Having the ships bring in emergency supplies and pickup
passengers to Evac. The same is true with the airlines. Bring in
emergency supplies and bring out American citizens to safety. As soon
as the storm passed FEMA should have had a contingency arrangement
with the military to have them ready to immediately parachute in the
101st and the 82 airborne with medics, Emergency Medical Technicians
and paramedics.
With
FEMA coordinating massive strategic airdrops of water, food and
medical supplies throughout the Islands. FEMA should have immediately
dispatched hospital ships, freighters, and oil and gas tankers. FEMA
must ahead of time included trucks, trailers with drivers as
emergency supplies arrived in the islands ports. Heavy equipment,
bull dozers, frontend loaders, etc. to clear highways and roads
throughout the islands so emergency supplies can reach those that
need it most. FEMA’s contracted heavy equipment operators should be
available at a moments notice to respond to disasters. Communication
lines of contact through per- establishing HAM radio stations
throughout America including all U.S. territories will provide
pertinent and life saving communications when normal communications
are down or unavailable.
The
mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital city San Juan issued a plea for
urgent help as she expressed frustration with the speed at which
rescuers were being sent to work on the hurricane-ravaged U.S.
territory. “This is a big S.O.S for anybody out there,” Carmen
Yulin Cruz told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night, “a plea
for this help, which is right here, to get moving.” Cruz said many
rescuers on the ground had been left without marching orders and said
she was aware of instances where medics had waited for two days
before being briefed.“ The red tape needs to be ripped off as if it
were a band aid,” she said, “there are boots on the ground…but
those boots need to start walking.”
Department
of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine Duke said Wednesday that
search and rescue efforts were complete, and that the focus is now on
distributing supplies, including food, water and gasoline. DHS has
asked the Defense Logistics Agency to help the National Guard troops
on the ground there. AT&T is on island to work on restoring cell
service, she said. The electrical grid is more of a challenge, Duke
said, adding that it's "virtually gone."
Meanwhile
Puerto Ricans rushed to get basic necessities to the island’s most
vulnerable populations, in what Cruz called a "terrifying
humanitarian crisis."In San Juan where only a few FEMA officials
have been spotted and they were only standing around and didn’t
seem to be doing anything to help. In the capital, a group of about
50 volunteers has been mobilizing in residences for the elderly,
finding people in buildings that lacked food, running water, access
to their medicines and were dealing with no electricity in stifling
heat. “Some of these folks were bedridden, some were dehydrated
because they have not been able to get any water or food for a number
of days,” Armando Valdés Prieto, a lawyer and volunteer, told NBC
News by phone of one building he visited. “Some of them didn’t
even remember when they’d last eaten.”
In
buildings with no power, diabetic patients were unable to refrigerate
their insulin. Elevators were also no longer working in some of the
residences, leaving many with limited mobility unable to leave their
apartments, for help. They all said that they had not heard anything
from FEMA.
Following
the terrorist attacks of 9/11, this country went through one of the
most sweeping reorganizations of federal government in history. While
driven primarily by concerns of terrorism, the reorganization was
designed to strengthen our nation’s ability to address the
consequences of both natural and manmade disasters. In at least two
major tests, this reorganized system failed. Katrina and Maria reveal
that much remains to be done.
FEMA
either knew or should have known the dangers and should have taken
preemptive appropriate life saving action. Why FEMA wasn’t better
prepared? The 15000 Fema employees all know the vulnerabilities of
the elderly, the infirmed, and the disabled during and after
disasters. FEMA should have made sure that all hospitals, nursing
homes and other elderly care facilities should have been evacuated
during the week or so before the storm hit.
FEMA’S
director Brock Long has a lengthy back ground in emergency
preparedness, and should have known what was immediately needed,
especially when it comes to helpless and older folks. Emergency
managers around the country wonder why Fema wasn’t more aggressive
in evacuating or at least insisting that their first responders
evacuate venerable and helpless elderly. In the aftermath of the
storm the survivors confronted a multitude of known and unknown
hazards in the storm's wake as best they could with limited
resources. Many cities, county and state officials say FEMA should
have more strategically placed emergency supplies throughout the
America’s. These should be fully stocked warehouses that can
withstand storms, earthquakes and other mega storms, with all
necessary emergency supplies. The building can than be used as a safe
emergency shelter when needed. Every state, county and city in
America should have these types of emergency facilities throughout
their jurisdictions.
According
to some FEMA employees who all wish to remain anonymous fearing
reprisals or retaliations said, “What most people don’t know is
that FEMA is not a 1st responder agency. FEMA trains and finances
through grants to municipalities, counties and state first responders
that can be called on to response to disasters in all parts of the
nation. FEMA is charged with coordinating these efforts. In doing so
FEMA personal are mainly paper pushers and fill out FEMA’s many
forms. Many FEMA employees say there is so much paper work that they
can not do their jobs. FEMA’s unofficial motto is “Cover your ass
and stay in your own lane”.
As
reported by congress in the past FEMA’s response to some major
disasters has been slow, disorganized, and profligate. The agency’s
actions have sometimes been harmful, such as when it has blocked the
relief efforts of other organizations. FEMA’s dismal response to
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 dramatized the agency’s bureaucratic
dysfunction. FEMA’s grants for disaster preparedness are known for
wastefulness. As for the NFIP, its insurance subsidies are spurring
development in flood-prone areas, which in turn is increasing the
damage caused by floods. The NFIP also encourages an expansion of
federal regulatory control over local land-use planning. Federalism
is supposed to undergird America’s system of handling disasters,
particularly natural disasters. State, local, and private
organizations should play the dominant role.
Looking
at American history, many disasters have generated large outpourings
of aid by volunteers, individuals, businesses, and charitable groups.
The Congressional Executive summery went on to further state
“however, growing federal intervention is undermining the role of
private institutions and the states in handling disasters.
Policymakers should reverse course and begin cutting FEMA.
Ultimately, the agency should be closed down by ending aid programs
for disaster preparedness and relief and privatizing flood
insurance”.
After
the less than stellar performance of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) during the hurricane Sandy natural disaster, Americans
may well wonder if any federal agency can be counted on to
successfully accomplish its designated mission efficiently.
Redundancy, and mismanagement (e.g. the Government Services
Administration), have appreciable inefficiencies, and also suffer
from funding issues. Citizens can legitimately question the
federal government's ability to successfully accomplish even simple
tasks on time and on budget.
FEMA,
however, was a department enacted with a high purpose: to address the
twin concerns of civil defense and disaster mitigation. Specifically,
its two core missions are, (1) to improve the federal government's
ability to survive a foreign attack (e.g. a nuclear war), and (2) to
assist state and local authorities in responding to natural
disasters.
From
its inception FEMA has been a study in evolution of purpose,
organization, usage, and politicization. FEMA has often attracted
negative attention during natural disasters, attention that triggered
in-depth investigations, initiated mission adjustments, caused
revisions in organizational structure, and improvements in strategies
and tactics. Each change has further exacerbated FEMA's disaster
resolution problems. The changes have also increased its
politicization, its use of patronage as a reward, and the
distribution of "pork barrel" funds to cronies of the
sitting presidents.
FEMA
was created in March of 1979 by executive order under President Jimmy
Carter to bring together a complicated array of overlapping
jurisdictions in three governmental agencies: Commerce, Housing, and
Urban Development, along with the executive branch. In theory, the
objective was to rationalize organizational structure and
streamline decision making to enhance implementation of the two core
missions. Prior to FEMA's formation, natural disasters were dealt
with in a one-off manner with legislation enacted to deal with each
individual crisis up and until roughly 1930. n 1932 President Herbert
Hoover started the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). The RFC
was initially designed to lend money to banks to energize economic
activity and to distribute federal funds (often in the form of
outright grants) in the wake of disasters. From this tiny beginning
the RFC grew and matured into the agency now known as FEMA. Yet major
natural disasters, beginning with hurricane Andrew in 1992, the South
Florida hurricanes of 2004, and hurricane Katrina in 2005, exposed
material deficiencies in FEMA's response capabilities. In fairness, a
number of the criticisms cited were a function of a misinterpretation
of FEMA's charter and mission. FEMA's core mission was to "assist
local and state agencies" in responding to natural disasters,
not to function as the primary or secondary responder. Nevertheless,
FEMA clearly was not structured to deal with mega disasters and an
in-depth review after Katrina in 2005 exposed appreciable
shortcomings, shortcomings that had already been revealed in at least
three assessments subsequent to hurricane Andrew in 1992.
These
deficiencies included: Lack of fast-reaction forces which could be
quickly added to the trained personnel already on staff in each of
FEMA's 11 preparedness districts (Regions) throughout the country
that respond to area disasters. No workable budget. FEMA's budget
allocates 60% of the available funds to each state equally, not on a
risk basis, therefore leaving a funding amount too small to deal with
a specific major problem in any jurisdiction. No ability or
technology to communicate within and/or outside the area of
destruction during and immediately after an incident. Lack of clear,
predetermined lines of communication between local and state
governments and the specific individuals representing each of the
responding entities. No ability and necessary equipment/supplies to
preposition in advance of a pending disaster... water, generators,
fuel, food, blankets, temporary shelter etc... And, if you will, a
super group deployable at ground zero of the disaster area to enhance
the district team's supply capabilities. No clear standards for
interacting with the victims of a tragedy and a tested methodology
for setting realistic expectations regarding future actions and
interactions.
During
2003, FEMA was incorporated into the newly created Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), therefore losing its independence and adding
complexity. Its organizational structure became so complicated that
only a Ph.D in structural engineering could understand the lines of
authority. Additionally, FEMA never received the funding
necessary to prepare for catastrophic disasters and meet its daunting
responsibilities. Prior to the founding of DHS, FEMA had begun to
morph into a highly politicized entity, since it retained the ability
to grant large sums of funding (read pork) to state and local
governments (and cronies), and its staffing was largely by
appointment at both the federal and district levels. Funding to
states and local entities followed the number of disaster
declarations cited by the administration in power. During the George
H.W. Bush years an average of 43.5 declarations per year were made.
Under Bill Clinton the number grew to 89.5 per year, then to 129.6
per year under George W. Bush and finally to an incredible 153.0 per
year (thru 2011) under Barack Obama. In addition, from March 2009 to
October 2011, FEMA employment grew from 4,400 to 7,470, an increase
of 70%. (The Obama record is astonishing since within this time-frame
no terrorist attacks occurred, no Category 2 or higher hurricanes
happened, and no earthquake with a force of 6.0 or more on the
Richter scale struck. FEMA during the same period seems to have been
utilized as a tool or mechanism to build reelection support.)
A New
York Times report
on February 6 revealed that a FEMA contract that called for 30
million meals to be sent to Puerto Rico resulted in only 50,000 meals
actually delivered. The contract was awarded to a company with no
history in large-scale disaster relief, the latest in a string of
poor contracting decisions in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s
devastation. Despite this, cable and broadcast news networks almost
completely ignored the story, with only MSNBC and CBS even mentioning
it, albeit briefly.
According to
the Times’ report,
FEMA awarded an $156 million contract to a company called Tribute
Contracting to provide 30 million meals to Puerto Ricans in the
aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Tiffany Brown, the owner and only
employee of the company, had “no experience in large-scale disaster
relief,” and had “at least five canceled government contracts in
her past.” The Times notes
that “by the time 18.5 million meals were due, Tribute had
delivered only 50,000,” and the ones that were delivered were
packaged incorrectly. FEMA eventually terminated the contract with
Tribute.
Months after
Hurricane Maria made
landfall in
September, Puerto Rico remains in desperate need of
assistance. Hundreds
of thousands of
Puerto Ricans still lacked electricity as of January 29, 20 percent
of the island is still without running
water, and there are countless infrastructural
problems that have yet to be fixed. Puerto Rico’s recovery has been
hampered by governmental
incompetence,
as well as several contractswith
ill-equipped companies, one of
which was also made by FEMA.
Cable
and broadcast news shows failed to adequately cover the latest
setback for Puerto Rico. According to a Media
Matters analysis,
only MSNBC’s Morning
Joe and
CBS
This Morning mentioned
FEMA’s botched meals contract. CBS
This Morning spent
less than 30 seconds on the story, simply doing a quick headline read
about theTimes’
article. Morning
Joe mentioned
the story three times during its February 7 edition, devoting 3
minutes and 14 seconds to the topic. There was no coverage of the
story on CNN, ABC, NBC, or Fox News.
After
the founding of DHS and its detailed reviews of FEMA, after the
Katrina FEMA collapse and many more reviews and adjustments, after
Irene, a $20 billion disaster, and further investigations, FEMA has
shown little or no improvement in dealing with the Sandy recovery.
Events suggest that two conclusions can be drawn: first, the
inadequacies described above and identified per-Katrina remain
embedded in the organization, and second, that the agency has become
a corrupt, pork-barrel delivery vehicle for the administration in
power. Like so many other federal agencies and departments, FEMA
remains incapable of satisfying its core missions. Americans have
every right to be cynical, but also have an obligation to demand the
elimination of agencies and/or departments that can no longer perform
as designed and promised. A possible solution would be a return to
one-off funding of each disaster by Congress as they occur or
alternately FEMA should ask the President to per-declare disasters
where possible.
Sources:
Congress
of the United States of America, REPORT OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON
HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL Harvard
T.H. Chan School of Public Health study published
The
New England Journal of Medicine
www.lagunajournal.comhttp://www.americanthinker.com/2012/11/another_federal_disaster.html#ixzz4shnuu0WN
