Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico (& the Virgin Islands)

An unmitigated, unnecessary and unconscionable crisis.

Water is rationed. Scabies is spreading. Grocery stores are lined with empty shelves, if they’re open at all. People are fainting as they wait in lines for hours in sweltering heat, because they have to check into a FEMA hub to get small amounts of food and supplies being guarded by armed officers. That’s if they can even make it to FEMA.

This is the jarring reality that greeted registered nurses Alicia Schwartz and Misty Richards when they arrived in Puerto Rico. They didn’t know each other before last week, when they flew into San Juan from New York and Oregon, respectively, to volunteer to help with the humanitarian crisis on the island ravaged by Hurricane Maria. Now they spend every night together, camped out in a vacated baseball stadium locker room with other volunteers trying to aid 3.4 million fellow Americans in their moment of need.

[...]

It’s been more than three weeks since the hurricane hit, and 36 percent of people still don’t have drinking water, according to a government website updated daily. About 84 percent still don’t have power.

[...]

In a phone interview, Schwartz and Richards laughed as HuffPost read aloud statistics from the government site. They say it’s way worse.

[...]

She and Schwartz have spent time in about 20 towns so far, including Humacao, Fajardo, Utuado, Rio Grande and the outskirts of San Juan.

[...]

Schwartz said she’s met people who haven’t had much access to drinking water for weeks, so they keep filling up containers from rivers or mountain streams. But that water isn’t clean and can cause bacterial diseases, including leptospirosis, which is spread by animal urine. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said Wednesday that at least 10 people have suspected cases of leptospirosis, and four deaths may be tied to it.

[...]

Asked what they think is the most important thing the government could do right now to improve conditions, they said FEMA workers should be going to people’s homes and bringing aid to them ― not requiring people to come to them at a hub that many can’t get to. They said they’ve had to push hard to get supplies from FEMA to distribute, and if they get any it’s not nearly enough. They fear water shortages will take their toll.

  HuffPo

Aside from the lack of water, the people are getting scabies and all manner of health problems. This article doesn't mention it, but it just occurred to me that there will very likely (if not certainly) be widespread lung problems in a short time due to inhaling black mold that is without a doubt growing in the buildings on the island now. I know about this debilitating condition personally after having lived in an apartment in Galveston, Texas, after Hurricane Ike, that was infested with black mold on the back sides of drywall, out of sight and unbeknownst to me. By the time I realized what was killing me, my lungs were permanently damaged. Nearly ten years after having moved out of that apartment, I still have bouts of uncontrollable and violent coughing that produces a clear slime which can clog my throat and nasal passages and sometimes cause me to vomit large masses of it (sorry for the picture) if I'm breathing either very moist air or even the slightest dust. Elderly, infants and people with already compromised pulmonary systems would be especially susceptible.

“These people are going to have an epidemic. These people are going to die. A lot of them are,” said Schwartz.

I'm afraid she's right.

Continue reading.