Disaster Report
by Deborah Quirke (Western Australia) and Jack Sabados (Puerto Rico).
Wednesday 27 September 2017. 03:30
The people are exhausted. They are worn. They are tired. They are getting hungry. The region has been devastated. Other than satellite communication, phone communication to the rest of the world is non-existent. As far as they are concerned, the world nearly came to an end and they have been left to clean up the mess with a few, worn garden tools. The rescue teams are made up of surviving citizens…some of them haven’t got a roof on their own homes to stop heaven from weeping on their beds. Its overcast and humid. To add to the misery, you can’t even flush your toilet until you can find water to fill it.
Hurricane Maria smashed the Caribbean on the morning of Tuesday September 21st (Tuesday evening West Australian time) and she’s still blowing.
The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) forecasts that Maria will continue northward, parallel to the U.S East coast for the next 36 hours.
With her, storm surges and flooding is expected. Rip current conditions and dangerous surf are predicted.
Chicago Tribune reporter, Ricardo Russell, writes “this is a national disaster”. This is an understatement.
The American Public Power Association’s ‘Update on help for hurricane - ravaged Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands’ states that Virgin Island crews and WesternArea Power Administration have been working to repair the power transmission system, having arrived on Monday and Wednesday at the Virgin Islands.
On Friday 22nd, the Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York accompanied 2 drone pilots with drones to film damage to assess the Puerto Rican power system so that measures can be taken to reinstate electricity to the devastated country.
Jeannine Anderson made a disaster report on the disaster response for the American Public Power Association.
She quotes Mike Hyland on a conference call as stating, “It has been a struggle understanding exactly what is going on.”
Before mutual aid workers can be sent in, they have to have “transport arrangements, housing, food and security.”
Fuel supplies are exhausted. Housing has been demolished by Maria. Food is depleted. The country is about to be famished. There is hardly any way to acquire any food…it is becoming scarce. President Trump announced today that he is only planning to see and assess the damage in Puerto Rico next week.
The roads are not being cleared by teams of council workers, they are being cleared by the residents and their next-door neighbours.
Using a satellite-linked connection, I was able to ask 36 year old Puerto Rican resident, Jack Sabados, if he had water, knowing that the water supply had been cut off. We’d discussed solar cooking the night before.
“Have you got water?” I asked.
He responded, “Yes.”
I asked, “Running tap water or bottles”.
“Bottles, he replied.
I said, “You didn’t tell me.”
“Can I relay any messages for you to an ambassador or get a message to anyone that needs to contact family?”
silence
“How much food have you got?” I asked, concerned.
“I have yet for four days,”
Our Satellite-based internet connection got cut off.
