tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/caribbean-hurricane-recovery-49746/articlesCaribbean hurricane recovery – The Conversation2018-07-17T10:48:35Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/964332018-07-17T10:48:35Z2018-07-17T10:48:35ZHarvesting rain could help Caribbean countries keep the water on after hurricanes<p>After hurricanes Maria and Irma hit last September, it took <a href="https://www.colorlines.com/articles/puerto-ricos-water-system-almost-fully-operational">Puerto Rico until this June</a> to restore water to most residents. Those living in <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/mekela-panditharatne/small-water-systems-puerto-rico-badly-affected-maria">rural and hard-to-reach mountainous areas</a> waited the longest. </p>
<p>In Dominica, where 80 percent of the population <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/dominica/dominica-impact-hurricane-maria-disaster-profile-january-2018">was hit hard by Hurricane Maria</a>, water service was not restored to the most remote areas until April 2018, several months after the storm.</p>
<p>Now, another <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-hurricane-season-jeopardizes-caribbean-recovery-5-essential-reads-97588">hurricane season is already underway</a> in the Caribbean. </p>
<p>Our research on <a href="http://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/going-green/2017/11/19/going-green--rainwater-harvesting">rainwater harvesting</a> – a low-cost, low-tech way to collect and store rainwater – suggests this technique could be deployed across the Caribbean to improve these communities’ access to water both after storms and in everyday life.</p>
<h2>Limited water access in the Caribbean</h2>
<p>Even before hurricanes Maria and Irma hit last September, some Caribbean islands were unable to provide reliable <a href="http://www.globalwaterforum.org/2018/02/11/an-overview-of-the-challenges-facing-iwrm-in-the-caribbean/">clean water for drinking and washing</a> to all residents.</p>
<p>On many islands, the government utility-run piped water system either does not reach remote <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiPtezVpsrbAhWK7VMKHW5PA2wQFggzMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.455.5717%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&usg=AOvVaw2M0WC18tffmycElhiBJP-Z">rural areas and other isolated areas</a> or costs too much for <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0ahUKEwij967JgtLbAhVl3IMKHW0JBU4QFgg5MAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2F2073-4441%2F6%2F5%2F1187%2Fpdf&usg=AOvVaw0IBn19g2I59r4R-CmniQaf">low-income households</a>.</p>
<p>Traditionally, residents in such places have gotten their water from underground sources, such as springs, wells or in the upriver – and thus presumably clean – section of streams.</p>
<p>Today, water pollution from a combination of domestic sewage, agriculture, food and beverage processing and manufacturing <a href="https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/shows.php?shows=0_vgk7w6qn">makes most groundwater unsafe to drink</a>. Up to <a href="http://www.gefcrew.org/index.php/wastewater-management-in-the-wider-caribbean-region-wcr">85 percent</a> of wastewater across the Caribbean is now discharged, <a href="https://www.wateronline.com/doc/thousands-puerto-ricans-waiting-clean-water-0001">untreated</a>, into local rivers, streams, lakes or <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/puerto-rico-hurricane-water-contamination">straight into the ocean</a>, according to the Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management, an intergovernmental agency. </p>
<h2>Collecting, cleaning and storing rainwater</h2>
<p>Rainwater harvesting is an alternative way to obtain and store fresh water. </p>
<p>By collecting precipitation that naturally falls on rooftops and sidewalks in a tank, this process turns water that would normally wash away into a resource for cooking, laundry, irrigation and even water-intensive manufacturing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227839/original/file-20180716-44082-11jvhpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227839/original/file-20180716-44082-11jvhpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227839/original/file-20180716-44082-11jvhpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227839/original/file-20180716-44082-11jvhpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227839/original/file-20180716-44082-11jvhpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227839/original/file-20180716-44082-11jvhpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227839/original/file-20180716-44082-11jvhpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A pipe attached from a building’s gutter to the tank collects rainwater that would otherwise go to waste.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/3171503489">Sustainable Sanitation Alliance/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rainwater, especially during the hurricane season, is free and plentiful in the Caribbean. Dominica can get up to <a href="http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportal/index.cfm?page=country_historical_climate&ThisCCode=DMA">15 inches of rain a month</a> in the fall. Puerto Rico averages <a href="http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportal/index.cfm?page=country_historical_climate&ThisCCode=PRI">8 to 9 inches</a> of rainfall a month from May to November.</p>
<p>Once rainwater is stored in the tank – which can range from 200 gallons for household use to 600,000 gallons in an industrial setting – pipes are connected from the tank into people’s homes, gardens, or wherever they need it. </p>
<p>The tanks must come equipped with a built-in filter to clean the collected rainwater, which may pick up various kinds of molds, bacteria and protozoa when it comes into contact with a rooftop. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227835/original/file-20180716-44097-1lp8bcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227835/original/file-20180716-44097-1lp8bcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227835/original/file-20180716-44097-1lp8bcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227835/original/file-20180716-44097-1lp8bcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227835/original/file-20180716-44097-1lp8bcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1269&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227835/original/file-20180716-44097-1lp8bcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227835/original/file-20180716-44097-1lp8bcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1269&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A biosand filter naturally purifies rainwater.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">O. Horizons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The tank we’re developing for Caribbean islands uses a <a href="https://sswm.info/sswm-university-course/module-6-disaster-situations-planning-and-preparedness/further-resources-0/biosand-filter">biosand filter</a> – a container layered with gravel and sand, about the size of a small cooler – to purify rainwater. </p>
<p>As water travels through the sand and gravel bed, pathogens and particles are filtered out. </p>
<p>This process occurs either mechanically – solids get trapped in the gravel and sand – or by predation: Good microorganisms, which naturally live in the sand, consume bad ones. </p>
<p>Biosand filters remove up to <a href="https://www.cawst.org/services/expertise/biosand-filter/more-information">96.5 percent of bacteria and up to 99 percent of viruses</a> from rainwater. By the time the kitchen tap is turned on, the water is clean and safe for drinking. </p>
<h2>Rainwater serves the world</h2>
<p>Rainwater collection, long used to serve livestock and farmers in rural areas worldwide, is an increasingly common response to water shortages in the developing world. </p>
<p>From 2005 to 2015, the United Nations’ “<a href="http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/">Water for Life</a>” program actively promoted rainwater harvesting as a potential solution to global water shortages. According to one 2006 <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2006/11/199382-rainwater-harvesting-could-end-much-africas-water-shortage-un-reports">U.N. report</a>, for example, rainfall across the African continent is “more than adequate to meet the needs of the current population several times over.” </p>
<p>The governments of Cambodia, <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2014/0815/Bob-Keesee-s-rain-catchers-bring-clean-water-to-Haiti-s-poorest">Haiti</a>, <a href="http://www.china.org.cn/china/2010-06/28/content_20371108.htm">China</a>, <a href="http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/Publications/Urban/UrbanEnv-2/9.asp">Thailand</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/indias-wells-are-running-dry-fast-78372">India</a> and <a href="http://genderandwater.org/en/gwa-products/knowledge-on-gender-and-water/articles-in-source-bulletin/brazil-rainwater-harvesting-in-semi-arid-region-helps-women-1/brazil-rainwater-harvesting-in-semi-arid-region-helps-women">Brazil</a> have all deployed rainwater harvesting systems for households and industries to ease rural droughts and <a href="https://theconversation.com/megacity-drought-sao-paulo-withers-after-dry-wet-season-42799">urban water shortages</a> in recent decades.</p>
<p>Brazil, too, has made remarkable strides in utilizing rainwater to make citizens’ lives easier. </p>
<p>In 2003, a public-private partnership called Articulação do Semi-Árido Brasileiro launched “<a href="http://dssbr.org/site/experiencias/programa-um-milhao-de-cisternas-leva-agua-e-melhora-qualidade-de-vida-da-populacao-do-semiarido-brasileiro/">1 Million Cisterns</a>,” an initiative aimed at providing 1 million households located in drought-prone parts of the South American country with easy-to-access harvested rainwater. </p>
<p>Semi-arid regions like Pernambuco, a state in the country’s northeast, can go seven to nine months without rainfall. A 4,500-gallon tank – roughly the size and weight of a Greyhound bus – collects enough water during the rainy season that a family of four can live off it for <a href="https://futurepolicy.org/healthy-ecosystems/biodiversity-and-soil/brazil-cisterns-programme/">three to four months during drier weather</a>. </p>
<p>By 2014, the program had <a href="https://futurepolicy.org/healthy-ecosystems/biodiversity-and-soil/brazil-cisterns-programme/">reached its goal</a> of serving 1 million Brazilian households. </p>
<h2>Challenges in the Caribbean</h2>
<p>Despite these global successes, very few Caribbean countries have taken action to <a href="http://www.caribbeanrainwaterharvestingtoolbox.com/about2.htm">implement rainwater harvesting</a> on any significant scale.</p>
<p>In Haiti’s Artibonite Valley, biosand filters are used to purify the water obtained from <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16889468">shallow ground wells</a>. And the United Nations has helped <a href="http://www.jm.undp.org/content/jamaica/en/home/operations/projects/poverty_reduction/waterharvestingproject.html">develop rainwater harvesting infrastructure in southern Jamaica</a> to facilitate some communities’ resiliency to climate change. </p>
<p>We believe <a href="https://www.gwp.org/en/learn/KNOWLEDGE_RESOURCES/Case_Studies/Americas--Caribbean/Mainstreaming-Rainwater-Harvesting-to-Build-Climate-Resilience-in-the-Caribbean-Water-Sector-475/">rainwater harvesting can work for more of the Caribbean</a>. The funding model and equipment just need to be designed to meet the islands’ special needs. </p>
<p>Most rainwater storage tanks in big international programs are made from fiberglass, other plastic or welded steel. Those materials can be expensive for families operating on a limited budget, as many rural Caribbean households do. </p>
<h2>Tanks made of cement and chicken wire</h2>
<p>Our design is made of <a href="https://theconstructor.org/concrete/ferrocement-in-construction/1156/">ferrocement</a> – a kind of thin, reinforced concrete widely used <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/ldquoFerro-cement-ideal-for-low-cost-construction-in-developing-countriesrdquo/article16333099.ece">to collect rainwater in India</a>. </p>
<p>This construction style is affordable – especially if subsidized by small government loans – because it uses materials readily available in the Caribbean: cement, sand and water mixed together, reinforced with chicken wire and steel bars. </p>
<p>The cement acts as a super glue, binding the particles of sand, rebar and chicken wire together into one strong, compact mass. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219899/original/file-20180522-51095-crzwgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219899/original/file-20180522-51095-crzwgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219899/original/file-20180522-51095-crzwgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219899/original/file-20180522-51095-crzwgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219899/original/file-20180522-51095-crzwgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219899/original/file-20180522-51095-crzwgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219899/original/file-20180522-51095-crzwgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ferrocement mix being prepared in Grenada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Farah Nibbs</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This cheap, durable method is ideally suited for the Caribbean environment, too. The island region is susceptible to not just <a href="http://www.oas.org/pgdm/document/BITC/papers/gibbs/gibbs_02.htm">hurricanes but also earthquakes</a>. The steel bars can withstand the shaking of an earthquake, while the cement is resistant to high winds. </p>
<p>During particularly powerful hurricanes, Caribbean islands may even get so much rain that it overwhelms their <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/antigua-and-barbuda/after-hurricane-overview-damage-irma-and-maria-left-behind">aging water infrastructure</a>, which simply cannot handle the volume and velocity of storm runoff. When people have cisterns, that excess rain goes to good use.</p>
<p>We have now tested a model ferrocement rainwater harvesting system on the island of Grenada. With some tweaks to improve ease of construction – which are now underway – we believe it could serve island residents well. </p>
<p>The government there has expressed interest in introducing rainwater harvesting to increase the reliability and <a href="http://carpha.org/saintlucia/Rain/Rainwater%20Harvesting%20Toolbox/nrwhprog.htm">accessibility of its municipal water systems</a>. </p>
<p>Our next stop for testing the ferrocement-and-biosand system is Dominica. And after that, we hope, the rest of the Caribbean will catch on.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96433/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many countries collect and store rainwater for use during drought or dry seasons. But this technique is rarely used in the Caribbean, where hurricanes can leave people without water for months.Cecilia A. Green, Associate Professor of Sociology, Syracuse UniversityFarah Nibbs, Graduate Student- Environmental Engineering : Sustainable Construction Management, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and ForestryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/968322018-06-05T10:47:13Z2018-06-05T10:47:13ZHow corruption slows disaster recovery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221602/original/file-20180604-175407-1ndultk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hurricane Irma demolished Sint Maarten in the Dutch Antilles, in September 2017. The island has yet to recover.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Carlos Giusti</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2018 hurricane season <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-hurricane-season-jeopardizes-caribbean-recovery-5-essential-reads-97588">has now begun</a>. It’s a good time to think about lessons learned from last year’s historic storms.</p>
<p>Hurricane Irma, which raged across the Caribbean from late August to early September 2017, was the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/st-maarten-is-still-striving-to-recover-from-its-worst-hurricane-in-a-century">strongest</a> Atlantic hurricane since record keeping began in 1851. </p>
<p>In total last year, six major storms were Category 3 or greater, making 2017 the <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/media-release/extremely-active-2017-atlantic-hurricane-season-finally-ends">seventh</a> most-active year in history and the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-26/the-most-expensive-u-s-hurricane-season-ever-by-the-numbers">costliest</a> ever.</p>
<p>The Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology, a German research institute, <a href="http://www.cedim.de/download/FDA_Irma_2017_Report1.pdf">estimates</a> that reconstruction on the islands hit by Irma alone will cost at least US$10 billion. </p>
<p>But having recently completed a monthslong <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__ssrn.com_abstract-3D3179203&d=DwICaQ&c=yHlS04HhBraes5BQ9ueu5zKhE7rtNXt_d012z2PA6ws&r=JL_hOjIncQlUVNajGAoHFV3kgPvCLpsM-bmoVVK9u2I&m=tp4XNNzkLGC2Y98QQIysiMzzMro4yr2Cacp2arCMjRg&s=LaE7wOprzArY1OxuvsEBB1AOlsZfgGwj-CmEtbVrnJo&e=">human rights analysis</a> on the aftermath of last year’s deadly hurricane season, we believe that’s a low estimate. Our research identified another cost contributing to the challenges of rebuilding: corruption.</p>
<h2>Devastation in Sint Maarten</h2>
<p>We visited the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten, which is part of the Netherlands, in February. Hurricane Irma’s destruction was still apparent. </p>
<p>Massive trees had been ripped out of the ground and toppled, their roots exposed. Vehicles and debris were scattered across the landscape. Marinas, a key infrastructure for this 14-square-mile island, were left in ruins, littered with the stranded remnants of boats that had smashed onto shore. </p>
<p>Amid such chaos, cleanup and rebuilding after an extreme weather event becomes urgent. And urgency, we found, breeds opportunities for corruption. </p>
<p>Government malfeasance is already <a href="https://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/sint-maarten">prevalent</a> in Sint Maarten, which has relatively lax regulation and a cash-fueled economy driven by tourism and <a href="https://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/sint-maarten">casinos</a>. The <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3179203">influx of reconstruction funds</a> after Hurricane Irma created new opportunities for graft. </p>
<p>Local authorities told us, for example, that the initial days of debris clean-up in Sint Maarten involved over 1,000 workers, paid hourly, but only eight supervisors. Our interviews indicate that the scant oversight enabled fraudulent inflation of reported hours, wasting vital government funds on work left undone. </p>
<p>The Dutch government, which offered Sint Maarten $641 million in relief after Hurricane Irma, was concerned enough about misappropriation that it <a href="https://www.government.nl/documents/letters/2017/10/13/letter-from-minister-ronald-plasterk-to-the-government-of-st-maarten-concerning-the-conditions-relating-to-the-netherlands%E2%80%99-contribution-to-st-maarten%E2%80%99s-reconstruction">insisted on certain anti-corruption safeguards</a>. They included establishing an “integrity chamber” to receive and investigate complaints about corruption on the island. </p>
<p>Sint Maarten’s prime minister refused to accept the funds under such conditions and, in November, <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/dutch-saint-martins-leader-quits-over-hurricane-irma-aid-controversy/a-41525021">resigned in the ensuing scandal</a>. </p>
<p>Eventually, Sint Maarten’s government bowed to Dutch demands. The first installment of relief funding, <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2018/04/16/the-netherlands-and-world-bank-sign-us580-million-agreement-for-sint-maartens-recovery-and-resilience-post-irma">managed by the World Bank</a>, was released to the island in April, seven months after the hurricane devastated the island. </p>
<h2>Corruption kills</h2>
<p>Corruption in Puerto Rico may have actually contributed Hurricane Maria’s high death toll. While the government’s official tally is 64 storm-related deaths, a recent <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1803972">study</a> puts the figure closer to 4,600 – in part because a prolonged blackout <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1803972">prevented</a> many Puerto Ricans with chronic illness from getting necessary medical care.</p>
<p>After Hurricane Maria knocked out the island’s electric grid, the island’s power authority awarded a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/small-montana-firm-lands-puerto-ricos-biggest-contract-to-get-the-power-back-on/2017/10/23/31cccc3e-b4d6-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.6216df135649">$300 million contract</a> to the Montana-based company Whitefish Energy to repair it. The <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/in-puerto-rico-no-room-for-corruption-in-an-era-of_us_59fb443ae4b09afdf01c40ed">bidding process soon came under suspicion</a> because it was clear that the company, which had just two employees, could never complete the task. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221607/original/file-20180604-175438-xw1u0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221607/original/file-20180604-175438-xw1u0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221607/original/file-20180604-175438-xw1u0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221607/original/file-20180604-175438-xw1u0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221607/original/file-20180604-175438-xw1u0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221607/original/file-20180604-175438-xw1u0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221607/original/file-20180604-175438-xw1u0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Puerto Rico resident tries to reconnect his own electricity after Hurricane Maria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources <a href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2017-10-26_bishop_westerman_to_ramos_prepa_re_emsa.pdf">opened</a> an investigation and the Whitefish contract was <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40489546/puerto-rico-canceled-the-whitefish-contract-but-it-still-needs-help-with-its-electrical-grid">canceled</a>.</p>
<p>After $3.8 billion in federal aid for the power grid, some 11,000 Puerto Ricans are <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/puerto-rico-hurricane-season-maria-without-power-electricity-us-weather-a8379646.html">still without electricity</a>. Officials <a href="http://time.com/5296589/puerto-rico-power-grid-fragile-storm/">say</a> even a mild hurricane could disable the grid again. </p>
<p>We believe progress would have been quicker if Puerto Rico’s first big energy contract had been correctly executed. After a disaster, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/469153a">corruption can literally kill</a>.</p>
<h2>Unaccountable donors</h2>
<p>In the Caribbean, a developing region where some governments may be too <a href="http://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sp091913a">small and cash-strapped</a> to lead a wholesale recovery effort, corruption after natural disasters may be compounded by a lack of transparency among the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20949624">international donors and humanitarian organizations</a> that rush in to help.</p>
<p>After Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, for example, an <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/01/12/376138864/5-years-after-haiti-s-earthquake-why-aren-t-things-better">unprecedented</a> $13.5 billion in aid money flowed onto the island – more than <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/dpr.12321">double</a> its gross domestic product. </p>
<p>Much of this money never made it to those who needed it. A 2011 study by U.S. researchers <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/dpr.12321">found</a> that only 44 percent of Haitians affected by the quake received any aid at all. </p>
<p>According to a comprehensive <a href="https://www.cgdev.org/publication/haiti-where-has-all-money-gone">analysis</a> by the Center for Global Development, Haiti’s government received just 1 percent of humanitarian aid and perhaps 15 to 20 percent of longer-term relief aid. The rest was channeled to charities and nongovernmental organizations, whose resulting projects were in many cases impossible to identify.</p>
<h2>Time to get ready</h2>
<p>The United Nations, which also offers valuable guidance on fighting corruption in its 2005 <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption/tools_and_publications/UN-convention-against-corruption.html">Convention Against Corruption</a>, will soon launch an <a href="http://sdg.iisd.org/events/launch-of-un-global-compact-action-platform-for-sustainable-ocean-business/">anti-corruption initiative</a> offering tools catered toward small island developing states like those in the Caribbean. </p>
<p>Our work also identified several ways that Caribbean countries could limit how corruption harms future hurricane recoveries.</p>
<p>Better disaster preparedness – including building code compliance, zoning enforcement in exposed locations like beaches and hillsides and transparent, well-resourced disaster-response teams – would <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Caribbean-Regional-Disaster-Response.pdf">reduce</a> turmoil after extreme weather. That, in turn, would minimize opportunities for the kinds of chaos-related corruption we documented across the Caribbean. </p>
<p>Island nations might also consider banding together for the purpose of <a href="https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/in_the_wake_of_disaster_preventing_corruption_in_tsunami_relief_and_reconst">receiving, dispersing and tracking relief funds</a>, as Indian Ocean nations did after the region’s 2004 tsunami. </p>
<p>The European Commission created a similar task force in 2013. Today, European countries aren’t left scrambling to respond when disaster strikes. Instead, the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/echo/what/civil-protection/emergency-response-coordination-centre-ercc_en">Emergency Response Coordination Center</a> monitors the disaster, continually poised to offer expertise, relief funding and first responders as needed across the continent.</p>
<p>Scientists <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/media-release/forecasters-predict-near-or-above-normal-2018-atlantic-hurricane-season">predict</a> that hurricane activity this year will likely be above average <a href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-climate/extreme-weather">due to climate change</a>. For the Caribbean, preparing for extreme weather means being ready for the human-made disasters that can follow it, too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96832/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Corruption has made hurricane Caribbean countries’ recovery less efficient and more expensive, new research shows. Misuse of funds may also trigger more disaster-related deaths.Juliet S. Sorensen, Harry R. Horrow Professor in International Law, Northwestern UniversityElise Meyer, Schuette Clinical Fellow in Health and Human Rights, Northwestern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/975882018-06-01T15:27:28Z2018-06-01T15:27:28ZNew hurricane season jeopardizes Caribbean recovery: 5 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221362/original/file-20180601-142102-s6r3hk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">RTX O L</span> </figcaption></figure><p>June 1 marks the beginning of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season – an ominous date for the Caribbean region, where many countries have not yet recovered from last year’s catastrophes. </p>
<p>In 2017, six storms of Category 3 or higher – with winds exceeding 111 mph – produced devastating human, environmental and financial damage across the southern United States and the Caribbean. Puerto Rico, Dominica, Barbuda and some U.S. Virgin Islands were all but destroyed. </p>
<p>The hurricanes are estimated to have <a href="https://www.upi.com/Hurricane-Maria-caused-90B-of-damage-in-Puerto-Rico/6421523309427/">cost the region up to US$95.5 billion</a> – $90 billion in Puerto Rico and <a href="https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/43446/1/FOCUSIssue1Jan-Mar2018.pdf">$5.4 billion in other Caribbean nations</a>. </p>
<p>We’ve compiled the expert analysis you need to follow this important story. </p>
<h2>1. Tragedy in Puerto Rico</h2>
<p>Puerto Rico remains crippled by last year’s hurricane season. Hurricane Maria knocked out the island’s power grid in September, leaving 3.3 million people scrambling to find food, clean water and medical care. </p>
<p>“The federal recovery effort in this American territory has been under fire nearly every day since then,” write Birthe Anders and Vincenzo Bollettino, who study <a href="https://theconversation.com/military-mission-in-puerto-rico-after-hurricane-was-better-than-critics-say-but-suffered-flaws-91558">the role of the armed forces in disaster relief at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative</a>. “Critics note that hurricane relief in Texas and Florida last year was quicker, more robust and more effective.”</p>
<p>The U.S. military’s deployment to the Caribbean last fall – which included 17,000 troops, 82 aircraft and three combat support hospitals – was “better than critics say but suffered flaws,” they say. </p>
<p>A slow start left some Puerto Ricans stranded without aid for weeks, and the military’s coordination with FEMA was imperfect. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The military provided life-saving medical attention in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria left many hospitals without power.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/YhMk5H">Department of Defense</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But interviews with Department of Defense responders suggest that the military’s biggest challenge was the “sheer scale of the damage.” </p>
<p>“Puerto Rico’s government was completely overwhelmed,” the researchers found, “making it very difficult for FEMA and the U.S. military to get a clear picture of what was most urgently required – and where.”</p>
<p>And since international humanitarian aid organizations do not work in the U.S., Anders and Bollettino say, “there simply was not enough manpower to get the job done.”</p>
<h2>2. Thousands left dead</h2>
<p>As a result, Puerto Ricans have continued to die from storm-related causes since Hurricane Maria. </p>
<p>As of Dec. 29, Puerto Rico’s Department of Public Safety had certified 64 deaths due to Hurricane Maria. But Penn State demographer Alexis R. Santos-Lozada was part of a research team that <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-puerto-ricos-death-toll-from-hurricane-maria-is-so-much-higher-than-officials-thought-97488">contradicted the government’s official tally</a> in November, saying it was a dramatic undercount.</p>
<p>“We compared the number of deaths in September and October last year with data from the same period of time in 2010 to 2016 and concluded that deaths exceeded historical ranges by at least 1,000,” he explains. </p>
<p>A new study has now placed Hurricane Maria’s total death toll at 4,645. Thousands of “indirect” storm deaths occurred from the interruption of medical care for chronic conditions such as kidney disease and diabetes. </p>
<p><iframe id="T0ZRy" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/T0ZRy/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>3. Disaster as opportunity</h2>
<p>While governments struggle to pay recovery’s price tag, some foreign corporations <a href="https://theconversation.com/rebuilding-the-caribbean-will-be-pricey-but-some-are-vying-to-finance-its-recovery-87482">see helping as a business opportunity</a>. </p>
<p>After Hurricane Maria, the electric-car company Tesla sent hundreds of its Powerwall battery systems to Puerto Rico. These “could be paired with solar panels to get the electric grid up and running again,” says energy researcher Masao Ashtine of the University of the West Indies. </p>
<p>By October, Tesla technology was powering the San Juan Children’s Hospital.</p>
<p>The company hopes its work in Puerto Rico will open doors for new investment in the region, Ashtine says.</p>
<p>“Puerto Rico isn’t the only Caribbean country with an inadequate energy grid,” he says. “Across the region, outmoded system designs that rely on a few plants for power production make complete blackouts much higher than grid systems that have an even distribution of power generation.” </p>
<p>That makes them prone to crippling power outages in severe weather. </p>
<h2>4. Rebuilding better</h2>
<p>Puerto Rico lost all electricity again on April 18, seven months after Hurricane Maria first knocked out its power grid. Officials say even a minor storm with 74 mph wind speeds could disable the grid again this year.</p>
<p>Caribbean policymakers are looking for “<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-may-scuttle-caribbeans-post-hurricane-plans-for-a-renewable-energy-boom-94235">fast ways to strengthen their power grids</a>” with more durable energy sources, says Ashtine. But, in a Caribbean of increasing weather extremes, green energy systems are themselves vulnerable.</p>
<p>“Modern wind turbines, for example, were first engineered in Europe – a region that rarely experiences Category 5 hurricanes,” he writes. “Wind speeds above 165 mph would tear the turbines apart.”</p>
<p>Changing precipitation and temperature patterns in the Caribbean also affect hydro and solar power. More rain in the region’s north means fewer sunny days than anticipated. Higher temperatures in other countries suggests increased likelihood of drought, Ashtine says, leading rivers to run dry.</p>
<p>Climate change is also “profoundly unpredictable,” making it very hard for weather models to correctly identify which renewable energy infrastructure should be built where.</p>
<h2>5. Widespread concern</h2>
<p>This year’s hurricane season may well be severe. Scientists say storm intensity has been intensifying in recent years due to rising global temperatures.</p>
<p>Though people in the U.S. and the Caribbean share this increasing vulnerability to hurricanes, <a href="https://theconversation.com/caribbean-residents-see-climate-change-as-a-severe-threat-but-most-in-us-dont-heres-why-91049">they hold different opinions about the severity of climate change</a>, Vanderbilt University researchers Elizabeth Zechmeister and Claire Evans have found. </p>
<p>According to Vanderbilt’s latest AmericasBarometer survey, a biennial survey conducted in 29 Latin American and Caribbean countries, a strong majority of Caribbean residents perceive climate change as a “very serious” problem. In contrast, just 44 percent of U.S. residents do.</p>
<p><iframe id="nz8QR" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/nz8QR/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Blame politics, say Zechmeister and Evans. In the United States, climate change is a partisan issue. In the Caribbean, it is not similarly politicized.</p>
<p>“The AmericasBarometer survey asked respondents in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica to place themselves on a scale that runs from the political left to the right,” they write. “We found no significant differences in opinions about climate change from people with different political views.”</p>
<p>People in the Caribbean are much more likely than those in the U.S. to perceive climate change-related disasters as a threat. Right now, that threat surely feels imminent.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97588/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The Caribbean braces for another hurricane season even as many nations remain crippled by the catastrophic damage of 2017. Here, experts assess the region’s difficult and costly storm recovery.Catesby Holmes, International Editor | Politics Editor, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/942352018-04-20T10:38:07Z2018-04-20T10:38:07ZClimate change may scuttle Caribbean’s post-hurricane plans for a renewable energy boom<p>Puerto Rico <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/18/us/puerto-rico-mass-power-outage/index.html">lost electricity again</a> on April 18, seven months after Hurricane Maria first knocked out the island’s power grid. For people in some remote rural areas, the blackout was <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/16/us/puerto-rico-blackout-second-largest-globally-trnd/index.html">more of the same</a>. Their power had yet to be restored.</p>
<p>The dangerous fragility of Puerto Rico’s energy systems has put other Caribbean <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/06/climate-change-in-the-caribbean-learning-lessons-from-irma-and-maria">countries on high alert</a>. Across the region, electric grids <a href="http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20160208/energy-expert-urges-region-revamp-infrastructure-better-future">are dated, ailing</a> and overburdened – making it easy work for a powerful passing storm. </p>
<p>Caribbean nations also rely heavily on <a href="https://www.caribbean-council.org/new-opportunities-address-energy-security-caribbean/">oil and diesel imports</a> to fuel their power plants – a dirty and <a href="http://wp.caribbeannewsnow.com/2017/10/02/rising-oil-prices-wider-current-account-fiscal-deficits-predicted-eccu-economies/">expensive</a> way to produce energy. So even before the 2017 hurricane season, Caribbean governments were trying to integrate renewable energy sources like <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/01/27/renewables-caribbean">wind and solar into their existing grids</a>.</p>
<p>Now that task seems far more urgent. To <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/aug/06/caribbean-paradise-for-renewable-energy">move beyond fossil fuels</a>, Caribbean countries must transform their energy systems by building in new, greener sources of power. That will also make electric grids <a href="http://www.powermag.com/reliability-resiliency-key-to-caribbean-rebuild/">more resilient to weather extremes</a> because they will be decentralized – pulling from a diverse array of power sources.</p>
<h2>Climate change in the Caribbean</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/masa%C5%8D-ashtine-phd-cantab-22489550/">an environmental scientist working in Jamaica</a>, I recognize many reasons why the Caribbean region must upgrade its outmoded energy systems. Mitigating global climate change, of course, is a big one. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I believe that climate change will also complicate the region’s transition toward renewable energy. The Caribbean is comprised of island nations, which are the world’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-we-save-low-lying-island-nations-from-rising-seas-80232">most vulnerable places</a> when it comes to rising seas, changing weather patterns and other effects of global warming. </p>
<p>The Caribbean is already seeing more weather extremes. <a href="https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/joc.3889">Research</a> suggests, for example, that northern Caribbean countries like Cuba, Jamaica and the Bahamas have gotten rainier over the past three decades, though historical data is limited.</p>
<p>Meteorologists also believe that <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/was-the-extreme-2017-hurricane-season-driven-by-climate-change/">climate change is making hurricanes</a> more <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-weather-hurricanes-forecasts/hurricane-forecasters-see-above-average-2018-u-s-storm-season-idUSKCN1HC2CB">frequent and powerful over the Atlantic Ocean</a>. </p>
<p>The uptick in severe weather is costly. According to the United Nations, the 2017 hurricane season cost Caribbean countries and the United States <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/hurricane-harvey-irma-maria-insurance-cost-natural-catastrophes-record-high-2017-a8297696.html">US$92 billion</a>.</p>
<h2>Why traditional energy sources need to adapt</h2>
<p>As the eastern United States and Caribbean brace for a <a href="https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2018-04-04-hurricane-season-forecast-atlantic-colorado-state">potentially brutal 2018 hurricane season</a>, policymakers are looking for fast ways to strengthen their power grids. </p>
<p>Installing more wind, solar and hydropower – the world’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324485004578424624254723536">most reliable and common renewable energy options</a> – would seem to be a more obvious step in the right direction. Between 2015 and 2016, the global capacity of these green power sources rose <a href="http://www.ren21.net/status-of-renewables/global-status-report/">9 percent</a> – nearly half of which comes from the widespread adoption of solar panels. </p>
<p>After Maria, <a href="https://theconversation.com/rebuilding-the-caribbean-will-be-pricey-but-some-are-vying-to-finance-its-recovery-87482">technology companies like Tesla saw an opportunity</a> to spotlight their products in wind, solar and geothermal power in the Caribbean. </p>
<p>Tesla installed Powerwall solar-powered batteries across Puerto Rico. This technology <a href="https://electrek.co/2018/04/18/tesla-powerwall-powerpack-puerto-rico-blackout-elon-musk/">has kept the lights on during blackouts at over 660 locations</a>, though <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-solar-microgrids-are-not-a-cure-all-for-puerto-ricos-power-woes-86437">experts caution</a> that such solar “microgrids” cannot serve the energy needs of an entire country. </p>
<h2>The problem with climate change</h2>
<p>But, in a Caribbean of increasing weather extremes, these green energy systems are themselves vulnerable. </p>
<p>Modern wind turbines, for example, were first engineered in Europe – a region that rarely <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/offshore-wind-turbines-cant-handle-toughest-hurricanes">experiences Category 5 hurricanes</a>. Wind speeds above 165 mph <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017GL073537">would tear the turbines apart</a>. </p>
<p>Changing precipitation and temperature patterns in the Caribbean <a href="https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/joc.2200">also affect</a> hydro and solar power. More rain in the region’s north means fewer sunny days than anticipated. Higher temperatures in other countries suggests increased likelihood of drought, leading rivers to run dry. </p>
<p>Climate change is a <a href="http://environnement.ens.fr/IMG/file/DavidPDF/Roe-Baker2007.pdf">profoundly unpredictable process</a>, though. That makes it harder for weather models to correctly identify which renewable energy infrastructure should be built where. </p>
<p>Computer models are inherently imperfect planners. As <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/543546/why-climate-models-arent-better/">researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently affirmed</a>, plugging in short-term weather data to make long-term atmospheric projections adds “irreducible elements of chaos.” </p>
<p>Climate change, which affects <a href="https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/international-climate-impacts_.html">various parts of the world differently</a>, makes it even harder to accurately predict future weather scenarios. Comprehensive modeling systems that use <a href="http://renews.biz/109212/met-mast-days-are-numbered/">LIDAR and other remote-sensing technologies</a> do better, but they are <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/caribbean/overview">too expensive for widespread adoption in the Caribbean</a>. </p>
<h2>The future is now</h2>
<p>The Caribbean is making progress in planning for a future of more renewable energy, though. </p>
<p>Jamaica <a href="http://jis.gov.jm/installation-real-time-automatic-weather-stations-begins-across-island/">aims to install new automated weather stations</a> that will collect real-time weather data nationwide. This initiative will help meteorologists across the entire Caribbean better predict future weather, which in turn supports the development of renewable energy systems.</p>
<p>So will a new climate model developed by my colleagues at the University of the West Indies. The system, called <a href="http://www.gcca.eu/sites/default/files/7_smash_gcca_5cs_conference_presentation_ab.pdf">SMASH</a>, can aid planners in siting wind farms and predicting the path and severity of the hurricanes that could mangle turbines.</p>
<p>A new <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-07-climate-scientists-caribbean-drought-atlas.html">Caribbean drought atlas</a> from Cornell University has compiled climate data going back to 1950. The tool won’t just help sustain food production during dry times; I believe it will also provide engineers precipitation data that’s critical to planning hydropower enterprises.</p>
<p>Cutting-edge hydropower plants that run on <a href="http://www.turbulent.be/">urban wastewater</a> may one day <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148117303889">also address the current limitations of hydropower</a> in the Caribbean. Many small islands lack the big rushing rivers that allow water to be a meaningful power generator.</p>
<p>Wind farms, too, are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/gallery/2017/may/08/renewables-wind-energy-turbines-tech-kites-drones-in-pictures">adapting</a> to the instability of this changing climate. Once firmly pegged to the ground, turbines can now <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/a-beginners-guide-to-the-airborne-wind-turbine-market#gs.FWL2tKM">float thousands of feet above the land</a>, spooled out <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/kite-power-station-scotland-wind-turbine-plant-electricity-a7348576.html">like kites</a> to capture winds where they blow hardest. Floating turbines will also fare better during hurricanes.</p>
<p>All of these technologies may eventually help Caribbean countries navigate their way through climate change toward a real renewable energy boom. But the climate change conundrum won’t be solved before the 2018 hurricane season hits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94235/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Masaō Ashtine does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The 2017 hurricane season showed that Caribbean nations urgently need more resilient power grids. But the effects of climate change – including more severe storms – complicate the shift to renewables.Masaō Ashtine, Lecturer in Alternative Energy, University of the West Indies, Mona CampusLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/915582018-03-30T10:54:25Z2018-03-30T10:54:25ZMilitary mission in Puerto Rico after hurricane was better than critics say but suffered flaws<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212528/original/file-20180328-109179-loi97u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some 17,000 U.S. troops aided in the Caribbean relief effort after hurricanes Irma and Maria. That's roughly equivalent to the U.S. military's humanitarian mission in the Philippines after Typhoon Hiyan in 2013.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/ZAtFqF">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been over six months since powerful back-to-back storms <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/us/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico.html?mcubz=0">left “catastrophic” damage in Puerto Rico</a>. </p>
<p>The federal recovery effort in this American territory has been under fire nearly every day since then. Critics note that <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/27/donald-trump-fema-hurricane-maria-response-480557">hurricane relief in Texas</a> and <a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/can-puerto-rico-recover/">Florida</a> last year was quicker, more robust and more effective. </p>
<p>At the <a href="https://hhi.harvard.edu/">Harvard Humanitarian Initiative</a>, we study the the role of the armed forces in disaster relief and humanitarian emergencies worldwide. So we decided to examine the U.S. military’s deployment to Puerto Rico after hurricanes Irma and Maria. </p>
<h2>Limited by posse comitatus</h2>
<p>Hurricane Maria hit the island on Sept. 20, 2017. The first soldiers arrived in Puerto Rico eight days later <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/11/14/3-star-general-leaving-puerto-rico-recovery-effort-winds-down.html">and would stay until mid-November</a>. Eventually, 17,000 troops – including active duty, reserves and National Guard – were deployed to both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. </p>
<p>Their mission: to conduct search and rescue missions, provide medical care and restore power. Soldiers also delivered food and water to both residents and emergency responders there. </p>
<p>Our first question was why it took the military over a week to get to Puerto Rico. By comparison, U.S. troops were in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-responded-to-haiti-quake-more-forcefully-than-to-puerto-rico-disaster/2017/09/28/74fe9c02-a465-11e7-8cfe-d5b912fabc99_story.html?utm_term=.2306f9caedf6">Haiti two days</a> after its 2010 earthquake.</p>
<p>The answer has to do with an 1878 law called the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits American armed forces <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/45575/posse-comitatus-immediately-applicable-militarys-humanitarian-assistance-mission-puerto-rico/">from performing domestic law enforcement duties</a>. In other words, the U.S. military does not respond to disasters on home soil unless ordered to do so by an act of Congress or for a “humanitarian assistance mission.”</p>
<p>When, in late September, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/lt-gen-jeffrey-buchanan-pushes-back-on-criticism-of-trump-e2-80-99s-puerto-rico-response/ar-AAsCH4T">suggested</a> that the military should take over aid distribution in Puerto Rico from the Federal Emergency Management Agency – which was clearly stretched thin by its simultaneous responses to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria – Lt. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, commander of the U.S. Army North, rejected the idea. His response invoked the limits imposed by the Posse Comitatus Act. </p>
<p>“This is not a dictatorship,” he said. “The military does not take charge of these kinds of operations in the homeland.”</p>
<p>The Department of Defense had <a href="https://www.fema.gov/blog/2017-09-29/overview-federal-efforts-prepare-and-respond-hurricane-maria">sent several FEMA liaisons to the Caribbean before Maria</a>. But, by law, it could not mobilize troops until it was determined that civilian agencies were unable to manage the disaster response. For this reason, the U.S. military can actually respond more quickly to international emergencies than it can at home.</p>
<p>By Sept. 27, FEMA had requested help and the military was <a href="https://www.stripes.com/news/pentagon-deploys-army-general-and-more-troops-to-lead-hurricane-response-on-puerto-rico-1.489835">preparing to dispatch its first brigade of soldiers to Puerto Rico</a>. Buchanan was named <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/28/politics/pentagon-general-to-lead-puerto-rico-efforts/index.html">chief of the mission</a>. </p>
<h2>Deployments abroad and at home</h2>
<p>Though it rarely does disaster relief at home, the U.S. military frequently responds to emergencies abroad. Between 1970 and 2000, American troops <a href="https://www.cna.org/CNA_files/PDF/D0008414.A3.pdf">provided international humanitarian assistance and disaster relief 366 times</a>, mostly in the Pacific. In the same period, they engaged in combat just 22 times. </p>
<p>We used these foreign deployments as a basis of comparison for evaluating the U.S. military’s Puerto Rico mission. And though some experts have recommended <a href="http://time.com/4941044/when-the-military-does-battle-with-nature/">more training for these missions</a>, our prior research has generally found that U.S. troops are quite good at international disaster response. </p>
<p>The U.S. Armed Forces score well on what <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/disaster-medicine-and-public-health-preparedness/article/civilmilitary-engagement-an-empirical-account-of-humanitarian-perceptions-of-civilmilitary-coordination-during-the-response-to-typhoon-haiyan/FCDEB206F475A0C84C5052F9C9281463">we’ve identified as critical indicators of military success in a relief mission</a>. They typically deploy quickly, bring a specialized skill set, coordinate well with aid agencies on the ground and plan their arrival and exit appropriately. </p>
<p>We modified these indicators slightly to assess the military’s humanitarian response in Puerto Rico, a domestic emergency. And, beyond the relatively slow mobilization, we found the military performed about as well in the Caribbean as it has abroad.</p>
<p>The deployment of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-puertorico-military/u-s-to-boost-military-personnel-in-puerto-rico-senator-idUSKBN1CC0PV">17,000 troops</a>, 82 aircraft and three combat support hospitals was comparable in size to the U.S. military’s mission in <a href="http://ndupress.ndu.edu/JFQ/Joint-Force-Quarterly-82/Article/793262/the-us-pacific-command-response-to-super-typhoon-haiyan/">the Philippines after 2013’s Typhoon Haiyan</a>. There, 13,400 troops were deployed to some 450 disaster zones across the country.</p>
<p>As critics have observed, that is far smaller than the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-responded-to-haiti-quake-more-forcefully-than-to-puerto-rico-disaster/2017/09/28/74fe9c02-a465-11e7-8cfe-d5b912fabc99_story.html?utm_term=.2306f9caedf6">Haiti earthquake response</a>, when 22,000 troops and 33 U.S. military ships were sent to the island. </p>
<p>This makes sense when given the death tolls of these various disasters, though. Some <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/12/world/haiti-earthquake-fast-facts/index.html">230,000 people died in Haiti’s earthquake</a>. Roughly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/10/typhoon-haiyan-thousands-dead-philippines">12,000 died in the Philippines</a>. When the U.S. went to Puerto Rico, the government there maintained that just 16 people had died in the storm – though that would <a href="http://latinousa.org/2017/09/28/marias-death-toll-puerto-rico-underreported/">turn out to be a very low count</a>. </p>
<p>Critically, however, fewer other organizations were working in post-hurricane Puerto Rico than were present in Haiti or Philippines. </p>
<p>After Typhoon Haiyan, 23 militaries jointly responded, including 23,000 Filipino troops, 13,400 U.S. troops and at least another 10,000 soldiers from other countries. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/ngo-republic-haiti/">Dozens of international organizations also typically rush in to help</a> after a disaster in the developing world. Groups like the International Committee of the Red Cross, CARE and Save the Children provide emergency assistance alongside soldiers. </p>
<p>International armies and charities <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/puerto-rico-gets-aid-oxfam-third-world-relief-group-trump-slow-676459">do not undertake humanitarian relief in the United States</a>. As a result, just a handful of national aid groups – <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanielparishflannery/2017/10/08/these-organizations-are-working-to-help-puerto-ricos-recovery-efforts/#654a54ac896e">among them the American Red Cross, Caritas de Puerto Rico and Habitat for Humanity</a> – deployed to the islands after Hurricane Maria. They were soon joined by the military. </p>
<p>But, in the end, there simply was not enough manpower to get the job done.</p>
<h2>Coordination is key</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/disaster-medicine-and-public-health-preparedness/article/civilmilitary-engagement-an-empirical-account-of-humanitarian-perceptions-of-civilmilitary-coordination-during-the-response-to-typhoon-haiyan/FCDEB206F475A0C84C5052F9C9281463">Our research</a> suggests that the most critical factor in any humanitarian response — whether in a post-disaster scenario or in a conflict setting — is coordination. To succeed, military responders must work together with the civilian groups and government agencies on the ground. </p>
<p>One big reason why the 2005 Hurricane Katrina response in New Orleans failed, for example, was <a href="http://www.disastergovernance.net/fileadmin/gppi/RTB_book_chp22.pdf">lack of coordination between the Department of Defense – which oversees the U.S. military – and FEMA</a>. That disaster spurred the DOD to create a liaison position integrated with FEMA.</p>
<p>The Puerto Rico response shows that this new system has in fact improved coordination. Our study determined that when military personnel arrived, they complemented – rather than duplicated – the efforts of the federal officials, local authorities and humanitarian organizations already on the ground.</p>
<p>The military brought manpower to the island, including engineers, medical staff and airlift capabilities. This aided in the search and rescue, health care and power restoration work underway. The military also provided translators, mortuary affairs teams and tower climbers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212526/original/file-20180328-109175-989ilz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The military provided life-saving medical attention in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria left many hospitals without power.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/YhMk5H">Department of Defense</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Coordination was not flawless. A <a href="http://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/publications/17597.pdf">recent report from the Center for Army Lessons Learned</a> finds that FEMA and the military were not always “aligned and synchronized.” Sometimes, for example, they competed to conduct airlifts. </p>
<p>But, in our assessment, the DOD-FEMA liaisons effectively ensured the coordination necessary for the Puerto Rico mission.</p>
<h2>Scale of damage was an obstacle</h2>
<p>Even so, Puerto Rico’s recovery has clearly lagged. Power has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/02/us/puerto-rico-power-supplies/index.html">yet to be entirely restored</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-puerto-ricos-death-toll-from-hurricane-maria-is-so-much-higher-than-officials-thought-89349">over a thousand people died from storm-related causes</a> in the weeks after Maria. </p>
<p>What went wrong?</p>
<p>Our interviews with Department of Defense responders suggest that the biggest challenge was the sheer scale of the damage left by Hurricane Maria. </p>
<p>Puerto Rico’s government was completely overwhelmed, making it very difficult for FEMA and the U.S. military to get a clear picture of what was most urgently required – and where – in the first days after the storm. </p>
<p>The island’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/20/life-threatening-winds-and-floods-hit-puerto-rico-as-maria-makes-landfall">total power outage</a>, in particular, hobbled emergency aid. Troops and FEMA staff deployed across the island could not communicate with affected communities. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-many-in-puerto-rico-energy-dominance-is-just-a-new-name-for-us-colonialism-80243">rundown condition of the power grid</a>, already fragile before Maria, also made it massively harder to get the lights turned back on. No brigade of soldiers, no matter how well trained, can overhaul the energy infrastructure of a place as big as Puerto Rico in days.</p>
<p>Finally, because Puerto Rico is an island territory with no neighboring states, first responders like the National Guard struggled to arrive quickly. When parts of Texas were <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/harvey-photos-before-after/">badly hit by Hurricane Harvey in September 2017</a>, the National Guard was simply dispatched from elsewhere in Texas and from nearby states. </p>
<h2>Lessons learned</h2>
<p>Overall, we believe that the U.S. military itself performed as well in Puerto Rico as it does in its international relief missions.</p>
<p>But our assessment reveals real shortcomings in <a href="http://www.atha.se/blog/evaluating-military-engagement-disaster-response">planning for disasters</a> – especially considering that hurricanes occur regularly in the Caribbean. </p>
<p>Puerto Rico is not the first time the U.S. military has been <a href="https://www.army.mil/article/154729/guard_reflects_on_massive_response_to_katrina">called in to provide humanitarian assistance on domestic soil</a>. It won’t be the last.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91558/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vincenzo Bollettino is on the Drafting Committee for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Recommended Practices in Humanitarian Civil Military Coordination . </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Birthe Anders does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Compared to its foreign disaster missions, the US military mobilized slowly after Maria. But in numbers, capacity and logistics coordination, its work in Puerto Rico was on par with other aid efforts.Birthe Anders, Senior Fellow, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard UniversityVincenzo Bollettino, Director, Program on Resilient Communities, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/910492018-02-14T11:34:48Z2018-02-14T11:34:48ZCaribbean residents see climate change as a severe threat but most in US don’t — here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206036/original/file-20180212-58322-hmro4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People in the U.S. and the Caribbean share vulnerability to climate change-related disasters, but only in the Caribbean is the public truly worried. Why?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.doncio.navy.mil/FileHandler.ashx?id=10786">US Navy</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the 2017 <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/media-release/extremely-active-2017-atlantic-hurricane-season-finally-ends">Atlantic basin hurricane season</a>, six major storms – all of which were Category 3 or higher – produced devastating human, material and financial devastation across the southern United States and the Caribbean. </p>
<p>Last year’s above-average storm activity was foreseeable. Hurricane intensity ticked up in <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/summary_atlc_2016.pdf">2016</a> and scientists have predicted this trend will hold as <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/RisingCost/rising_cost5.php">global temperatures continue to rise</a>. </p>
<p>Though people in the U.S. and the Caribbean share this increasing vulnerability to hurricanes, they hold very different opinions about the severity of climate change. According to results from the latest <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/">Vanderbilt University AmericasBarometer survey</a>, a strong majority of Caribbean residents perceive climate change as a “very serious” problem. In contrast, just 44 percent <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/insights/IO929en.pdf">of the U.S. public does</a>.</p>
<p>Why the difference of opinion? Our <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xwl-kqcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">research</a> identifies two key factors: politics and risk perception. </p>
<h2>Climate change is a partisan issue in the US</h2>
<p>The AmericasBarometer is a biennial survey conducted by Vanderbilt University’s Latin American Public Opinion Project. The <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/">latest round</a> was conducted between 2016 and 2017 in 29 countries across the Americas.</p>
<p>The 10 Caribbean countries surveyed include <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-haitians-recover-from-the-mental-trauma-of-hurricane-matthew-66785">Haiti</a>, Dominica and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/nov/01/it-feels-like-dominica-is-finished-life-amid-the-ruins-left-by-hurricane-maria">Barbuda</a>, all hit hard by hurricanes in recent years. The survey found that between 56 percent and 79 percent of respondents in the Caribbean believe that climate change is a very serious problem for their country. </p>
<p><iframe id="nz8QR" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/nz8QR/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Things look different in the United States, where the AmericasBarometer survey affirms <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095937801100104X">prior research</a> demonstrating that climate change is a partisan issue. More than three-quarters of individuals on the liberal side of the political spectrum reported that climate change is a very serious problem. </p>
<p>Less than 20 percent of those with conservative leanings expressed the same degree of concern. </p>
<p><iframe id="1N4Au" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/1N4Au/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>This pattern holds even when we control for age, education, income, gender and perceptions of disaster risk.</p>
<p>In the Caribbean, political leanings are far less consequential to people’s views of climate change. The AmericasBarometer survey asked respondents in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica to place themselves on a scale that runs from the political left to the right. We found no significant differences in opinions about climate change from people with different political views.</p>
<p>One explanation for why the Caribbean public demonstrates more of a consensus on climate change, then, is simply that the issue is not politicized in that region. People of all ideological bents agree that, in the Caribbean, climate change poses a very serious problem.</p>
<h2>Just how dangerous is climate change?</h2>
<p>People’s perceptions of their vulnerability to climate change-related dangers may also explain diverging views on the issue.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/">AmericasBarometer</a> asked respondents in both the Caribbean and <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/insights/IO929en.pdf">the United States</a> to assess the odds that they or a family member would be killed or seriously harmed by a natural disaster in the next 25 years. </p>
<p>In both places, those who feel most vulnerable to disasters more often report that climate change is a “very serious” problem. This relationship holds even when accounting for age, education, wealth, urban residence and gender.</p>
<p>Overall, though, in the U.S. people feel less exposed to hurricanes and other disasters than their Caribbean counterparts. In fact, most members of the U.S. public believe that personal harm from a future disaster is either “not likely at all” or “unlikely.”</p>
<p>Most people in the Caribbean, on the other hand, say it is “somewhat likely” or “very likely.” </p>
<p><iframe id="YvkQ2" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/YvkQ2/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>These notable differences may be due to geography. Because the Caribbean region is comprised of islands, a higher proportion of <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg2/ar4_wg2_full_report.pdf">communities there are coastal</a>. This, in turn, can increase the impact that storms have on residents. </p>
<h2>Climate change and hurricanes</h2>
<p>Some scientific consensus exists that <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-can-now-blame-individual-natural-disasters-on-climate-change/">climate change can be blamed</a>, at least in part, for the hundreds of casualties and more than US$400 billion in damage that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/10/weather/hurricane-nate-maria-irma-harvey-impact-look-back-trnd/index.html">storms brought</a> to the U.S. and the Caribbean in 2017. </p>
<p>Scientific models indicate that the Earth’s warming climate is likely to shape future storm activity in the Atlantic basin. Scientists are not sure, however, exactly how this will manifest itself in future hurricane seasons. Some researchers suggest that warmer temperatures increase storm <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL075888/full">probability</a>. Others restrict the effects to storm <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/full/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00195.1">intensity</a>. </p>
<p>The 2018 hurricane season is just a few months away. Our research reveals that with politics removed and risk perceptions elevated, people in the Caribbean are bracing for whatever comes quite differently than their U.S. counterparts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth J. Zechmeister directs Vanderbilt's Latin American Public Opinion Project. In that capacity, her work has been supported by USAID, the Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme and Open Society Foundations. Opinions expressed in this article belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the AmericasBarometer project or its funders.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Q. Evans does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research suggests politics and risk perception may explain why the US and Caribbean see climate change so differently, though both places are ever more vulnerable to powerful hurricanes.Elizabeth J. Zechmeister, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science and Director of LAPOP, Vanderbilt UniversityClaire Q. Evans, Doctoral Student, Political Science, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/874822017-11-22T01:46:20Z2017-11-22T01:46:20ZRebuilding the Caribbean will be pricey, but some are vying to finance its recovery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195759/original/file-20171121-6072-at6kae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If Caribbean governments can't afford to rebuild their islands, maybe big tech firms can?</span> </figcaption></figure><p>November 20 marked the end of the Atlantic hurricane season, but for the Caribbean, it’s only the beginning of a painful recovery process. </p>
<p>In early September, Hurricane Irma largely destroyed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/07/irma-destruction-island-by-island-hurricane">Barbuda and several neighboring Lesser Antilles islands</a>. Two weeks later, Maria took a final fatal stab at <a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/barbuda-one-month-after-hurricane-irma-idUSRTS1FSDD">Barbuda</a> and entirely <a href="https://theconversation.com/puerto-rico-two-months-after-maria-5-essential-reads-87409">knocked out Puerto Rico</a>. </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21729007-region-must-adapt-climate-change-not-simply-rebuild-how-hurricane-irma-will-change">The Economist</a>, damage from Irma alone tallies up to US$13 billion. Totals for the entire 2017 hurricane season <a href="https://qz.com/1088762/puerto-rico-hurricane-marias-devastating-economic-cost/">remain unclear</a>, but Puerto Rico Gov. Roberto Rosello’s recent request for <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-puertorico-assistance/puerto-rico-requests-94-4-billion-from-u-s-congress-for-rebuilding-idUSKBN1DD2G8">$94.4 billion in aid</a> gives some sense of Maria’s toll. </p>
<p>No matter the final price tag, recovery is sure to be unpayable in a region where <a href="http://www.gsdrc.org/document-library/the-challenges-of-poverty-and-social-welfare-in-the-caribbean/">30 percent of people live in poverty</a> and the per capita <a href="http://ivanstat.com/en/gdp/caribbean.html">gross domestic product averages under $9,000 a year</a>, versus <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD">$57,000 in the United States</a>.</p>
<p>And while France, Holland and the United Kingdom have come to the <a href="https://epthinktank.eu/2017/09/21/eu-response-to-the-caribbean-hurricanes/">assistance of their territories</a> in the region, independent Caribbean nations like <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20170929-dominica-rebuild-hurricane-maria-devastation-aid">Dominica</a>, Antigua and Barbuda, and Cuba have no such obvious sponsors. Their economies shattered by storms – and, in some cases, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/irma-imf-barduda-debt-repayments-moratorium-hurricane-caribbean-island-a7941176.html">shackled by debt</a> – some Caribbean nations fear they may never recover. </p>
<p>But behind the scenes, numerous international players are actually racing to rebuild the Caribbean, from tech companies and wealthy individuals to far-flung countries.</p>
<h2>‘Send Tesla’</h2>
<p>Big corporations see an opportunity in the Caribbean’s recovery. Tesla, in particular, seems to have a <a href="https://electrek.co/2017/10/05/elon-musk-tesla-rebuild-puerto-ricos-power-grid-batteries-solar/">vision</a> for how the region could rebuild in a more renewable and resilient way. </p>
<p>As an energy and environment researcher, I’m certain that renewables would make Caribbean islands better able to withstand future storm impacts. Whether Tesla can achieve that is another question. </p>
<p>The California-based electric-car company has committed to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-28/tesla-is-sending-battery-packs-to-storm-ravaged-puerto-rico">sending to the island hundreds of its Powerwall battery systems</a>, which could be paired with solar panels to get the electric grid up and running again. </p>
<p>For the millions of Puerto Ricans <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/26/us/puerto-rico-power-outage/index.html">whose power has been out for over two months</a>, this may come as welcome news. And though some experts have questioned <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-solar-microgrids-are-not-a-cure-all-for-puerto-ricos-power-woes-86437">how much it would really help</a>, Tesla did manage to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/25/560045944/tesla-turns-power-back-on-at-childrens-hospital-in-puerto-rico">turn the lights on</a> at the San Juan Children’s Hospital back in October.</p>
<p>Puerto Rico isn’t the only Caribbean country with an inadequate energy grid. Across the region, outmoded system designs that rely on a few plants for power production make complete blackouts much higher than grid systems that have an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/09/28/storm-driven-power-failures-in-the-caribbean-spur-new-interest-in-renewable-energy/?utm_term=.4ec6f8dd569a">even distribution of power generation</a>. </p>
<p>So even before Irma, Tesla had long seen the Caribbean as a nexus for its energy revolution, with <a href="http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20160708/jamaica-public-service-seeking-forge-deal-tesla-electric-cars">talk</a> of using electric-vehicle batteries to store renewable energy. The idea is that vehicles can charge during the day when the sun is high and winds are stronger, and then owners can sell excess electricity back to the grid when demand is high but supplies are much lower.</p>
<p>Tesla’s desire to power the Caribbean reflects a global energy race as tech companies – among them <a href="http://www.samsungrenewableenergy.ca/">Samsung</a> and <a href="http://www.lg.com/global/business/solar">LG</a> – expand their international reach.</p>
<h2>The benevolent among us</h2>
<p>The British business magnate Sir Richard Branson, who owns a 30-hectare private island in the British Virgin Islands, has also long advocated that the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2014/02/25/richard-branson-launches-a-green-energy-plan-for-the-caribbean/">Caribbean should shift to clean energy</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"909874717770862594"}"></div></p>
<p>The 2017 hurricane season catalyzed this ambition. After Irma, Branson suggested that rich countries fund a “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-climatechange-branson/exclusive-richard-branson-setting-up-green-energy-fund-to-rebuild-caribbean-idUSKCN1BU2I9">Caribbean Marshall Plan</a>” to help islands move beyond fossil fuels toward low-carbon renewable energy sources like solar and wind. </p>
<p>Hurricane Irma left the solar-powered system on his Necker Island, located roughly nine miles from the ravaged Tortola, relatively intact. </p>
<p>Branson isn’t the only international celebrity with a personal stake in rebuilding the Caribbean region. The actor <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/hurricane-irma-latest-today-robert-de-niro-barbuda-international-aid-rebuilding-caribbean-un-general-a7955501.html">Robert De Niro</a> has also sought to pitch in. </p>
<p>In September, he said he was “saddened to learn of the devastation in Barbuda,” and called on financial institutions and governments to band together and rebuild the demolished island, where De Niro had hoped to build a <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/15/news/robert-de-niro-barbuda/index.html">$200 million resort</a>. </p>
<p>Two months later, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/nov/20/the-night-barbuda-died-how-hurricane-irma-created-a-caribbean-ghost-town">Barbuda remains uninhabitable</a>, with nearly its entire population having <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article172111522.html">evacuated</a> to neighboring Antigua and elsewhere. Locals wonder whether Barbuda will ever be home to anyone again, much less the paradise tourist destination De Niro once envisioned. </p>
<h2>The ‘soft’ grip of China</h2>
<p>For China, the crisis in the Caribbean is an opportunity to expand its influence in an area where it already has deep historic and <a href="https://www.aei.org/china-global-investment-tracker/">economic</a> ties. </p>
<p>China’s influence in the Caribbean dates back to Cuba’s <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-2128-2_6">1959 revolution</a>, when communism bound the two nations. Back then, China ignored the U.S. economic embargo <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-2128-2_6">to help Cuba</a> after a 1963 hurricane.</p>
<p>This economic superpower also came to the assistance of Grenada in 2004, after more than 90 percent of the island was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan. The <a href="https://www.caribjournal.com/2013/04/17/china-providing-1-3-million-to-complete-grenada-housing-project/">351 housing units China promised to build for those left homeless by the storm</a> opened in late 2012. </p>
<p>Today, China is reported to have <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/23/c_136630837.htm">offered aid to Cuba after Hurricane Irma</a>. It has also committed <a href="http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/news-centre/announcements/2017/China-supports-Caribbean-countries-to-build-back-better.html">$5 million</a> for the United Nations Development Program to assist the Caribbean’s storm recovery. </p>
<p>China’s interest in the Caribbean goes beyond disaster aid. During his 2013 visit to Trinidad and Tobago, President Xi Jinping reportedly promised Caribbean nations a total of <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/Staff%20Report_China-Caribbean%20Relations.pdf">$3 billion</a> in loans.</p>
<p>His country has also financed infrastructure and industrial projects across the region. In Jamaica, Chinese state money built the $600 million, 42-mile “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/24/beijing-highway-600m-road-just-the-start-of-chinas-investments-in-caribbean">Beijing Highway</a>” connecting Kingston to the tourist hub of Ocho Rios. China has also invested $3 billion in Jamaican <a href="http://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/infrastructure/chinese-firm-plans-us3bn-expansion-at-jamaica-alumina-plant2/">alumina plants</a>.</p>
<p>This brand of economic diplomacy, which Beijing has also deployed in <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/0f534aa4-4549-11e7-8519-9f94ee97d996">Africa</a> and Pakistan, for instance, powerfully strengthens China’s international influence. The U.S. knows that, and <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/Staff%20Report_China-Caribbean%20Relations.pdf">is keeping a close eye</a> on Chinese incursions into its maritime backyard.</p>
<h2>Weighing the costs</h2>
<p>Caribbean governments must now weigh the pros and cons of these different offers. On the one hand, these countries are so devastated that they simply cannot recover without help. </p>
<p>On the other, I’d suggest it’s risky to cede control over your territory by allowing foreign agents to finance rebuilding. China’s project funding in African has been dubbed “<a href="https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/why-chinese-infrastructural-loans-in-africa-represent-a-brand-new-type-of-neocolonialism/">neocolonialism</a>,” because while the country studiously avoids political meddling, its money shapes national development to reflect Chinese interests. </p>
<p>Inaction, however, is not an option. A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/21/caribbean-islands-hurricane-irma-maria-puerto-rico">dozen Caribbean countries</a> were hit hard by hurricanes this year, and climate change <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/climate/islands-climate-change-un-bonn.html?_r=0">promises to keep bringing rising seas and stronger, more frequent storms</a>. </p>
<p>Rebuilding smarter is thus a priority for Caribbean nations, all of which signed the <a href="http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9444.php">Paris Agreement</a>. That 2015 accord pushes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/climate/islands-climate-change-un-bonn.html?_r=0">wealthier industrialized nations to commit more money to building resilience</a>, but Europe has shown little willingness to comply with that provision and the U.S <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-paris-agreement-us-climate-change-donald-trump-world-country-accord-a8041996.html">is abandoning the entire deal</a>. </p>
<p>Are China, Tesla and Robert De Niro the answer? If the Caribbean can’t save itself, who will?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87482/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Masaō Ashtine does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tesla, China and Richard Branson are among those offering to help Caribbean nations rebuild – and do so in a greener, more resilient way – after the devastating 2017 hurricane season.Masaō Ashtine, Lecturer in Alternative Energy, University of the West Indies, Mona CampusLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/865352017-11-07T03:29:17Z2017-11-07T03:29:17Z3 things I learned from delivering medical aid to a remote part of Puerto Rico<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193493/original/file-20171106-1014-1cfkl3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The author, distributing medications at a shelter in Villalba, Puerto Rico</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2017/10/10/usf-physicians-treating-patients-hurricane-ravaged-puerto-rico/oxner-in-puerto-rico_600x400/">Elimarys Perez-Colon</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I belong to a group called Doctors for Puerto Rico.</p>
<p>We have been dispatching medicine and small teams of medical staff to the island, in coordination with local health authorities since two-and-a-half weeks after Hurricane Maria. When we started, we weren’t sure what kind of assistance would do the most good amid a situation threatening to become a <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22326&LangID=E">humanitarian disaster</a>.</p>
<p>Sending doctors, nurses and emergency responders? Delivering medical supplies? Evacuating patients? Evacuating medical and nursing students to Florida so they can continue their studies?</p>
<p>Two of us went there to find out. </p>
<h2>Out of range</h2>
<p>To get started, I traveled to Puerto Rico in early October with <a href="http://health.usf.edu/medicine/internalmedicine/residency/profiles/65475/Perez-Colon">Dr. Elimarys Perez-Colon</a>, a colleague at the University of South Florida, where I work as a primary care physician and teach doctors in training.</p>
<p>When we landed in San Juan, everything at the airport seemed eerily normal. The lights were working. The bathrooms were clean and had running water. The shops were open and blasting bachata music.</p>
<p>We stopped at one to buy a 4-foot-long Puerto Rican flag, having no trouble paying with a credit card. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193088/original/file-20171102-26456-72hcif.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193088/original/file-20171102-26456-72hcif.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193088/original/file-20171102-26456-72hcif.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193088/original/file-20171102-26456-72hcif.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193088/original/file-20171102-26456-72hcif.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193088/original/file-20171102-26456-72hcif.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193088/original/file-20171102-26456-72hcif.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author, shown here with Elimarys Perez Colon and pharmacy staff from Hospital Menonita, holding a Puerto Rican flag that represents a commitment to support the hospital in Caguas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Asa Oxner Myers</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But once we left the Southwest Airlines terminal, we passed under a leaking roof and the entrance to other terminals that were closed, dark and empty. This experience sums up what’s going on there in general. Puerto Ricans’ spirits are showing through as they try hard to return to normal, but this is possible only in small pockets so far. </p>
<p>Driving around San Juan was a lot like being at the airport. Some areas were running on generators and had strong 4G mobile phone signals. Other areas were abandoned, with significantly damaged buildings and downed power lines. Outside the city, trees were barren and rivers engorged. </p>
<p>Our phones stopped working about 10 miles outside the city. They never worked anywhere else as we spent several days visiting hospitals, clinics and shelters across the central mountainous regions of Caguas, Villalba and Juana Diaz.</p>
<p>We slept in the homes of my colleague’s relatives, moving around for the most basic reasons. We would shower in her aunt’s house because they had water, then leave when the water stopped running.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192770/original/file-20171101-13412-cc1ocv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192770/original/file-20171101-13412-cc1ocv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192770/original/file-20171101-13412-cc1ocv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192770/original/file-20171101-13412-cc1ocv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192770/original/file-20171101-13412-cc1ocv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192770/original/file-20171101-13412-cc1ocv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192770/original/file-20171101-13412-cc1ocv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192770/original/file-20171101-13412-cc1ocv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Downed power lines like this one are a common sight throughout Puerto Rico weeks after Hurricane Maria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Asa O. Myers</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Some guidance</h2>
<p>In general, aid experts recommend that people who want to help with disaster recovery make <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-giving-cash-not-clothing-is-usually-best-after-disasters-83405">monetary donations</a> rather than ship clothing, food or other goods.</p>
<p>But in Puerto Rico’s case, my aid group has determined that there is also a clear need for universities, hospitals and other centers of expertise to help. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/27/us/puerto-rico-residents-florida/index.html">Relief efforts</a> underway – including the assistance by the <a href="https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4339">Federal Emergency Management Agency</a> and the <a href="http://people.com/food/chef-jose-andres-serving-hurricane-victims-puerto-rico-red-cross/">Red Cross</a> – are not meeting the island’s needs for technical personnel.</p>
<p>Based on what we learned and how we are lending a hand, here are some suggestions for people who either want to send aid to Puerto Rico or go there themselves:</p>
<p><strong>1. Realize that you can make a difference.</strong></p>
<p>When we got to remote areas of Puerto Rico, we were glad we ignored excuses like “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/30/puerto-rico-power-restoration-why-taking-so-long/806747001/">it’s an island</a>” or “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/puerto-ricos-power-struggles-predate-hurricane-maria">they were in bad shape before the hurricane</a>.” </p>
<p>The medical director of Hospital Menonita, a 400-bed referral hospital in the town of Caguas, told us that we were the first group to bring supplies and aid to their hospital. We were shocked to learn this, as we arrived 17 days after Hurricane Maria.</p>
<p>My aid group is sending this hospital asthma drugs, intravenous antibiotics and other supplies, based on its own updated inventory information. As of early November, everything we’ve sent has made it there – 4,000 pounds in total.</p>
<p>We are also sending prescription drugs to smaller hospitals in the towns of Villalba and Juana Diaz. Grants from the Hope and Health Foundation, Tampa General Hospital, University of South Florida and several private foundations around Tampa Bay have provided the roughly US$100,000 in funds and medical supplies for this project. Jabil, a medical supply company, is providing logistical support like flights and shipping.</p>
<p>Yes, we have to ship these supplies on plane or cargo barge instead of driving the stuff there. But our effort shows that it can be done. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192767/original/file-20171101-13425-59r2yx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192767/original/file-20171101-13425-59r2yx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192767/original/file-20171101-13425-59r2yx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192767/original/file-20171101-13425-59r2yx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192767/original/file-20171101-13425-59r2yx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192767/original/file-20171101-13425-59r2yx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192767/original/file-20171101-13425-59r2yx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192767/original/file-20171101-13425-59r2yx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Staff at Hospital Menonita in Caguas, with 700 pounds of prescription drugs and other medications shipped as part of this ongoing relief effort.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elimarys Perez-Colon</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2. Work with the locals</strong></p>
<p>We initially thought that we could help the most by sending dozens of doctors and nurses to pitch in.</p>
<p>But we encountered highly qualified medical staff in every hospital and clinic we visited. When we realized that the pharmacists could easily give us an inventory of the most depleted medications or supplies, we changed our plans. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192766/original/file-20171101-13392-14xjqgg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192766/original/file-20171101-13392-14xjqgg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192766/original/file-20171101-13392-14xjqgg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192766/original/file-20171101-13392-14xjqgg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192766/original/file-20171101-13392-14xjqgg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192766/original/file-20171101-13392-14xjqgg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192766/original/file-20171101-13392-14xjqgg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192766/original/file-20171101-13392-14xjqgg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Empty medication storage bins at the hospital in the town of Caguas, Puerto Rico.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Asa O. Myers</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That made us shelve our plans to offer medical students an opportunity to temporarily transfer to our medical school. </p>
<p>We asked local medical officials from the Puerto Rican Department of Health how we could help.</p>
<p>Were there any underserved areas where visiting medical professionals could fill gaps? Would it help if we checked on the spread of infectious diseases?</p>
<p>We also offered to send doctors from our team in Florida to relieve some Puerto Rican doctors who had been working nonstop. </p>
<p>Then we met with staff from the Villalba mayor’s office and police force. They reviewed paper records for every house in the district of 25,000 people, looking for children, elderly and sick people and those with disabilities. </p>
<p>We left their office with a detailed medical wish list. The list included formula for newborns, nebulizer machines for asthmatics and insulin for diabetics. There were also requests for visiting doctors to examine bed-bound patients.</p>
<p>Together with the command center’s nurse, we drove around the mountainside town to complete this list, taking the time to do medical exams in shelters and homes as we made our rounds.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193266/original/file-20171103-1046-bygcnz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193266/original/file-20171103-1046-bygcnz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193266/original/file-20171103-1046-bygcnz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193266/original/file-20171103-1046-bygcnz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193266/original/file-20171103-1046-bygcnz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193266/original/file-20171103-1046-bygcnz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193266/original/file-20171103-1046-bygcnz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A vulnerable patient receiving a medical visit in her home and some clean water and supplies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elimarys Perez Colon</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>3. Refrain from ‘disaster tourism’</strong></p>
<p>We were mindful that everyone who travels to Puerto Rico these days is adding to strains on the limited supplies of water, food and energy. Even before Hurricane Maria, the majority of the island’s food came from the <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/05/13/527934047/how-puerto-rico-lost-its-home-grown-food-but-might-find-it-again">U.S. mainland or was imported</a>. </p>
<p>That is why only two of us went on the initial assessment. It is also the rationale we are following as we focus on sending targeted medical supplies and small, mobile teams from Florida who join with the local medical staff to extend their reach into rural areas.</p>
<p>We believe that people who plan to visit their relatives in Puerto Rico or travel there to provide aid of any kind should plan their trips ahead of time and have an extremely clear purpose for this travel. They can also take a few common-sense precautions to ensure they are truly helping out.</p>
<p>For example, they can secure lodging in advance, perhaps in the homes of the locals. It’s best not to depend on hotels right now because many of them are housing Puerto Ricans who lost their homes.</p>
<p>Because clean water is in short supply and grocery stores are rationing it, it’s important for visitors to bring their own water filters and some bottled water as well. This will ensure that they don’t hog bottled water at their hosts’ homes. </p>
<p>Finally, it’s important to book your return flight before you go. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"927545032785219584"}"></div></p>
<p>Otherwise, you could wind up stuck there for weeks due to the <a href="http://wlrn.org/post/leaving-paradise-will-exodus-florida-hurt-puerto-rico-more-maria-did">exodus of locals</a> who are leaving for short-term stints or rebuilding their lives on the mainland.</p>
<p>Doctors for Puerto Rico plans to continue to work with the Puerto Rican Department of Health to recover the health sector for at least another six months. We are staying in Florida but responding to requests for help from the island’s vulnerable patients and health care providers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86535/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The cost and logistics of the medical relief operation described in this article are being covered by donations from the Hope and Health Foundation, Tampa General Hospital Medical Staff, several private foundations around Tampa Bay, and the University of South Florida. Jabil, a medical supply company, is providing logistical support like flights and shipping.</span></em></p>It’s hard but feasible to make a difference, as long as you work with the locals and don’t become a ‘disaster tourist.’Asa Oxner Myers, Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of South FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/856622017-10-18T23:38:55Z2017-10-18T23:38:55ZIs racial bias driving Trump’s neglect of Puerto Rico?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190637/original/file-20171017-30381-1yl5273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">He didn't throw paper towels in Texas. Why Puerto Rico?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Evan Vucci</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The morning after Hurricane Maria blasted through Puerto Rico, I emailed my aunt to ask if she was safe. That was Sept. 21. I heard back from her on Oct. 10. She was fine, she assured me, but “Puerto Rico is destroyed.” After that, my tia and I again lost contact; her email had come through during a brief moment of cell service. </p>
<p>Nearly a month after the hurricane, Puerto Rico still is still struggling with a near-total information blackout. Some <a href="http://www.latimes.com/visuals/framework/la-na-puerto-rico-unfurled-timeline-20171013-htmlstory.html">85 percent of the island lacks electricity</a>, and several remote mountain communities have yet to be visited by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/us/puerto-rico-doctors-storm.html">relief workers</a>. </p>
<p>The death toll has risen from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/14/us/puerto-rico-recovery/index.html">16 to nearly 50</a> as lack of fuel, food shortages and infectious illnesses <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-letting-americans-die-puerto-rico-684468">take their toll</a>. Over <a href="http://latinousa.org/2017/10/12/117-people-listed-missing-puerto-rico-since-hurricane-maria-hit-island/">100 people are still missing</a>.</p>
<p>The island is so crippled in part thanks to the federal government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/need-another-reason-to-help-puerto-rico-its-a-key-us-economic-and-military-asset-85453">underwhelming early hurricane response</a>. The historic storm played its role, of course, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/us/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-stranded.html">destroying homes, triggering mudslides and rendering roadways impassable</a>.</p>
<p>But the Trump administration delayed dispatching military personnel and material relief <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/puerto-rico-crisis/delayed-response-puerto-rico-has-echoes-katrina-some-n805861">until after the hurricane made landfall</a>, and let <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dhs-will-let-jones-act-waiver-for-puerto-rico-expire/">the Jones Act waiver lapse</a>, reducing the number of ships that can bring aid to the island. These actions have slowed recovery considerably.</p>
<p>Numerous commentators – including <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/puerto-rico-crisis/delayed-response-puerto-rico-has-echoes-katrina-some-n805861">Ret. Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré</a>, who ran the U.S. military’s 2005 Hurricane Katrina relief operation – have criticized the Trump administration’s Puerto Rico storm response. Others have <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-hurricane-response-puerto-rico-texas-florida-harvey-maria-irma-683534">contrasted</a> it with the all-hands-on-deck support seen by Harvey and Irma victims in Texas and Florida. </p>
<p>Based on my experience researching equity and inclusion in U.S. policy, racial bias may explain these disparate relief efforts, at least in part. Environmental disasters lay bare <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244013489684">existing inequalities</a> like prejudice and poverty. So in a place like Puerto Rico, where nearly 99 percent of the <a href="https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF">population</a> is Latino, discriminatory decision-making can hurt the community’s capacity to recover.</p>
<h2>An unflattering comparison</h2>
<p>In Texas and Florida, the president responded swiftly, visiting these southern states in <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-hurricane-response-puerto-rico-texas-florida-harvey-maria-irma-683534">a matter of days</a>. In Puerto Rico, on the other hand, President Trump arrived to survey the wreckage two weeks after Maria struck. </p>
<p>Likewise, while the president <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-hurricane-response-puerto-rico-texas-florida-harvey-maria-irma-683534">vowed</a> to stand with Texas and Florida “every single day” to help them “restore, recover and rebuild,” he seemed to mock Puerto Ricans’ plight at an Oct. 6 <a href="https://www.salon.com/2017/10/06/donald-trump-celebrates-hispanic-heritage-month-by-mocking-puerto-rico-in-spanish/">Hispanic Heritage Month</a> event. </p>
<p>Most recently, Trump <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/10/12/trump-warns-puerto-rico-we-cannot-keep-fema-the-military-the-first-responders-forever/?utm_term=.e70273a4bd5b">even threatened</a> to withdraw federal aid from Puerto Rico altogether, even though some communities have yet to see a penny. </p>
<p>There is empirical evidence that skin color impacts federal assistance. A <a href="https://pcl.stanford.edu/research/2007/iyengar-katrina-cues.pdf">2007 study</a> performed by researchers at Stanford and UCLA found that Americans are less willing to support extensive taxpayer-funded disaster relief when the victim population is not white. </p>
<p>Signs of racial bias in the current federal relief efforts go beyond Puerto Rico. The U.S. Virgin Islands, where 98 percent of the <a href="https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_VISF_P3&prodType=table">population</a> identifies as black or of African ancestry, were also battered by both Hurricanes Irma and Maria, leaving residents “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/us/virgin-islands-irma.html">in survival mode</a>.” The Trump administration <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/opinion/irma-virgin-islands-damage.html?_r=0">has also largely ignored</a> their suffering. </p>
<h2>Separate and unequal</h2>
<p>There are likely other explanations for why America’s Caribbean citizens are <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/355112-puerto-rico-gov-we-are-requesting-the-support-that-any-of-our">seeing such disparate post-storm treatment</a>.</p>
<p>One is political clout. These two U.S. territories were inevitably facing an uphill disaster recovery process because – unlike Texas and Florida – Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands <a href="https://newrepublic.com/minutes/145030/trump-looking-excuse-not-fund-puerto-ricos-recovery">don’t have representatives</a> defending their interests in Congress. </p>
<p>Partisanship is another likely factor. Facing <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/trumps-low-approval-ratings-set-unwanted-record/">historic disapproval ratings</a>, President Trump’s agenda has also narrowed toward <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-analysis/in-a-sudden-flurry-trump-looks-to-deliver-for-his-voters-idUSKBN1CI32X">rallying his base</a>. It’s predictable, then, that the president worked diligently to help Texas and Florida – states that <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/10/14/david_brooks_trump_treating_puerto_ricans_differently_because_they_dont_look_like_the_people_in_texas.html">supported him</a> in 2016 – while neglecting Caribbean residents, who cannot vote in a presidential election.</p>
<p>But I would contend that the differential post-hurricane treatment transcends these political disadvantages and reflects racial bias.</p>
<p>Throughout the disaster relief effort, President Trump’s rhetoric has highlighted just how different Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are from mainland America. He has called the islands’ leadership <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/30/us/politics/trump-puerto-rico-mayor.html">“poor” and “opportunistic”</a> and blamed Puerto Ricans for the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/12/politics/donald-trump-puerto-rico-tweets/index.html">financial crisis that’s now confounding the island’s recovery</a>. </p>
<p>Trump has also railed on Puerto Ricans for “wanting everything to be done for them” and failing to <a href="http://time.com/4963903/donald-trump-puerto-rican-leaders-want-everything-to-be-done-for-them/">contribute more to the relief efforts</a>. According to the president, not aid workers but Puerto Ricans themselves should be out <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/16/politics/donald-trump-puerto-rico-water-distribution/index.html">distributing food and water</a>. I have spent a decade studying urban policy toward communities of color, so <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-saul/donald-trump-racial-figle_b_9033224.html">coded</a> language like this <a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/segregation-now">raises red flags</a> for me.</p>
<p>It is especially concerning given President Trump’s own problematic history dealing with race. On the campaign trail <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/trump-says-black-lives-matter-movement-looking-trouble">he antagonized the Black Lives Matter movement</a>, and as president <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/trump-defends-white-nationalist-protesters-some-very-fine-people-on-both-sides/537012/">he defended the violence of white supremacists in Charlottesville</a>.</p>
<h2>Flint lives matter</h2>
<p>Recent U.S. history also offers examples suggesting that communities of color are neglected when disaster hits. </p>
<p><a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244013489684">New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina</a> is the classic case study. After the city’s evacuation plan failed, black Americans were left stranded and desperate for <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/storm/etc/cron.html">up to 14 days</a> while the federal government’s <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/08/hurricane_katrina_10th_anniversary_how_the_black_lives_matter_movement_was.html">belated and dysfunctional rescue operation</a> flailed.</p>
<p>Assessing the situation, rapper Kanye West famously went off script at a live fundraiser for hurricane victims, declaring, “<a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/08/27/_george_bush_doesn_t_care_about_black_people_how_kanye_west_s_katrina_moment.html">George Bush doesn’t care about black people</a>.” </p>
<p>More recently, in April 2014, residents of Flint, Michigan, a predominantly black community, began falling ill after the <a href="https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/09/daily-chart-18">highly contaminated Flint River</a> became their only water source. Community members raised concern about the foul-smelling water coming out of their faucets, and doctors alerted state and federal officials about elevated lead levels in the water. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190641/original/file-20171017-30379-1yhmafy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190641/original/file-20171017-30379-1yhmafy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190641/original/file-20171017-30379-1yhmafy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190641/original/file-20171017-30379-1yhmafy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190641/original/file-20171017-30379-1yhmafy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190641/original/file-20171017-30379-1yhmafy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190641/original/file-20171017-30379-1yhmafy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Michigan, it didn’t go without saying that ‘Flint Lives Matter.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Andrew Harnik</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even so, state officials did not acknowledge Flint’s crisis until <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/09/flint-had-a-lead-crisis-in-its-water-now-it-has-a-fertility-crisis/">September 2015</a>, after 91 residents had been diagnosed with waterborne bacterial illnesses. And only this year did <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/27/us/flint-water-lead-pipes.html">the city finally agree to replace their water lines</a>. The city won’t have clean water until 2020. </p>
<p>In short, though environmental disasters don’t see race, people do – and <a href="http://prospect.org/article/harvey-not-natural-disaster">if bias influences the decision-making of those in power</a>, survivors will feel it. </p>
<p>Puerto Rico’s demographics diverge from that of the <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045216">U.S. general population</a>, where just 18 percent of people identify as Latino and 13 percent as black. President Trump’s behavior seems to reflects that racial difference, whether he knows it or not.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85662/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Lluveras does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Evidence shows that US taxpayers are less willing to support extensive disaster relief when the victims are not white. Could that explain the Trump administration’s lackluster support for Puerto Rico?Lauren Lluveras, PhD candidate in African & African Diaspora Studies, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.