Big storms with lots of flooding, like hurricanes Dorian and Maria, actually restore the Caribbean’s delicate balance between native and nonnative fish species, new research finds.
Rosselló’s corruption is just the latest in a string of disasters for Puerto Ricans – but it also created an opportunity for a stressed community to come together.
It’s been one year since a Category 4 storm turned Puerto Rico into a disaster zone. Today, nearly every pillar of society — including the economy, health care and schools — remains hobbled.
As Trump fumes about the Hurricane Maria death toll, it’s clear that politics and political considerations often play an important role in how death toll estimates are communicated to the public.
While the hurricanes last year dealt devastating blows to Puerto Rico, its challenges predate the storms and continue on today. They also offer new opportunities.
Cecilia A. Green, Syracuse University and Farah Nibbs, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
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.
A survey shows that most Puerto Ricans didn’t highly rate the official information coming out of the island. With the Institute of Statistics in trouble, the situation is likely not to improve.
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.
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.
Official reports state that just 64 people died in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. The latest estimates put the real number at 4,645. How did the count go so wrong?
Masaō Ashtine, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus
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.
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.
Many Puerto Ricans are happy to see their broke power utility sold off to whoever can get the lights turned back on. But privatizing the island’s energy grid may bring more problems than relief.
Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, Religion and Civic Culture Center, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences