Mass Exodus From Puerto Rico Feared

[JJReyes]

Out of curiosity, I did additional research. Constitutional scholars continue to debate the issue because Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory. Therefore, the rights of citizenship is not 100%. The issue won't be settled until residents decide whether they become the 51st state or an independent country.

Interesting footnote. Filipinos were US Nationals from 1898 to 1946. The country voted for independence.

[Gerald Glatt]

7 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Let me be sure my understanding is correct:

Texas has a hurricane and people stay to rebuild

Florida has a hurricane and people stay to rebuild

Puerto Rico has a hurricane and its:  Run Away!  Run Away!

Hmm.  Now I think I understand why they are not the 52nd state.

that would be 51st

[marine6357]

yes true they do not have citizenship guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.

[Jollygoodfellow]

Why do politics enter so many topics? 

[canadamale]

There will be lots of work all throughout  the Caribbean  affected  by these storms. Probably some very good prices on some very nice properties. The American gov. will step in and assist Puerto Rico. America always comes to help. There will always be those who say they can/ should do more. But in my limited exp it is the Americans who alway carry the heaviest load. 

[JJReyes]

One consequence from the vast devastation is economic boom. Large quantities of steel, concrete, lumber and roofing materials are needed. Washing machines, furniture, refrigerators, etc. will be replaced. Private insurance will replace their theoretical losses by increasing premium. The government prints money which will trigger the inflation the US Federal Reserves has been waiting for. By this time next year, the US economy should be growing above 3%. Some sectors like tourism in these affected areas will be down for several years.

 

[Reboot]

Great, like more Puerto Ricans are all we need in FL.

Edited September 29, 2017 by Reboot

[Reboot]

1 hour ago, JJReyes said:

One consequence from the vast devastation is economic boom. Large quantities of steel, concrete, lumber and roofing materials are needed. Washing machines, furniture, refrigerators, etc. will be replaced. Private insurance will replace their theoretical losses by increasing premium. The government prints money which will trigger the inflation the US Federal Reserves has been waiting for. By this time next year, the US economy should be growing above 3%. Some sectors like tourism in these affected areas will be down for several years.

 

Which only demonstrates how GDP is largely a bullshit number unmoored from economic reality. There is no overall economic boom from going around the neighborhood smashing windows to create jobs for glassmakers.

Edited September 29, 2017 by Reboot

[Castaway]

3 weeks after Maria, Puerto Rico's pain is unending

The 80-year-old woman's suicide note was ready when the volunteer nurses knocked on her door in the northern coastal town of Rio Grande. She'd had enough.

"Her caretaker was abusing her," Bita Mehrjou, a New York-based nurse assisting with relief efforts in Puerto Rico, said Thursday. "She was alone. There was little food and water. The situation wasn't getting better. She wanted out. She tried taking all her pills."

It's been three weeks since Hurricane Maria plowed across the island.

Since then, Puerto Rico's 3.4 million American citizens have been plagued with power outages and a dangerous shortage of drinking water. More than a hundred people remain unaccounted for. Animal corpses rot in stagnant water, providing a breeding ground for infection and disease.

Over all of it, the shadow of debt looms. The estimated cost of Maria's damage is $95 billion -- almost an entire year's economic output for the island.

For many, desperation has taken over. Mehrjou, traveling across the island since last week with more than 20 American Federation of Teachers nurses and health professionals, said the elderly woman who contemplated suicide was rushed to a hospital after the nurses alerted the town's mayor.

In a phone interview, Mehrjou said her team also came across a woman trapped on the sixth floor of an assisted living facility. She had not eaten in three days. They met an elderly woman with a gangrenous foot. She was bedridden and dehydrated. Her heart rate was in the 180s. Her family could not get her an ambulance.

The nurses met a colon cancer patient who had been unable to receive chemotherapy for three weeks, Mehrjou said. One family lacked the psychiatric drugs needed to control the violent behavior of a 30-year-old relative. So they kept him locked in a hot room.  "People are scared," she said. "They're not sure what to do."

http://us.cnn.com/2017/10/12/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-three-weeks-update/index.html

[Jake]

7 hours ago, Castaway said:

3 weeks after Maria, Puerto Rico's pain is unending

 

Hurricanes Irma and Maria hitting that area back to back was like a gigantic lawn mower devastating people and property like an apocalyptic war zone. 

Even though "Puerto Rico is an island. Surrounded by water. Big water. Ocean water", the travesty of this whole mess should also be characterized by the actions from the white house (not capitalized).

My thoughts and prayers goes out for those affected.  Last time I check, the Puerto Ricans are also American citizens.  

Edited October 13, 2017 by Jake
attitude check