The True Scope of the Disaster in Puerto Rico
By Vann R. Newkirk II
May 29, 2018 at 06:15PM
via The Atlantic http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/theatlantic/TZRn/~3/mF63gxzuezU/
«Hurricane Maria looks increasingly like Katrina in terms of its effects. At the lower end of the Harvard researchers' death range, it could match Katrina's toll, and on the higher end, it could eclipse it. If the true death count is closer to 8,000, the September storm would be the single most devastating natural disaster to hit the United States since the Galveston Hurricane in 1900.
Beyond raw death counts, the woes inflicted—and uncovered—by Maria are comparable to those revealed after Katrina. As I reported in October, many of the lasting effects of flooding, contamination, and ill health in Puerto Rico compounded along lines of race and class, just as they did after Katrina hit New Orleans. Maria has also shined a spotlight on the federal government's relationship with its largest territory, further exacerbating one of the most consequential domestic migrations since the Dust Bowl and exposing the future difficulties of austerity on a debt-riddled island.»