After being hammered by hurricane Maria, the residents of the rural
Puerto Rican mountain town of Mariana got tired of waiting for the
bumbling, privatized, cash-starved power authority to reconnect them to
the grid, so the anarchist organizer Christine Nieves founded Proyecto
de Apoyo Mutuo, one of a dozen-odd cooperatives across the island to
create their own solar grid; by the time the The Puerto Rico Electric
Power Authority finally put in appearance, Mariana had had power for two
whole months.
After Maria, Puerto Rico suffered the second-longest blackout in world
history, ignored by both the federal government and the gutted, heavily
privatized local government. So community organizers like Nieves took
matters into their own hands.
Nieves’s group formed an alliance with the Katrina-inspired Mutual Aid
Disaster Relief, which fundraised to send gear to Puerto Rico.
The island-wide efforts are rare bright spots in a year-long crisis with
no end in sight. Naturally, they’ve faced police harassment and raids
looking for “antifa.”
3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit
Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had
anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much.
Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers,
like 3000…. [twitter]
….This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as
possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help
rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just
add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico! [twitter]
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in September 2017. The 2,975 count
comes from a George Washington University study, published in July,
which included people who died of thist, starvation, disease or neglect
as a direct result of the storm. 64 (not “6 to 18”) were reportedly
killed outright by drowning, falling debris, in collapsing buildings,
etc.
As the Carolinas prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Florence, currently a Category 4 storm, Senator Jeff Merkley appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show with a document that shows $10,000,000 was diverted from FEMA’s budget to pay for ICE detention centers.
It’s believed the transfer of funds took place at the beginning of
summer. You know, right before the start of hurricane season. And if
that’s not enough to make your blood boil, this video of Trump calling
his administration’s handling of Puerto Rico during and after Hurricane
Maria “an incredible, unsung success” should do the trick.
I’m sure Carolinians are relieved the President of the United States
considers 3000 dead Americans an incredible, unsung success. No worries,
Outer Banks! He’ll be there to throw paper towels at you soon.
