Loíza, Puerto Rico, is filled with palm trees, unassuming bars, bomba music, beautiful beaches — and strong-willed locals who refuse to be forgotten. LOÍZA, Puerto Rico — The waves crashed loudly on the collapsed ruins of the Paseo del Atlántico, a walkway that once partially protected residents here from the volatile ocean. Erosion along this northernmost coast of Puerto Rico, nearly 20 miles east of San Juan, precipitated the promenade’s destruction…
By Lauren Lluveras, The Conversation — Puerto Rico was in crisis long before Hurricane Maria hit on Sept. 20, 2017. For years, this U.S. territory had been struggling with debt, economic crisis and drought. In May 2017, the government defaulted on US$73 billion in loans and declared bankruptcy. Then Hurricane Maria slammed the island with 155-mph winds and coastal flooding that rose to 6 feet within 30 minutes of landfall. The storm caused the longest power blackout in…
As warming temperatures caused by climate change is strengthening hurricanes, leaders in the region plead with Trump to rejoin the Paris climate deal. By Oliver Milman, The Guardian — Caribbean states and territories have rounded on the Trump administration for dismantling the US’s response to climate change, warning that greenhouse gas emissions must be sharply cut to avoid hurricanes and sea level rise threatening the future of their island idylls. The…
The disastrous impacts of Hurricane Maria were magnified by inequalities of race, income, and access to U.S. political power. By Basav Sen, Foreign Policy in Focus — Residents of Puerto Rico are confronting the prospect of a fresh hurricane season, which will likely bring five to nine hurricanes, including one to four major hurricanes. The island, badly battered by last year’s Hurricane Maria, still hasn’t recovered. We continue to learn more about how…
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? By Elizabeth J. Zechmeister and Claire Q. Evans, The Conversation — During the 2017 Atlantic basin hurricane season, 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.
By Santhia Rodriguez, Daily Beast — I call these my hurricane diaries. We got shelter inside the refinery where we work after harassing one of the big bosses. But it’s…
Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. W.I. 29 September 2017. During the past month the Caribbean has been pummelled by two catastrophic category 5 hurricanes: Irma and Maria. The aftermath of these hurricanes has been the loss of lives and significant damage to infrastructure across several Caribbean islands. The University of the West Indies (The UWI), has been working closely with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), as well as Heads of Government to mobilise its resources and expertise to provide support and relief.
Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. September 23, 2017. Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles issues the following statement on the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria: “Hurricane Irma’s fury preceded Maria’s by a deadly Caribbean second. Together they constitute the familiar sound of death and destruction reminiscent of a colonial past that clings to the present and is determined to possess and own the Caribbean future.
By The Conversation — Hurricane Maria, the 15th tropical depression this season, is now battering the Caribbean, just two weeks after Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc in the region. The devastation in Dominica is “mind-boggling,” wrote the country’s prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, on Facebook just after midnight on September 19. The next day, in Puerto Rico, NPR reported via member station WRTU in San Juan that “Most of the island is without power…or water.” Among the Caribbean…
By Mike Ludwig, Truthout — Last week, just days after Hurricane Irma thrashed through the Caribbean with record-high winds, the Catholic bishop of the island nation of Dominica sent a letter to the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Bishop Gabriel Malzaire pleaded with the IMF to temporarily delay debt payments from Antigua and Barbuda and other islands left in ruins by the storm. “The few dozen small…
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