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Puerto Rico Hurricane Impacts

720 Words3 Pages

The significant tragic event that stands out in my mind is the devastating hurricanes of 2017 that hit Texas, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The devastation will always be in my mind as I currently live here in TX. The hurricanes affected many families close and far away from where they actually made land fall. The hurricanes affected the way of life for many Americans and to this day those areas have not fully recovered from the damage that was caused. Family members are still looking for loved ones in Puerto Rico from the water that rushed in and pulled them away. Rebuilding has begun, but the grieving is still ongoing for many families that were affected. The lack of water and electricity has caused a myriad of issues for the people in …show more content…

In October, President Donald Trump signed a relief bill to help rebuild areas of the country damaged by natural disasters this fall, including up to $4.9 billion in loans to help Puerto Rico’s cash-strapped central government (Connelly Holmes, 2017). This help would significantly help Puerto Rico in the long term, but short term it did little as the bureaucracy took over. The agencies that wanted to help were stuck because of bidding on government contracts and red tape from the federal government. Private businesses and citizens decided to take things into their own hands to help Puerto …show more content…

In their eyes they were not good enough to warrant the efforts that people received on the main land. Although logistics was a problem, the effort was just not there. President Trump got into spats with government officials from Puerto Rico, and in my opinion this hurt the efforts even more. All Americans should be treated equally and no one life should be put before others. Lessons should have been learned from the devastation that happened in the ninth ward of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. It is the responsibility of the federal government to be prepared for scenarios like a hurricane because after all they can see them coming. The way that the Puerto Rican people were treated affected society as a whole, now people see how the government can take anyone for

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