13 October 2017 (United Nations) – Sudden onset disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and tropical cyclones, are likely to displace nearly 14 million people worldwide each year, warns a United Nations-backed study released Friday – International Day for Disaster Reduction.“This is an important baseline against which we can measure progress in reducing disaster risk. […]
Philadelphia, PA, 12 October 2017 (Elsevier) – While strong seasonal hurricanes have devastated many of the Caribbean and Bahamian islands this year, geologic studies on several of these islands illustrate that more extreme conditions existed in the past. A new analysis published in Marine Geology shows that the limestone islands of the Bahamas and Bermuda […]
By Mike Carlowicz 27 September 2017 (NASA) – Hurricane Maria tore across Puerto Rico on 20 September 2017, ravaging both urban and rural areas with category 4 winds and intense rainfall for several days. Most of the electric power grid and telecommunications network was knocked offline; towns both inland and at the coast were swamped […]
WASHINGTON, 12 October 2017 (Associated Press) – President Donald Trump lashed out at hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico on Thursday, insisting that federal help will be limited and blaming the U.S. territory for its financial struggles. The broadside came as the House headed toward passage of a $36.5 billion disaster aid package, including assistance for Puerto Rico. […]
By Luis Ferré-Sadurní 11 October 2017LUQUILLO, Puerto Rico (The New York Times) – When you looked up, you could once see nothing but the lush, emerald canopy of tabonuco and sierra palm trees covering El Yunque National Forest. That was before Hurricane Maria obliterated the only tropical rain forest in the United States forest system. […]
By Eliza Barclay and Alexia Fernández Campbell 11 October 2017 (Vox) – Death tolls are the primary way we understand the impact of a disaster. And for nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, as a humanitarian crisis was intensifying, the death toll was frozen at 16.“Sixteen people certified,” Trump said on 3 […]
By Daniella Diaz 12 October 2017 Washington (CNN) – President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that Puerto Rico is going to have to shoulder more responsibility for recovery efforts from Hurricane Maria, saying the federal government’s emergency responders can’t stay there “forever.” His comments — in which he also blamed the beleaguered island for a financial […]
By Manuel Roig-Franzia and Arelis R. Hernández 11 October 2017 YABUCOA, PUERTO RICO (The Washington Post) – Late each night, Rafael Surillo Ruiz, the mayor of a town with one of Puerto Rico’s most critical ports, drives for miles on darkened roads, easing around downed power lines and crumpled tree branches — to check his […]
By Robert Jay Lifton 7 October 2017 (The New York Times) – Climate images have never been able to convey our full planetary danger until now. The extraordinary recent four-punch sequence of hurricanes — Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Maria — threatened the lives of millions of people, obliterated their homes and has raised doubts that […]
WASHINGTON, 9 October 2017 (Reuters) – Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello said on Monday he ordered an investigation of water distribution on the hurricane-battered island and warned that there would be “hell to pay” for mishandling of the supplies. In an interview with CNN, Rossello said drinking water supplies have been restored to roughly 60 […]
