At Least Trump Got Us Thinking About Post-Maria Puerto Rico Again

Somebody wrote "HELP" on the roof of this hurricane-
ravaged building in Puerto Rico

Say what you want about Donald Trump's mean tweets about Puerto Rico that he rattled off Thursday morning: He did get us thinking about Puerto Rico and its struggling recovery from Hurricane Maria.

Which is a good thing, since there's a humanitarian crisis continuing in Puerto Rico and we should be thinking about it.

In case you missed it, Trump said this:

"We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever."

Never mind that it's only been three weeks since Category 4 Hurricane Maria slammed Puerto Rico, that food is not getting to some people yet, that 40 percent of the population has no good access to clean drinking water, and 85 percent or so of the  island still does not have electricity.

Not to mention Puerto Ricans are American citizens and need the same kind of help we afford other people caught up in national disasters.

FEMA usually helps with disasters long term. As CNN notes, FEMA is still involved in recovery from Hurricane Katrina (2005) Hurricanes Ike and Gustav and Iowa floods (all 2008) Vermont and New York's own Hurricane Irene (2011) and many other disasters dating back two to ten years.

So why the rush to get out of Puerto Rico, Mr. President?

Many disasters that have afflicted the nation this year. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The ongoing California fires (death toll 31 and rising) and a Denver area hailstorm in May ($2.1 billion in damage)

But Hurricane Maria is surely the worst disaster of the year for us, especially in terms of the death toll.  Official counts put the number of deaths from Maria in Puerto Rico so far at 45. That's bad, but doesn't seem as awful as some huge calamaties.

Yet, I'm sure - and a lot of experts agree - that we'll learn the Puerto Rican death toll is much higher. And will continue to climb due to a faulty relief effort. One analysis by Vox estimated the death toll there at 450 so far.

Of course, it's tricky to get an accurate count of deaths caused by the aftermath of the storm. Are people dying for lack of good water and adequate food? Most healthy people can survive temporary food shortages, but people who were sick to begin with can't. How do we determine if they died from the disaster and its aftermath or from natural causes?

That's being picky. Because surely people are dying in Puerto Rico who wouldn't have had they gotten aid fast enough. One death is too many. We have to wonder how many are dying. Scary.

In any event, Vox says some members of Congress want an audit of Maria deaths in Puerto Rico to get a more accurate view of the cope of this crisis.

Aid, especially to the interior of Puerto Rico is shockingly inadequate.

The New York Times said dialysis patients have had their treatments cut back for lack of electricity, putting these people in mortal danger. People are also getting sick and even dying of water-borne diseases.

The hospital ship U.S.S. Comfort is docked in San Juan harbor, but few people have been airlifted there. As of Wednesday, only seve people were being treated on the ship, which  has a capacity for 250 patients.

On top of all this, it seems plenty of food and water is making it to Puerto Rico at the moment, but not all of it is being distributed to the people who most need it.

Blocked, wrecked roads, poor communication, no electricity and a host of other factors are keeping relief from people, especially in remote areas.

Let's keep the pressure on the administration to stay with Puerto Rico as long as it takes to get the territory completely back on its feet. We can't rely on Trump to accidentally and temporarily put our focus there. We have to do it ourselves, in a sustained way.