Background. After its landfall in Puerto Rico in 2017, Hurricane Maria caused the longest blackout in United States history,
producing cascading effects on a health care system that had already been weakened by decades of public sector austerity and neoliberal health reforms
.
What was Puerto Rico's main problem after Hurricane Maria?
After the storm,
massive landslides and downed trees blocked mountain roads
, cutting the town off from the rest of the island for weeks. Many residents have not rebuilt their homes, and many roofs are still covered with blue tarps.
What were the long term impacts of Hurricane Maria?
In the aftermath of the September 2017 storm, Puerto Ricans suffered
higher rates of obesity, arthritis, high cholesterol, blood pressure and triglycerides
, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Why is Hurricane Maria so devastating to Puerto Rico?
In Maria's case, up to 35 inches of rain over mountainous Puerto Rico, with
rainfall rates of up to 5 to 7 inches per hour triggered destructive flash flooding
. Roads and bridges were washed out, landslides triggered by the heavy rain dragged some homes down hillsides and left many other areas isolated.
What damage did Hurricane Maria cause?
Hurricane Maria resulted in about
$90 billion
in damage, making it the third costliest hurricane in U.S. history. In December, Puerto Rico was hit by a sequence of seismic events that triggered multiple strong earthquakes that brought down hundreds of homes and schools in January.
How did Hurricane Maria affect Puerto Rico's tourism?
The storm destroyed buildings, knocked out electricity for months, killed an estimated 2,975 people, and left at least $80 billion in damage.
The island's tourism industry, which accounts for 6.5% of its GDP, was decimated, with typically jam-packed areas like Old San Juan becoming “ghost towns.”
The storm
left thousands of families without homes and destroyed some communities entirely
. In August 2018, the Puerto Rican government raised the official death toll to an estimated 2,975 people — 46 times higher than the original count of 64 deaths, released in December 2017.
How did Hurricane Maria affect the hydrosphere?
Hurricanes and the HYDROSPHERE: The hydrosphere fuels a hurricane.
Hurricanes affect flooding and can cause salt water bodies to contaminate freshwater bodies, making it difficult to supply drinking water and destroying habitats
.
How is Puerto Rico health care?
Public Healthcare in Puerto Rico
The public healthcare sector in Puerto Rico is
generally well managed and is handled via a government-run program
. No, healthcare is not free. However, the government provides insurance for those who qualify for the “la Reforma”, a government-funded program.
What are the short term effects of hurricanes?
(SHORT TERM Social)
People may be killed or injured
. water pipes burst and water supplies may be contaminated. Fires can damage areas of woodland.
How much of Puerto Rico did Hurricane Maria destroy?
Over half of Puerto Rico is still without electricity and communications to this day. The storm caused unimaginable damage to agriculture across the region. Hurricane Maria wiped out
80 percent
of Puerto Rico's crop value, causing a loss of $780 million in agriculture yields according to preliminary PRDA estimates.
Why was hurricane Maria so destructive?
Human-caused climate change
was the driving force behind Hurricane Maria's devastating and deadly precipitation, a new study finds. Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 as a super-hurricane with 155-mile-per-hour winds.
What major issue occurred in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Irma's impact on critical infrastructure?
The Immediate Aftermath
Damage to critical infrastructure resulted in
cascading failures of the lifeline systems of energy, transportation, communications, water supply, and wastewater treatment and impeded response operations
.
How did Hurricane Irma affect people's lives?
It is estimated that Irma
caused at least $50 billion in damage in Florida and led to 84 deaths
. Cities like Miami and Jacksonville suffered flooding, and some 60% of homes across Florida were left without power. In Florida inland areas like Immokalee experienced widespread flooding.
What part of Puerto Rico was damaged by the hurricane?
Widespread flooding affected
San Juan
, waist-deep in some areas, and numerous structures lost their roof. The coastal La Perla neighborhood of San Juan was largely destroyed. Cataño saw extensive damage, with the Juana Matos neighborhood estimated to be 80 percent destroyed.
What natural disasters happen in Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico faces natural hazards including
hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, subsidence, and flooding
. Although Puerto Ricans perceive themselves as highly vulnerable to these hazards, few have adopted mitigation measures except for mandatory insurance.
Why did Hurricane Maria occur?
Hurricane Maria was the tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record and caused catastrophic damage in Puerto Rico in late September 2017.
Originating from a tropical wave
, it developed into a tropical depression on September 16 while situated to the east of the Lesser Antilles.
How does tourism affect Puerto Rico?
Why travel now? Tourism supports the island's economy. As Puerto Rico — and the rest of the world — begins to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, tourism dollars are more crucial than ever. The CEO of Discover Puerto Rico, Brad Dean, noted that
tourism makes up 10% of Puerto Rico's GDP
.
Why does Puerto Rico have so many hurricanes?
Puerto Rico is uniquely susceptible due to it's status as an island on the hurricane belt, which puts it at risk for rising sea level and severe storms. In recent years, Puerto Rico has experienced devastating hurricanes, which are increasing in intensity and occurrence due to
rising global temperatures
(IPCC, 2014).
How long did it take for Puerto Rico to recover from Hurricane Maria?
“Thousands of houses with blue tarps. That is happening in America.” Hurricane Maria left $90 billion in damages and Congress allocated at least $63 billion for disaster relief and recovery operations.
Four years
later, about 71 percent of those funds have not reached communities on the island archipelago.
What countries were affected by Hurricane Maria?
- Anguilla.
- Antigua and Barbuda.
- Barbados.
- Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba (The Netherlands)
- British Virgin Islands.
- Cuba.
- Dominica.
- Dominican Republic.
How do hurricanes affect the environment?
Strong winds and flooding can uproot plants and kill land animals, devastating natural areas. Hurricanes may also
destroy energy and chemical production facilities, gas stations, and other businesses, causing the release of toxic chemicals and pollutants into the environment
.
How do hurricanes affect the atmosphere?
Hurricanes bring extreme rainfall
Warm air can hold more moisture than cool air. In tropical cyclones, the air is particularly warm and can hold a tremendous amount of moisture. The moisture cools as it rises and condenses into heavy rain, often much more than a typical low pressure system .
How did Hurricane Katrina affect the atmosphere?
With the help of NASA satellite data, a research team has estimated that Hurricane Katrina killed or severely damaged 320 million large trees in Gulf Coast forests, which
weakened the role the forests play in storing carbon from the atmosphere
.
