Portside

Sorry, but we don’t help the little people

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The next several months could bring hurricanes, floods and fire, on top of the pandemic currently raging through the country. How do you shelter in place during an evacuation?

In the past week alone, the Puerto Rico Seismic Network registered 43 “significant” quakes, leaving many people fearful of going home. More than 8,000 houses have been damaged. Months after the first earthquake, thousands are still homeless.

More people were killed by Maria than by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. This time, we can't blame anyone but ourselves. The Trump administration and majority-GOP Congress treated post-Maria Puerto Rico with malignant neglect. As the 2018 hurricane season fast approaches, Puerto Rico remains in dire

Warring visions have now erupted over the energy and economic futures of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.Will the islands become a cutting-edge green-powered solartopia for the benefit of their long-time residents? Or a fossil-fueled robber baron playground like Hong Kong or Singapore, set to operate for the profit of outside corporate investors?

Most of the various predecessors to FEMA weren’t all that concerned with civilian natural disasters. They were primarily focused on responding to nuclear war; the evolution to being the first call after a hurricane, flood, or tornado came about in part because it turned out America doesn’t have all that many nuclear wars—and the equipment and supply stockpiles and disaster-response experts at FEMA’s predecessors were useful for something other than the apocalypse.

More than two months after the deadly explosion in West, Texas, the state has done almost nothing to prevent future disasters.