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The Battle for paradise : Puerto Rico takes on the disaster capitalists
\"In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich \"Puertopians\" are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island. In this vital and startling investigation, New York Times bestselling author and activist Naomi Klein uncovers how the forces of shock politics and disaster capitalism seek to undermine the nation's radical, resilient vision for a just recovery.\"--page[4] of cover.
Book
Maria in Puerto Rico: Natural Disaster in a Colonial Archipelago
[...]community-level actions were fundamental in restoring access to neighborhoods and, ultimately, saving lives. When compared with US states and territories, Puerto Rico has the highest prevalence rates of premature births,4 one of the highest incidence rates of HIV,5 and was the focal point of the Zika virus epidemic.6 The potential implications of the aftermath of Hurricane Maria are severe for public health, when one considers that Puerto Rico is also structurally underresourced. The possible implementation of further austerity measures on Puerto Rico's government budget raises even more concerns about the availability of local resources to address the health care challenges posed by the public health situation after Hurricane Maria. [...]the federal response to the emergency in Puerto Rico has been slow and limited. Correspondence should be sent to Carlos E. Rodríguez-Díaz, Associate Professor, Doctoral Program in Public Health with Specialty in Social Determinants of Health and the Center for Evaluation and Sociomedical Research, Graduate School ofPublic Health, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus, PO Box 365067, San Juan, PR 00936-5067 (e-mail: carlos.rodriguez64@upr.edu).
Journal Article
Causes of Excess Deaths in Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria: A Time-Series Estimation
Objectives. To determine the number and causes of excess deaths in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria made landfall on September 20, 2017. Methods. We obtained monthly vital statistics data on all deaths from January 2008 through October 2017. We conducted a time-series analysis to estimate excess mortality in September and October 2017 overall and by age, sex, and cause of death. Results. We estimated a total of 1205 excess deaths (95% confidence interval [CI] = 707, 1702). Excess deaths were slightly higher among men than women (632 and 579 deaths, respectively) and found only among people aged 60 years or older (1038 deaths). Most excess deaths occurred from heart disease (253 deaths), “other” causes (204 deaths), diabetes (195 deaths), Alzheimer’s disease (122 deaths), and septicemia (81 deaths). Conclusions. The number of excess deaths was similar to recent government estimates. However, this study is the first to identify the causes of death that were exacerbated by the disaster. Public Health Implications. An accurate estimation of the top causes of excess mortality can help authorities plan resource allocation for the island’s recovery and for the prevention of deaths in future disasters.
Journal Article
The View from Puerto Rico — Hurricane Maria and Its Aftermath
Hurricane Maria caused vast damage affecting Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million inhabitants. Loss of communication and electricity, water scarcity, isolation of residents, slow coordination of aid, and the scope of needed repairs merit a call for help from the global community.
Journal Article
From Disaster Response to Community Recovery: Nongovernmental Entities, Government, and Public Health
In this article, we examine the role of nongovernmental entities (NGEs; nonprofits, religious groups, and businesses) in disaster response and recovery. Although media reports and the existing scholarly literature focus heavily on the role of governments, NGEs provide critical services related to public safety and public health after disasters. NGEs are crucial because of their ability to quickly provide services, their flexibility, and their unique capacity to reach marginalized populations. To examine the role of NGEs, we surveyed 115 NGEs engaged in disaster response. We also conducted extensive field work, completing 44 hours of semistructured interviews with staff from NGEs and government agencies in postdisaster areas in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, Northern California, and Southern California. Finally, we compiled quantitative data on the distribution of nonprofit organizations. We found that, in addition to high levels of variation in NGE resources across counties, NGEs face serious coordination and service delivery problems. Federal funding for expanding the capacity of local Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster groups, we suggest, would help NGEs and government to coordinate response efforts and ensure that recoveries better address underlying social and economic vulnerabilities.
Journal Article
Using geotagged tweets to track population movements to and from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria
After a disaster, there is an urgent need for information on population mobility. Our analysis examines the suitability of Twitter data for measuring post-disaster population mobility using the case of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Among Twitter users living in Puerto Rico, we show how many were displaced, the timing and destination of their displacement, and whether they returned. Among Twitter users arriving in Puerto Rico after the disaster, we show the timing and destination of their trips. We find that 8.3% of resident sample relocated during the months after Hurricane Maria and nearly 4% of were still displaced 9 months later. Visitors to Puerto Rico fell significantly in the year after Hurricane Maria, especially in tourist areas. While our Twitter data is not representative of the Puerto Rican population, it provides broad evidence of the effect of this disaster on population mobility and suggests further potential use.
Journal Article
Language, Skin Tone, and Attitudes toward Puerto Rico in the Aftermath of Hurricane Maria
Understanding the factors that lead Americans to racialize putatively race-neutral policies is increasingly important in a diversifying society. This paper focuses on the case of disaster relief for Puerto Ricans in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. I draw on a framework of racial and ethnic subordination with two dimensions: inferiority–superiority, operationalized by skin color, and foreignness–Americanness, operationalized by language. I conduct a nationally representative survey experiment that varies the skin tone (light or dark) and language (English or Spanish) of otherwise similar actors who portray hurricane victims. The results suggest that two stigmatized attributes, dark skin and foreign language, do not always render an individual “doubly stigmatized.” Instead, for an already racialized group like Puerto Ricans, perceived foreignness may offset Americans’ stereotypes about the cultural pathologies of a racial underclass. Therefore, this paper underscores the importance of a multidimensional and intersectional approach to the study of racial and ethnic politics.
Journal Article
United States Federal Policies Contributing to Health and Health Care Inequities in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States since 1898, has recently experienced an increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters and public health emergencies. In 2022, Hurricane Fiona became the latest storm to attract media attention and cast a light on Puerto Rico’s deteriorating conditions, including infrastructural failings, health care provider shortages, and high levels of chronic illness. Although recent events have been uniquely devastating, decades of inequitable US federal policy practices have fueled the persistence of health inequities in the territory. Here we demonstrate how existing health and health care inequities in Puerto Rico have been exacerbated by compounding disasters but are rooted in the differential treatment of the territory under US federal policies. Specifically, we focus on the unequal US Federal Emergency Management Agency response to disasters in the territory, the lack of parity in federal Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico’s limited political power as a territory of the United States. We also provide empirically supported policy recommendations aimed at reducing health and health care inequities in the often-forgotten US territory of Puerto Rico. ( Am J Public Health. 2024;114(S6):S478–S484. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307585 ) [Formula: see text]
Journal Article