Tag: puerto rico
-
Puerto Rico still in the dark six months after hurricane
Video In the dark six months after storm -
Trump disputes Puerto Rico hurricane death toll
Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption The US territory has asked Congress for $139bn in recovery funds
US President Donald Trump is disputing that nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico after the island was hit by two hurricanes last year.
“3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico,” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter, without offering evidence for the claim.
He added that Democrats had inflated the official death toll to “make me look as bad as possible”.
The official figure was released last month after an independent study.
On Thursday, Mr Trump wrote in a pair of tweets that Democrats were attacking him “when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico”.
Where does the official death toll come from?
A George Washington University study in July found that 2,975 people died in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria, which struck the island territory in September 2017.
The governor of Puerto Rico, who commissioned the research, said he accepted the estimate as official.
The study concluded that the initial death toll of 64 only included those killed directly by hurricanes Maria and Irma – either by drowning, flying debris or building collapse.
George Washington University also counted those who died in the six months following the storm as a result of poor healthcare provision and a lack of electricity and clean water.
Puerto Rico hurricane death toll jumps Anger at Trump Puerto Rico ‘success’ claim
Repeated power cuts also led to an increased number of deaths from diabetes and sepsis.
US hurricane a looming ‘disaster’
Last May, Harvard University public health researchers estimated the death toll was even higher.
They said about 4,600 people died in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the hurricane from delayed medical care.
Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMedia captionMonths after Maria, many on this US island still suffered in the dark
What have Puerto Rican officials said?
In response, the Mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, tweeted: “Mr Trump you can try and bully us with your tweets BUT WE KNOW OUR LIVES MATTER.”
“You will never take away our self respect. Shame on you!”
Earlier this week, after Mr Trump hailed the US response in Puerto Rico as “tremendous” and “an incredible, unsung success”.
Ms Cruz shot back: “If he thinks the death of 3,000 people is a success God help us all.”
Last month she described Mr Trump’s handling of Maria as a “stain on his presidency”.
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosello said in a statement this week that Maria was “the worst natural disaster in our modern history.
“Our basic infrastructure was devastated, thousands of our people lost their lives and many others still struggle.”
Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the US, is home to some 3.3 million people.
-
Typhoon Maria: Puerto Rico mayor derides Trump movements Ask a question
Symbol copyright AFP Image caption Puerto Rico has struggled to get over the results of Storm Maria
The mayor of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan says President Donald Trump’s reaction to the hurricane that devastated the united states territory remaining yr is a “stain on his presidency”.
Carmen Yulin Cruz’s feedback came an afternoon after officers mentioned 2,975 folks had died in Puerto Rico following Typhoon Maria final September.
The revised death toll is almost 50 instances the previous estimate of SIXTY FOUR.
“The Trump administration killed the Puerto Rican with neglect,” she mentioned.
Speaking to CNN, she delivered: “The Trump management led us to consider that they had been serving to after they weren’t really up to par.”
What does the record say?
Researchers tracked the collection of deaths using demise certificate and other mortality data between mid-September 2017 to mid-February of this yr.
The Caribbean island is house to 3.3 million other people, a few EIGHT% of that have considering left the island, the look at mentioned.
It also stated that the ones from poorer backgrounds in Puerto Rico were FORTY FIVE% more likely to have been killed in the aftermath of the storm.
The governor of Puerto Rico mentioned he could sign an executive order to create a committee to inspect and positioned into observe the document’s recommendations.
-
Puerto Rico still in the dark six months after hurricane
Video Six months on, no energy for lots of -
Puerto Rico nonetheless within the darkish six months after typhoon
Video American Citizens in dark six months after storm -
WHAT’S Trump’s plan for Puerto Rico?
Symbol copyright Getty Images Symbol caption The wreckage from Hurricane Maria has returned Puerto Rico’s debt to the spotlight
President Donald Trump has been bellyaching approximately Puerto Rico’s parlous funds, because the US territory struggles to regain its footing after Hurricane Maria.
His deal with the Caribbean island’s greater than $70bn (£53bn) debt mountain has renewed questions about how it is to be solved.
So what’s the plan for Puerto Rico?
The Puerto Rican government can not borrow money at the personal market to rebuild because of the debt issues.
Typhoon Maria, which introduced financial job to a halt, has also created a direct fiscal situation: the federal government is operating out of money.
Congress has just licensed more than $36bn in disaster investment, including a $4.9bn loan to maintain Puerto Rico running.
Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption Puerto Rico’s financial system has been in recession for years Representative Rob Bishop, whose committee oversees US territories, including Puerto Rico and the united states Virgin Islands, mentioned he expects investment for recovery on Puerto Rico to be “vital”.
He added that he’s interested by legal adjustments to ease deployment of that cash and encourage personal investment.
“The federal government on its own isn’t going to only rebuild territorial economies including the Virgin Islands… going forward,” he stated.
What are the politics?
Puerto Rico’s energy in Congress is restricted through its status as a territory and not a state.
It has traditionally discovered its most powerful allies among Democrats, many of whom have slammed the Trump administration’s response to Storm Maria as sluggish and inadequate.
The White Space has said it is devoted to the island and President Trump has pushed aside the complaint as political posturing.
Puerto Rico’s population swap: the center magnificence for millionaires
Puerto Rico: ‘Why did lend a hand take nine days to arrive?’
However the president has shown reluctance to assist Puerto Rico before.
In a tweet this spring, he described funding for Puerto Rico as a “bailout” proposed via Democrats.
On Thursday, he laid responsibility on the door of lawmakers, tweeting that it is for “Congress to decide what to spend”.
Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption President Trump visited Puerto Rico after grievance of the federal response Matt Fabian, a partner at the analysis company Municipal Market Analytics, mentioned he doesn’t see urge for food for best rebuilding funds for Puerto Rico, particularly given constraints created by means of the Republican push for prime tax cuts.
“This is not the Congress that may be going to offer large unfettered assist for Puerto Rico,” he mentioned.
What concerning the debt?
In 2016, Congress tried to deal with Puerto Rico’s economic difficulty in the course of the so-referred to as Promesa legislation.
The legislation placed the island’s finances beneath the keep an eye on of a federal oversight panel and created a way to restructure the money owed beneath cover of a sort of chapter protection.
The storm leaves negotiation of those questions back at square one.
Image copyright Getty Pictures Typhoon Maria may just give negotiators for Puerto Rico a stronger hand in debt-restructuring talks, bolstering the argument that the government and its companies can not pay the money owed, Mr Fabian stated.
He said the destruction can have additionally created new opportunities to create offers with bondholders, if the federal government moves to privatise infrastructure and publicly owned utilities as part of the rebuilding attempt.
Can US simply wipe out the debt?
President Trump earlier this month seemed to raise the tantalising possibility, whilst he informed broadcaster Fox News: “We Have to look at their complete debt structure.”
“you already know, they owe a lot of money in your friends on Wall Boulevard, and we’re going to need to wipe that out. you can say goodbye to that.”
the prices of Puerto Rican bonds plunged after the remarks.
However White House advisers unexpectedly walked back the observation, pronouncing the management will keep on with the trail established by way of Promesa, and that Wall Side Road cannot take the president’s feedback “word for word”.
Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Symbol caption Children motorcycle in San Isidro, Puerto Rico, one in every of many with out grid power or running water about two weeks after Typhoon Maria swept through The president can not unilaterally do away with the debt – the subject of court docket battles which are simply getting began – and whilst the federal govt may just, theoretically, step in and repay the debts, analysts say politics makes that unlikely.
Some desire aid can carry the economy, ultimately generating tax income – and easing repayment of its debt.
However others say the storm will boost up the island’s economic contraction, as other folks leave for the mainland.
-
Puerto Rico increases Hurricane Maria demise toll to 2,975
Symbol copyright AFP/Getty Symbol caption The island government have struggled to fix infrastructure and the ability grid and want $139bn in recovery budget
Officers in Puerto Rico now say 2,975 other people died following Typhoon Maria – a devastating typhoon that struck the united states island territory in September 2017.
The revised demise toll is sort of 50 occasions the former estimate of 64.
Governor Ricardo Rossello “familiar” the findings in a long-awaited commissioned impartial investigation.
Puerto Rico has struggled to fix its infrastructure and gear grid for the reason that storm, and is asking US Congress for $139bn (£108bn) in restoration funds.
“I’m giving an order to update the legit selection of deaths to 2,975,” governor Ricardo Rossello stated at a press convention. “Although this is an estimate, it has a systematic foundation.”
Official popularity moves recovery forward
Gary O’Donoghue, BBC Washington correspondent
For just about a yr, Puerto Rico’s government has clung to the speculation that 64 other people died as a results of Maria, the 3rd so much financially pricey typhoon in the America due to the fact 1900.
That determine used to be all the time risible – specifically when you believe that the A HUNDRED AND FIFTY mph (241 kmh) winds brought about round $90bn price of damage and left families for, on moderate, EIGHTY FOUR days without electricity; 64 days without water and 41 days with out mobile phone protection.
The govt’s number used to be arrived at through simply counting the ones overwhelmed through collapsing structures, drowned and hit by means of flying debris.
But now the governor, Ricardo Rossello, has bowed to the inevitable and ordered the reliable toll to be up to date greater than forty-fold.
In reality, the brand new reliable number continues to be an estimate – based on mortality knowledge and taking into consideration ancient information on migration patterns.
But the respectable popularity will allow the island to transport on and focus totally on rebuilding its infrastructure and extracting the tens of billions of greenbacks wanted from Congress to offer the three million population of this already bankrupt territory one thing of a future.

-
Hurricane Maria: Puerto Rico acknowledges masses died
Image copyright Reuters Symbol caption Authorities were criticised for not acknowledging the numbers of those killed by means of Typhoon Maria
Puerto Rico has acknowledged that Hurricane Maria killed 1,427 other folks within the US territory, now not 64 as it has up to now reported.
Maria hit the island in September 2017 and it has struggled to repair its infrastructure and tool grid.
The recent determine was in a draft record for US Congress, asking for $139bn (£108bn) in restoration funds.
The professional figure of SIXTY FOUR has remained unchanged considering ultimate 12 months in spite of some mavens estimating 4,SIX HUNDRED deaths.
The New York Times used to be first to file that the island’s authorities had quietly familiar the revised estimate.
Puerto Rico profile General blackout hits 3.4m Puerto Ricans Six pictures that sum up Puerto Rico crisis
a central authority spokesperson stated the most recent quantity as a “practical estimate” but stated that the death toll had no longer been officially modified, as the government were watching for the effects of a have a look at via George Washington School.
“We Do Not need to say it out loud or publicise it as an reputable number… till we see the take a look at and feature the accuracy,” Pedro Cerame from the island’s Federal Affairs Administration advised the Occasions.
The executive has confronted criticism for underreporting the number of these killed within the wake of 2017 typhoon.
Media playback is unsupported to your toolMedia captionSix months after hurricanes, many in this US island suffered within the darkish
Researchers from Harvard University said interviews conducted in Puerto Rico recommended a 60% build up in mortality in the three months after the hurricane.
Many died from interrupted hospital treatment and lack of get admission to to hospitals. the ability outage additionally resulted in an increased collection of deaths from diabetes and sepsis.
Hurricane Maria brought about the biggest blackout in US history, consistent with analysis consultancy the Rhodium Group.
There have additionally been repeated power cuts due to the fact that then, including an island-wide one in April, nearly seven months after the hurricane.
Overall, Typhoon Maria led to losses of $90bn, the u.s. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) mentioned.
The Caribbean island is house to 3.4 million US electorate.
-
Puerto Rico flag row prompts hate crime case for Illinois guy
Symbol copyright Mia Irizarry / Fb Symbol caption Mia Irizarry (left) filmed the Timothy Trybus
A Person who was recorded haranguing a woman for wearing a Puerto Rico flag shirt at an Illinois park has been charged with a hate crime.
Timothy Trybus, 62, was prior to now charged with disorderly behavior and assault.
He allegedly demanded to grasp if a Latina picnicker used to be a US citizen in closing month’s incident.
A police officer who was filmed standing by means of as Mia Irizarry, 24, pleaded for his lend a hand has surrender.
Image copyright Wooded Area Preserves Symbol caption Timothy Trybus is due in courtroom on Friday Ms Irizarry calls on a nearby park police officer for lend a hand.
But the officer, Patrick Connor, turns his again and walks towards his patrol car.
The suspect continued to harangue Ms Irizarry for approximately 10 mins before different officials arrived and arrested him.
The Woodland Preserve District of Cook County Police Department – the place Mr Connor worked for 12 years – announced he had resigned past due on Wednesday.
Image copyright Mia Irizarry / Facebook Symbol caption Mia Irizarry was once praised for her reaction
At a press convention on Thursday, Superintendent Arnold Randall stated Mr Connor was once “very remorseful” when he resigned.
But he stated the officer thought to be it “an unfortunate incident” and felt he was once not “given a good shake”.
Mr Randall introduced that Mr Connor’s group of workers file will say that he didn’t depart “in just right status”, and will include a note that he left “with self-discipline pending”.
He added that officials will evaluate the necessary variety training that officers are required to take. Mr Connor had taken the course a year in the past, officials say.
Image copyright Fb/ Mia Irizarry Symbol caption The officer has been criticised for his position within the incident In an earlier observation, the police said that an investigation were launched and the officer were put on desk duty.
In the unedited video, Mr Connor is noticed looking to reassure the sufferer that Mr Trybus doesn’t pose a danger to her safety.
Supt Randall stated that Ms Irizarry deserved to be praised for her response amid a countrywide trend of “racially charged, abusive incidents we’re seeing within the united states of america”.
“We Might get started with the advantageous example presented through Mia Irizarry and her circle of relatives, who handled this unpleasant incident with nice composure, by no means stooping to the extent of the man who attacked her,” he mentioned in a written observation.
He introduced that the park body of workers had apologised directly to Ms Irizarry and refunded the money she paid for her permit.
The video had angered public officers within the state of Illinois, besides as the governor of Puerto Rico.
The island of Puerto Rico is a US territory.
Image copyright CBS L. A. Symbol caption A Woman is seen protecting an item a witness says she used to beat the elderly man Meanwhile, a 30-yr-antique woman has been charged with attempted homicide after allegedly using a brick to bludgeon a NINETY TWO-yr-old man near La.
Laquisha Jones was once additionally charged with elder abuse over the FOUR July attack.
Woman arrested over Mexican grandpa attack
A witness stated Ms Jones informed the victim, Rodolfo Rodriguez: “Go Back in your us of a.”
La County Sheriff’s Division said the attack may have been brought about by way of Mr Rodriguez bumping right into a younger woman who used to be with Ms Jones.
He suffered a broken jaw, broken cheekbones, two damaged ribs and bruises on his face, back and abdomen, US media file.