It’s easy for those who aren’t directly affected to have an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality about disastrous events such as Hurricane Maria. However, as a nation, we have a responsibility to protect our own and the New Orleans community is uniquely able to empathize with the people of Puerto Rico. For me, it wasn’t until one of my professors asked a Puerto Rican student in my class how his family was holding up that I began to understand the full magnitude of the situation. His family was without power for close to a week at the time and concerned about the availability of drinking water. My classmate was concerned about being able to keep in communication with his family back home. With the holiday season just around the corner, I wondered if he would be able to go home now? Does he still have a home to go back to?
Unfortunately, much of the discussion about Hurricane Maria has been a controversy over President Trump’s tweets about his plan of action, instead of how we can legitimately help our fellow Americans. The article “Donald Trump: Puerto Rico Wants ‘Everything to Be Done for Them’,” written by Lisa Marie Segarra for Time Magazine, claims: “President Donald Trump criticized Puerto Rico Sunday morning on Twitter, claiming there is ‘poor leadership ability’ among officials and that they ‘want everything to be done for them’ after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.” Meanwhile, the Mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, made a public announcement begging for any kind of help that would prevent her people from dying. Trump continued to make the aftermath of Hurricane Maria about himself, accusing the Democratic Party of persuading Puerto Rican officials to be “nasty” towards him. Eventually, he responded by sending 10,000 federal troops along with food, water, and supplies. However, a shortage of truck drivers and destroyed roads prevent these supplies from being delivered to areas most in need. Recent updates report that more than half of Puerto Rico is still without drinking water. President Trump will arrive in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, October 3rd, hopefully providing support that will reunite families by the holidays.