As a longtime Outer Banks fan, I couldn’t be happier about the new season. When I heard it was coming out during my annual summer rewatch season, I was seated for the premiere.
In the final episode, “The Storm and What Came After,” Kildare County is struck by Hurricane Cassandra. This storm absolutely devastates the island. In the end, the Pogues use their Royal Merchant gold to rebuild Kildare County. But this only had me thinking of one thing: what about the real life tragedies that don’t have treasure-hunted gold at their luxury?
Back in 2021, I took a trip to Puerto Rico and stayed with a family friend. He took us up and down the coast of the island, away from the tourists and through hidden gems. Throughout our peaceful drives through rural beaches, my family friends and I noticed that behind the natural beauty, there was something more serious going on. The houses had no roofs, but tarps, makeshift doors, and scattered debris. When we asked what had destroyed so many of these homes, the answer was Hurricane Maria. At the time, Hurricane Maria was four years ago, and now, nearing a decade later, Puerto Rico is still recovering from the tragedy.
No treasure-hunting teenagers were able to restore Puerto Rico, and that was the only thing I could think of as I watched the Pogues on my screen using their extensive haul of gold to rebuild their island. Where has that justice been for Puerto Rico?
kook priorities
Despite Puerto Rico being a U.S territory, many locals feel subpar to the government.
When explaining the impacts of Hurricane Maria on the island, my family friend also explained that Puerto Ricans feel they are considered “third-world” to the U.S.
For background information, because Puerto Rico is viewed simply as territory, Puerto Ricans unjustly do not have representation in the Senate or voting rights. Quite frankly, that in itself invalidates human rights, as Puerto Ricans cannot have a true say in what is passed to protect them or who governs them.
Under the Territorial Clause, this also means that, according to the Supreme Court, Congress can decide which federal programs apply to the territories, including programs that help access safe food and drinking water.
If Puerto Rico is going to be considered part of the U.S., it should certainly have the same basic human rights without needing the alleged grace of Congress for approval. It’s truly that simple.
In the initial scenes of Hurricane Cassandra breaking land on the Outer Banks episode, one of the major turning points that leaves the Pogues stranded on the island is that Kooks have priority evacuation over the Pogues. This leaves Heyward and Pope stranded, risking their lives to leave on their own speedboat.
This led me to ponder what evacuation looked like in Puerto Rico.
During the fateful storm of Hurricane Katrina, most New Orleans families were able to evacuate safely due to support from nearby states with setups just outside of the disaster zone for easy access to support. However, during Hurricane Maria, minimal resources were sent to Puerto Rico for damage control or to help citizens evacuate, even for the most wealthy.
My answer was simple: there were no valid evacuation efforts to even refer to.
Due to maritime laws regarding shipping, the U.S. was unable to give Puerto Rico the support it needed, even during the few weeks prior to Hurricane Maria, when Hurricane Irma had already brought damage to the island.
Another important note related to this is that the reparations for Hurricane Katrina were restored within a decade. Yet, nearly a decade later, the allocated spending to repair Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria is still well underspent on slow projects.
To me, this demonstrates the large socioeconomic imbalances between the mainland U.S. and territories like Puerto Rico. If the mainland can receive care and support, why must laws prevent Puerto Rico from receiving the same care?
It’s injustice at its core, especially when Puerto Ricans have no voice in government to fight for it. A change must be made.
No light from the lighthouse
While Kildare is evacuating, the Pogues find refuge in the lighthouse, hiding out against the storm as beach houses in Figure Eight come crashing down, Heyward’s Seafood on The Cut is ripped apart, and the island floods beyond social barriers. The lighthouse remained brightly lit from backup generators even with the main power grid’s destruction.
Could Puerto Rico say the same?
In Puerto Rico, almost a decade after Hurricane Maria, their power grid still fails. The broken infrastructure from the tragedy has struggled to be rebuilt to its original state, let alone more modern and effective infrastructure. Locals call this “El Apagón” (“The Blackout“).
Following Hurricane Maria, there were promises of consistency, but Puerto Ricans frequently experience suffocating outages. Not only is this frustrating and inconvenient, but it’s also an emergency for hospitals, senior citizen homes, hospice care, access to air conditioning, and access to clean water.
As an isolated and less economically developed island, Puerto Rico already has limited access to many resources. Regular power outages and unstable access to basic necessities as a territory of a resource-abundant and economically stable country like the U.S. feels completely unacceptable to me.
On the mainland, experiencing a rocky storm means making sure my phone is charged just in case I can’t charge it overnight, and that is worst case scenario. Losing power doesn’t mean making sure I have enough clean water to last me a few days, and praying it is just as few at that. However, that is the case for Puerto Ricans, and as this issue remains unresolved, it’s becoming a humanitarian crisis.
don’t be a touron
In Outer Banks, the Pogues refer to gullible tourists as “tourons.” In Puerto Rico, they usually just say, “Gringo, go home!” Both are brutally valid, at least in my opinion.
When traveling, especially to a popularized vacation spot, remember to be mindful of locals and the sacred ground you walk on. There is more to each country beyond resorts or generator-abundant hotels. There is so much beauty, but also a special history and bigger picture.
At the end of the day, Hollywood got it all wrong: there are no treasure-hunting Pogues with a chest of gold coming to restore the island. Hurricanes aren’t just the plot of a show located in the Carolinas, and they mean more than just losing power for a little bit. They are serious, fatal, and traumatizing for many.
There is a government that has failed its territory, and Puerto Ricans are still seeking justice in more aspects than one. Thankfully, we have our voices to push to rebuild Puerto Rico. Let’s use them.