Puerto Rico & Hurricane Maria by Daphne Yvonne Bradshaw

     Puerto Rico is a part of our country, our people, and still the devastation from Hurricane Maria continues. Our government has an official death toll at 64, but the real number can be as much or more than 70 times that. I have friends there, & all of them seem to have PTSD &/or cPTSD from the storm and aftermath that continues until now. Some of the more fragile among us are barely still holding onto life. Where is the government & aid? Where are We the People demanding & outraged that our people suffer there? What is done to any of us will be done to all of us, given the opportunity and the lack of our own vigilance to hold us all, esp. our leaders, to account.
     Some will not care if this damage does not directly impact them or their loved ones. Well, one way it did so directly was in IV bags which are supplied to USA via Puerto Rico:

“… Mini-bags of IV fluids are ubiquitous in hospitals, where they are used to dilute and administer medication. There are only a handful of manufacturers in the US, and one of them – Baxter International – has all of its mini-bag factories in Puerto Rico. As of 4 January, electrical power had been restored to just 58.1% of Puerto Ricans, and some parts of the island are expected to remain dark until May…” [link]

This was during the upswing of flu season no less.
    We must do better. We must. The new hurricane season has started already. Puerto Rico is vulnerable to more devastation. As with our citizens there, so here as well if we do not demand better.
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References:

Hurricane Maria death toll may be more than 4,600 in Puerto Rico
Mortality in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

On Trump's watch, the single most deadly natural disaster in modern America

The Secret Buried in the Puerto Rican Death Toll

Study Puts Puerto Rico Death Toll From Hurricane Maria Near 5,000
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© 2018, Daphne Yvonne Bradshaw. All rights reserved.