I had planned and promised to do a roundup this week of long-planned events to memorialize those who died or suffered other major losses due to Hurricane Maria, which wreaked havoc across the Caribbean in September 2017, especially in Dominica, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Most of those plans flew out of the window on the winds of Tropical Storm Fiona (now a hurricane). Fiona first hit Guadeloupe, then immersed Puerto Rico in floods and left an island-wide blackout and loss of drinkable water, before it smashed into the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos. Fiona is now heading toward Bermuda before it reaches points north.
My initial info-gathering was also hampered by an almost complete absence of mainstream media coverage of both current events in the Caribbean, as well as Maria commemorations. Why? Because mainstream “journalists” were singularly focused on the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Thankfully, now that she’s buried, we now see a bit more coverage.
At one point, I was holding back angry tears. Yes, I have tears for the thousands who died and those displaced by Maria, but my anger was more for the living in the Caribbean, who needed, and still need, our attention, support, and a swift international response. I hadn’t planned to write anything else about the Caribbean besides this weekly column, but instead, I had to. RELATED: Hurricane Fiona’s catastrophic flooding across Puerto Rico continues: How you can help
Join me today in remembering.
Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.
When looking at social media reports on the tragic Caribbean weather events of 2017 and Maria’s massive destruction, rarely, if at all, do I hear anything about Dominica, which even journalists who should know better have “mis-reported” as the Dominican Republic.
I did find this UNICEF tweet this week.
Remembering:
The devastation was unavoidable, with conditions like this:
Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo filed this report five days after Dominica was hit.
YouTube Video
The stats five days in were troubling—
—but would grow so much worse.
This Guardian report was deeply moving, starting with the title: “My journey back to Dominica after the hurricane: 'Some don’t have bodies to bury’”
YouTube Video
The journalist had family on the island, adding a deeply personal layer to his reporting.
Five years later, on Sept.18, 2022, the prime minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, issued this statement marking the Maria anniversary.
He pointed to improvements since then.
Not all Dominicans agree with his assessment. A 2021 editorial in The Sun Dominica begs to differ. The story opens with an excerpt from a story by Dominican author Dorothy Leevy:
The editorial itself is pretty scathing:
Moving on to the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), cultural preservationist Julio Encarnacion III’s website The Native Son produced this video, “We Were Forgotten - St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands,” just one month after Maria.
YouTube Video
Remember reports like this?
The voice who spoke out for the USVI, hit by back-to-back storms, who broke through media silence during both (Irma and then Maria) was that of NBA basketball great Tim Duncan.
YouTube Video
And then of course there was Maria’s total devastation of Puerto Rico. Many of you will remember watching the first video on national broadcasts, like this report from ABC:
YouTube Video
Or perhaps this one, from AJ+:
PBS reported on conditions one week later.
Many of us watched videos that residents were posting on social media, like this one—where a family can’t leave because of high, raging floodwaters.
Very soon after, then-President Donald Trump was called out for his slow response to the disaster.
Meanwhile, some here at Daily Kos pitched in to raise both awareness and funds, forming an #SOSPuertoRico Community Group on Sep 27, 2017; we continue to follow events there, today and beyond.
Six months after Maria hit Puerto Rico, there were cries for help, highlighting the differential treatment received by Puerto Ricans, as noted in this feature from The Guardian: “We're American, too, why don't they help?'”
YouTube Video
One year after Maria, Academy Award-winning Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno narrated this story for the Miami Herald, which noted that “the official death toll now stands at 2,975, making Maria one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history.”
YouTube Video
I don’t know if you know anyone who died during or as a result of Hurricane Maria. Many of the names of the lost, and their stories, are gathered here in this database. Take a short timeout and read a few.
Every year on the anniversary of Maria, there are stories reported about how the island’s colonial status has allowed the U.S. government to continue second-class treatment of its citizens. Every damn year we see proof of just that, whether it’s the homes that still have blue tarps, or the ongoing blackouts that occur even without storms due to LUMA Energy’s failures, or the power and control over the island’s finances vested in an unelected oversight board, dubbed “La Junta” by islanders.
So here we are. Five years later.
People Here on the mainland, people changed planned events marking five years post-Maria to efforts to once again raise funds and garner support, mid-Fiona.
In central Florida:
And in Chicago:
Some events merged the two disasters, like this one in New York City:
Others, like in Berkeley, focused on Maria one day, only to find themselves focused on Fiona the next.
There is so much more I want to say, because I’m still angry. But I’ve posted quite a bit here, and should stop here. Join me in the comments for additional information on what you can do to help, and for the weekly Caribbean News Roundup.
In closing: Remember the dead, and support the living.
Most of those plans flew out of the window on the winds of Tropical Storm Fiona (now a hurricane). Fiona first hit Guadeloupe, then immersed Puerto Rico in floods and left an island-wide blackout and loss of drinkable water, before it smashed into the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos. Fiona is now heading toward Bermuda before it reaches points north.
My initial info-gathering was also hampered by an almost complete absence of mainstream media coverage of both current events in the Caribbean, as well as Maria commemorations. Why? Because mainstream “journalists” were singularly focused on the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Thankfully, now that she’s buried, we now see a bit more coverage.
At one point, I was holding back angry tears. Yes, I have tears for the thousands who died and those displaced by Maria, but my anger was more for the living in the Caribbean, who needed, and still need, our attention, support, and a swift international response. I hadn’t planned to write anything else about the Caribbean besides this weekly column, but instead, I had to. RELATED: Hurricane Fiona’s catastrophic flooding across Puerto Rico continues: How you can help
Join me today in remembering.
Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.
When looking at social media reports on the tragic Caribbean weather events of 2017 and Maria’s massive destruction, rarely, if at all, do I hear anything about Dominica, which even journalists who should know better have “mis-reported” as the Dominican Republic.
I did find this UNICEF tweet this week.
Remembering:
The devastation was unavoidable, with conditions like this:
Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo filed this report five days after Dominica was hit.
YouTube Video
The stats five days in were troubling—
—but would grow so much worse.
This Guardian report was deeply moving, starting with the title: “My journey back to Dominica after the hurricane: 'Some don’t have bodies to bury’”
YouTube Video
The journalist had family on the island, adding a deeply personal layer to his reporting.
Five years later, on Sept.18, 2022, the prime minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, issued this statement marking the Maria anniversary.
He pointed to improvements since then.
Not all Dominicans agree with his assessment. A 2021 editorial in The Sun Dominica begs to differ. The story opens with an excerpt from a story by Dominican author Dorothy Leevy:
The editorial itself is pretty scathing:
Moving on to the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), cultural preservationist Julio Encarnacion III’s website The Native Son produced this video, “We Were Forgotten - St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands,” just one month after Maria.
YouTube Video
Remember reports like this?
The voice who spoke out for the USVI, hit by back-to-back storms, who broke through media silence during both (Irma and then Maria) was that of NBA basketball great Tim Duncan.
YouTube Video
And then of course there was Maria’s total devastation of Puerto Rico. Many of you will remember watching the first video on national broadcasts, like this report from ABC:
YouTube Video
Or perhaps this one, from AJ+:
PBS reported on conditions one week later.
Many of us watched videos that residents were posting on social media, like this one—where a family can’t leave because of high, raging floodwaters.
Very soon after, then-President Donald Trump was called out for his slow response to the disaster.
Meanwhile, some here at Daily Kos pitched in to raise both awareness and funds, forming an #SOSPuertoRico Community Group on Sep 27, 2017; we continue to follow events there, today and beyond.
Six months after Maria hit Puerto Rico, there were cries for help, highlighting the differential treatment received by Puerto Ricans, as noted in this feature from The Guardian: “We're American, too, why don't they help?'”
YouTube Video
One year after Maria, Academy Award-winning Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno narrated this story for the Miami Herald, which noted that “the official death toll now stands at 2,975, making Maria one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history.”
YouTube Video
I don’t know if you know anyone who died during or as a result of Hurricane Maria. Many of the names of the lost, and their stories, are gathered here in this database. Take a short timeout and read a few.
Every year on the anniversary of Maria, there are stories reported about how the island’s colonial status has allowed the U.S. government to continue second-class treatment of its citizens. Every damn year we see proof of just that, whether it’s the homes that still have blue tarps, or the ongoing blackouts that occur even without storms due to LUMA Energy’s failures, or the power and control over the island’s finances vested in an unelected oversight board, dubbed “La Junta” by islanders.
So here we are. Five years later.
People Here on the mainland, people changed planned events marking five years post-Maria to efforts to once again raise funds and garner support, mid-Fiona.
In central Florida:
And in Chicago:
Some events merged the two disasters, like this one in New York City:
Others, like in Berkeley, focused on Maria one day, only to find themselves focused on Fiona the next.
There is so much more I want to say, because I’m still angry. But I’ve posted quite a bit here, and should stop here. Join me in the comments for additional information on what you can do to help, and for the weekly Caribbean News Roundup.
In closing: Remember the dead, and support the living.