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Hurricane Maria - A Humanitarian Disaster - A Retrospective & Analysis
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- Опубліковано 10 бер 2023
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Track Animation of Hurricane Maria done by @FCXAnimations
2017, one of the most infamous years regarding tropical activity in the Atlantic Basin. With 17 named storms and 6 major hurricanes, it goes without saying that 2017 was the most active season at the time since 2010. While the season started off weak, it was August into September that would tell the story of the hurricane season that year. The year was remembered for a trio of storms specifically, all of them happening in the span of a month of each other. Harvey, wreaking havoc onto the state of Texas with extreme rainfall totals, Irma, obliterating the islands of the Caribbean and slamming into the southern Florida Peninsula, and the subject of today’s video, Maria, the deadliest hurricane in the Atlantic Basin, since Hurricane Mitch; destroying the islands of Dominica, and Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Maria was the last of the three well remembered storms of the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season, forming in mid-September. However, Hurricane Maria was a storm that could hardly be forgotten. The hurricane brought its wrath to a large portion of the lesser Antilles, but the primary focus was on the US Virgin Islands, Dominica, and most importantly, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico, the small Caribbean Island was destroyed, with infrastructure and an economy that was already in shambles, having no match against the wrath of the second strongest hurricane of that season, and the most intense tropical cyclone in terms of pressure that occurred that year. The response to Maria, was an utter disaster, the worst response to a natural disaster by the government since Hurricane Katrina. In total, over 3000 people died in Maria, with the vast majority of them being in Puerto Rico. It’s been over 5 years since then, and there’s still a lot of talk about the storm today. So today, I will be taking a deep dive into Hurricane Maria, going over the state of the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season so far, the origins of the system, the preparations taken, the impacts to the Caribbean islands, the aftermath, the government response, and the significance of the event. Welcome to Nature’s Fury.
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Tags (Ignore this): #Weather #documentary Alferia Weather Documentary Science Documentary Weather Videos Natural Disaster Documentary Disaster Documentaries Maria Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico Hurricane Maria Fiona Hurricane Fiona Federal Government Trump Donald Trump President Trump Puerto Rico Aftermath US Virgin Islands Dominica Guadeloupe Hurricane Maria Raw Hurricane Maria Documentary #HurricaneMaria 2017 Hurricane Season Billion Dollar Disaster United States US Territory
As a Puerto Rican near the worst hit area, I can say that our families in the states thought we were all dead, not even exaggerating.
I live in the states, and at that time ll of my family lived on the island, im not your family but a lot of did think that. I was glued to radio stations for 2 weeks until my family finally called. Those were the 2 worst weeks of my life. I know that its not even comparable to being on the island, but that fear and silence, I have some trauma from that whenever i hear a storm is heading over there.
@@witchy90210 yes it must be terrifying not knowing how your family members are, if they’re even alive; such a hard thing to think
My uncle is one of the board operators at the San Juan power plant, we got regular updates about the shit show that was with the US military.
I am so so sorry for what happened there and the way it was handled!!…😢❤
@@NightShade1161 thank you! It was a very terrifying experience, we lost some stuff but thank God it wasn’t a lot; now my dad lost a window and a few clothes. But the important thing is that we are alive.
God, this hurts to watch. My uncle survived the hurricane, and lost his home. He filled out forms with FEMA to get reimbursement for everything he lost. FEMA had the fucking AUDACITY to go to the remains of the home to investigate, and say everything was fine. Nothing was fine. We went 5 care packages with supplies to him, and they all got lost in transit. Their last location was Ohio. He didn’t want to leave, but eventually he did come to live with us. He had no choice. Apparently a large outbreak of mosquitos happened after the hurricane hit, and he caught the Chikungunya virus. He’s doing much better now, he’s back in Puerto Rico, and the only thing he misses were his animals who died in the storm.
I'm so sorry this happened to him. I gate when the systems we have failed. I've never heard anything good about FEMA. I'm glad he's doing well now.
I'm so, so sorry. I wish I could say something better but I wish the absolute best for your uncle
My colodences
as a person who has seen 2 tornadoes and no hurricanes, i can't relate
@@estoniandude natural disasters is natural disasters…. Stop trolling
Hurricane Maria was a terrifying experience for survivors of it. As a Puerto Rican who was visiting family when this happened, I’m not quite sure how we managed through it considering how damaged our house was, and how injured myself and my family were. It took a long while for us to return to the states afterwards. What didn’t help was how my sister and my self are both disabled, so it was even more of a pain because of poor planning. Luckily, we all survived.
So glad to hear from someone who made it through, although I'm deeply sorry you were hurt. It's easy for us on the mainland to get wrapped up in politics, in the story of failed aid. But none of that matters compared to YOU, the people who went through this harrowing experience and the long, hard aftermath. I hope and pray you and your loved ones, and most Puerto Ricans, are finally in a safe and stable situation where you can get on with your lives. Be well.
(And as s disabled person myself, oh my gosh, trying to get through Maria with disabilities... especially if you needed medications or care you couldn't have? I have great respect for you.)
Maria was without a doubt a massive turning point for Puerto Rico. Things were already in a pretty bad state before it, but the storm, far from just tearing physically through the island, also tore through any semblance of the island going in a positive direction. I feel as though my mind automatically repressed the memories of the storm, but I remember the tension me and my family felt as the storm passed through. The howling 100+ mph winds are both fascinating and frightening to hear. Then the brief, unsettling calm while the eye passed, only to be followed by more and more hours of wind. We locked ourselves in a bedroom, and at one point my mom thought that when we opened the door after it all our house would be nothing but rubble. This is due to a tree sitting in our backyard that thankfully resisted the storm. If it fell it would smash through the living room. Thankfully, we merely ended up with a broken window in the kitchen, which funnily enough hasn't been fixed to this day.
I feel our unfixed window is a good metaphor for what has been of much of PR since Maria. Yes, recovery has come a long way, but many people still remain with blue tarps for roofs, and subsequent events like the earthquakes, the pandemic, and Hurricane Fiona just spit in the face of any attempt to climb back up. Not to mention the government continuing to be as incompetent as ever, and our electrical grid has only continued to cripple more and more. Fiona last year wasn't even half of what Maria was and yet it was still awful, showing that we remain very vulnerable to major crises. As a 20 year old Puerto Rican, it's been incredibly difficult to have faith that things will ever improve. Even my mom at her 50 years says that during her lifetime she's seen the country heading downward. It makes you question if there's even a future to be had in it. I'm typing this from the United States, where I briefly traveled to in 2017 for family reasons after Maria hit. Now I'm back years later, as part of my family has decided to venture out here seeing that PR is just misstep after misstep. I like it here, but I also like my island. And Maria was the first time I genuinely ever had to consider if it was going to hold my future. I still don't know if it can.
Anyhow, absolutely amazing video! I like how you cover storms, and when I saw you were working on a vid about Maria I had to sub. Excited for your future stuff!
I don’t think PR’s (both the government and the citizens) relationship with the USA, and more specifically, the USA federal government is ever going to fully heal from Maria. Or at the very least, it will take a very long time for it to. I’m still shocked at how badly botched the recovery was and how much the federal government just hung PR out to dry. I get it’s a territory, not a state. But it’s STILL PART OF THE USA. The government should’ve done infinitely more to help. The fact that MONTHS later, there were still huge numbers of people without power or water was appalling to read about. And I get that Puerto Rico is a much poorer place than the continental United States, and PR’s poverty definitely played a role in its struggle to recover. But man, the federal government’s response was just so weak (ESPECIALLY considering how they had just gone all hands on deck to help Houston recover from Harvey) and I would bet it shattered a lot of PR citizens’ trust in not only their local government, but the national
Thank you for sharing. I'm so, so sorry
@@alexandergilles8583I used to chat with a woman who wanted to call ICE on my son-in-law. I told her to go ahead if she wanted to embarrass herself. She asked me what I was talking about. I told her, "First, he was born in Springfield, MA. Second, until he was eleven, he was raised in Queens, NY. and finally, you do know that PR is part of the USA." Then in DM, I gave her my address, and told her Go right ahead." Then I blocked her.
"They are human beings", dude, I always say the same. There are many situations that I don't fully understand or that I can't provide a solution to, but at least, at the very least, I will always stand for treating others like human beings with dignity and respect. It's very simple.
I work with a wonderful lady whose family lives in Puerto Rico. Her family came to the states while their home was being rebuilt, but they survived. I have a souvenir cup from the island that she brought me one year, and in that cup is a prayer for the people of Puerto Rico. I still have it to this day... I am a conservative politicly, but I questioned the response that Puerto Rico received after this disaster. No matter who is in power at any time, this is uncalled for. Your commentary is spot on, good video.
Acknowledging the poor behavior despite political affiliations is the opposite of bias. My political leaning is different from yours, but I wholeheartedly respect your sensible take on things. It takes somethin' special to think of the bigger picture.
Whenever I hear about Maria, it always seems to get super political. But I trusted you to be fair, and give credit where it was due, and not beat around blame. Thanks for doing your best unbiased work, focusing on the actual damage and not the politics really shows how severe this was.
Agreed
That's... because the response was super political? Trump was a moron, and his racist half-hearted response is directly responsible for many of the deaths. Period.
Thank you for making this video.
Maria changed my life, literally. I had to move to the mainland partly because of this. I am so grateful you are bringing light to the catastrophe that it was. Again, thank you.
This hurts very much for me considering what Puerto Rico just went through last year, while not the 2nd comming of Maria it was very close… especially in the rain department…. I just hope these people can recover from Fiona….
You live there?
Not But I’m Oklahoman so I’m used to dealing with Calamities
been through Moore/El Reno 2013, Covid, Winter of 2020-21 and some other minor stuff
I'm really glad you went into depth just how bad the response to Maria was along with calling out the leeches who crawled out of the woodwork to snatch up FEMA money to accomplish nothing helpful. We owe our US territories the same response and respect we would expect for any mainland state...as you pointed out they are citizens just like us, and this was just a failure on every level.
It was incredibly frustrating in 2017 to have to explain to idiots on social media that Puerto Ricans were not only part of the United States, but actual citizens. A lot of people showed their true (racist) colors during that time.
I was in school when this one hit and had a very nice, older teacher in my engineering program. He'd retired to the States after working in PR as an electrical engineer for 35 or so years. It was rough seeing him so concerned about his family and relatives still over there during all of this. He went there during our winter break and found that most of his work was part of the grid that stood standing, but spent his time helping people repair the best he could. He ended up leaving during spring break to work at a local power company so he could get money to bring family and relatives stateside. Last I know he was able to get them over and still works to help his former neighbors back home. Though the government may have failed I know the people have tried the best to make the most out of the situation.
As a fellow puertorrican located on the states serving with the armed forces I can say that it was very stressful knowing that Maria was on its way. I’m from the south of the island from a small municipality call Penuelas. After the hurricane pass it took 2 weeks to have one phone call from my sister a nurse. The phone call lasted 45 seconds. She traveled from the south of the island thru the old path going up the mountains. 5 hours later she reached San Juan with the only working cell tower. Those 2 weeks were the hardest weeks of my life. Not knowing anything and thinking the worse. My sister lost her house due to flooding. My dad 1/4 of his belongings. Mom 1/2 of hers. Her voice was a relief to me but a broke down hearth when she told me about her house. She started crying and lost signal after that. It took almost 2 months to hear my mom and dad voice. My dad established a refuge camp on his terrain and had over 70 people staying in /or around the property while Penuelas supply was reestablished. He is my hero.
There is lots of backstory with Maria. That did not make it to the media. Including sending supplies to the island. Supplies being hidden by government or workers of the government. Supplies being stolen from postal service by the same workers. Funds being stolen with fraudulent checks and much more.
That did not stop the island to recover little by little. Even tho we know that not everything will be recovered.
I’m proud of being Puertorrican and I thank you for doing this coverage.
Yo seria borincano aunque naciera en la luna.🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷
Maybe we should grant Puerto Rico statehood or just let Puerto Rico go and stop treating Puerto Rico like a colony won because of the spoils of war from the Spanish-American War
From all I’ve seen, most Puerto Ricans want independence, not statehood. Kanaka Maoli in Hawaii for example still have zero desire to be a state, let alone having non natives visit or move. That’s completely reasonable considering the history.
Something clearly needs to change given the exploitative nature of being a territory. Maybe a vote on statehood or independence for the Puerto Rican people? As in the people of Puerto Rico vote on what they want? I'm not sure what the right answer is here, but we clearly need to do better by the Puerto Rican people.
PR does NOT want to be a state
@@ElleriaZer How about we let PR and Hawai'i leave, give Alaska to Canada, and then start cracking down on the right-wing elements in the nation? That sounds like it would work.
All wrong on here. PR wants to be a state. If you look back in history statehood has being ask since 1940s. But it’s always something. Either local politics or USA politics.
I used to lived in the city Irma made landfall in Florida at. I will never forget that month, our house was projected to be underwater by 8-10ft from the storm surge. Luckily it lost strength over Cuba. Actually surreal to believe you will come back from evacuations to nothing. Can't even imagine the devastation Puerto Rico faced during Maria... great videos btw
one of my online friends (one who I've known since 2014) is from puerto rico. I remember as it was approaching I was messaging him, both of us panicking. He couldn't leave because his grandmother couldn't leave. I didn't hear from him for over 6 months until his power was restored. He said he was lucky because at the time he had been working at a grocery store, and they made sure all the employees and their families had food. The people were starving.
I’m so glad you heard from him :,) wish I could say the same for my friends there but it’s so good to see some happiness from this
Being impartial in cases like these isn't a good thing. How the ex-president behaved has little to do with lawmaking or politics. It was morally reprehensible and shows a lack of compassion that's staggering. I admire you for standing by your beliefs and speaking out against injustices. That's the right thing to do, even if it gets you more dislikes and awful comments.
Yeah. Anyone getting upset about him pointing out objective failures is just showing they care more about loyalty to a failed TV show host than the lives of millions of their fellow Americans. Pathetic, yet disturbingly common.
Thank you for a thorough explanation of this disaster that is respectful of the terrible situation that the residents of these communities found themselves in.
Saw this in my recommended feed and had to check it out. As someone who lived through the entirety of the horrible and traumatic experience that was this hurricane, I would never wish for anyone to go through this. Being born and raised in Puerto Rico, i always heard of stories of my family who have witnessed other hurricanes in the past- yet I always hoped I didn't have to go through one myself...until 2017!
Compared to many other areas in the island, and even those around my neighborhood, I was lucky. The house I lived in plus the houses of my grandma and uncle stayed standing, meanwhile those i've known for years lost everything. It was devastating and absolutely *frustrating* to see. I ended up moving with my immediate family a month or so after the storm, but I still felt absolutely depressed that the rest of my family would stay in such conditions for such a long time.
This was a scarring experience for not just myself, but so many others. I'll never forget the sound of the wind, the noises of things flying and hitting the house, the fact that huge trees that no one could've imagined to see fall...tumbled to the ground like nothing.
Maria was a monster, and more people should be educated of how disastrous this was and how poorly managed the "recovery" was afterwards. Thank you for making this video.
there is a thing which i will explain in a oversimplified way: Knowledge of same thing, less fear of some thing (i think?)
the one thing that i can remember vividly from the days following the hurricane is laying on the floor tiles seeking cold, hearing the pleas of people to find their loved ones or a rollcall from workplaces at 3AM from a crankshaft AM radio
alferia, thank you for making this video
You do well at capturing and conveying the tragedy, as well as keeping it informative and truthful, it's something respectable, truly ^^ thank you for your work
I don't get why calling out a government for blatant negligence and corruption is considered "political" as in something that you choose sides on, or that it's about political ideology. It doesn't matter what side you're on, corruption is _always_ wrong and should be a crime. Calling out the government and those in charge is something that should always be done, and people worshipping Trump (or any person in power) is frankly bizarre.
From an Aussie.
Welcome to America where we are at political civil war with each other instead of actually trying to fix this VERY broken country together.
At least we are allowed to make negative comments about our government. In certain countries, doing so can make you...disappear...
@fighter5583 We haven't even been allowed that throughout our country's history. There have been multiple points (World wars, red scare/McCarthy era, post 911, etc) where your ability to criticize the government has been heavily restricted.
@@fighter5583 That’s not really a flex.
I live in PA and hurricane Maria affected my birth. My son was born 2 months later but they were still affected. Apparently, they make a lot of medical supplies in PR. There was a shortage of saline so only those who were admitted received fluids. I couldn't keep anything down so the nurse lied and said I was in labor to get me fluids.
Maria did alot of changes to my life and the ones of my neighborhood, most of the time I was out looking for underground water and at the moment Puerto Rico electrical grid is still faulty and damaged arround the island with blackouts still happening here and there.
I had friends that lived in puerto rico the ended up leaving puerto rico for New York because of Maria it angers me that Maria was so politicized if Trump did anything during his time as president he made everything a political issue and it sucks he didn't even see them as human that whole thing was a mess and I feel for the people of puerto rico deeply
@@jadapinkett1656 I should say that I hate the guy I am not a trumper
This! Trump didn’t do shit for Puerto Rico because he was made that Puerto Rico didn’t back him and vote for him.
And when the governor of Puerto Rico as well as the mayor of San Juan criticized President Trump for him throwing them to the wolves; Trump resorted to name calling and insults.
Yessir the master of documentaries is here let’s go I love your hurricane documentary
You did an excellent job going into detail about the effects Maria had as well as explaining to the best of your abilities why the response to the hurricane’s impact went very wrong. As a scientist myself, it’s very important to be impartial when researching. However, as you said, this event was VERY difficult to be unbiased. Frankly, I shouldn’t be surprised at what the Trump Administration did. However, I was not fully aware of the levels of detail the lack of relief was for Puerto Rico until I saw this video. I cannot blame you for trying not to lose your cool because of what happened. I’m pretty sure everyone in Puerto Rico and those that wanted to help lost their cool when barely any relief, supplies, or anything came up. We can only hope that Puerto Rico can catch some kind of break and stand strong as time goes by. Thanks for making this video and for your other videos too. They are informative and help me learn how destructive the weather can be, and how we as humans should learn and respond to them in the most humane way possible
We can’t catch a break. We’re now undergoing a massive affordable housing/displacement crisis. It is incredibly heartbreaking and disheartening.
@@bruhsoundeffect787 I am very sorry that your country is going through a lot. I only hope that things will lighten up a bit.
I’ve started watching your vids and I have to say you do an incredible job sharing what the situations were through all of these disasters. Continue doing what you do, you damn good meteorologist
I went on a cruise two months ago that visited San Juan and the tour guide told us how many areas still don't have power and will never get power again due to how complicated it would be to install new lines. Also met this dog that lives near this food stand in the mountains. Little fella went through this hurricane and survived. God bless everyone who was hit by Maria.
Maria is 6 years old yesterday
i felt like it was 3
I have a feeling that Freddy is foreshadowing what future hurricanes/cyclones are going to act. I say in the near future we're going to witness a system pinball around the gulf of Mexico similar to what Freddy did to Mozambique and Madagascar.
as a puerto rican it was the most mesmarizing yet horrifying thing ive experienced. the hill next to my home was lush and full of trees, it was left comepletely stripped. the eye of the hurricane passed over my home and everyone in the neighborhood went outside to see. cars flipped, lamposts destroyed, electrical wires on the ground,it was mayhem. my neighborhood got its light back in early DECEMBER. i rememberr trying to build the lego set i got on my birthday quickly before the sun set because it got too dark.. truly a horrifying storm..
Another great weather documentary. You always go so in depth into the science, and they are very informative.
Another idea for a video would be the bomb cyclone of 19, I was living in Golden Co and that was an epic storm. Then reading about the inland ice tsunamis that happened in Nebraska, i would love to see your coverage of that storm.
You always take care to address how people were deeply affected, and youre right no matter who wouldve been in office there wouldve been struggle! But thank you for mentioning the complexities regarding the situation, even I didnt know some of that. Its truly a shame how delayed the response was
It would be intresting to see a video on Hurricane Fiona and it's effects on the Gulf of St. Lawrence
You not doing the aftermath justice? Hell you gave it justice Alferia. You did the storm justice. And the spanish was so and so
I remember this hurricane and its reaction to it personally. All my life I've lived in Puerto Rico and there has not been something like that ever since or before. My house had flooding, and parts of the roof and walls literally flew out. One of my friends have to escape to the roof over house halfway through the hurricane since the interior of her house was completely engulfed in flood waters. Every hurricane season since then has been scared thinking of something like that may repeat. Trump's reaction was completely Bismol their recovery process was arduous and dehumanizing.
@@jadapinkett1656 watch the video, while the local government wasn't completely innocent, most of the blame can and should be put on the federal government. It's the federal government's job to have a good response and help out Puerto Rico with its recovery, but what happened was truly abysmal.
As a survivor of hurricane maria al I can say is that it was a truly life changing experience, my house didn’t have potable water for over 2 months I was only drinking and bathing with rain water that we heated to decontaminate also we use aquatabs to kill all patogen in the water. The electricity took almost 8 months to arrive at my house due to this there was a big smog cloud due to the constant use of generators around Puerto Rico. The people helped the people in need in rural sectors, places, government aid was inexistent in the rural sectors of the island , mostly we ourselves helped the people to deliver water and humanitarian aid, we collected donations that came from the United States that were not part of the government and was from people that could not help Puerto Rico physically. There’s a lot to talk about of Maria but it will take me to write a literal essay. Hurricane season will always give us islanders ptsd in many ways.
Puerto Rico's economic situation is entirely due to Congress and exploitation by US businesses. Frankly, the fact that the US still has territories at this point is insane. They need to either become US states, rejoin their neighboring nations (I'm thinking of American Samoa in particular here), or become independent nations - with reparations from the US to ensure they are successful in whichever path they pursue.
Guam has been looking to become a state for a while now.
@@fighter5583 Guam probably will considering it only exists for the Air Base on it.
PR is unlikely because of well, institutional racism.
@@Dexter037S4 Guam was a territory given to the U.S. after that war with the Spaniards IF my history is right; alongside the Philippines. Of course, both were seized by the Japanese in the 1940s before they were liberated.
FULLY AGREED any land that’s a territory needs to be given its own status no matter who owns it
I was almost killed by an entire metal roof that came off an alignment shop during Maria
it hit a power line which slowed it down enough to crash into the road infront of my house
a corner of it grazed the top of my neighbour's house on the other side of the road, ripping a chunk of concrete and rebar from the facade of the front door
another corner landed close to our front door, almost completely blocking it and making loud metal banging sounds that banged on into the night
the next day a guy with a hacksaw and a big ass truck had to come chop it into bits that he could throw onto the sidewalk for us to be able to get our cars out of the neighbourhood
i didn't even think about how close i was to getting either chopped in half by it or crushed by the collapsed roof of my own house as i ate the egg and cheese sandwich that my dad made me the morning after
EDIT: Just remembered this as i posted it.
I'm pretty sure that if you look closely at the road and sidewalk infront of the house you can still see the scratches it left as it slammed into the road, though my Dad passed around May 2020 (some type of organ failure unrelated to story or events in 2020) and i haven't been around that neighbourhood in two and a half years
I remember watching some sort of thing and seeing the damage, buildings leveled and all and very sad to see
I remember when I visited my family in puerto rico after Maria, and it looked almost unrecognizable. Buildings were all broken, trees were knocked over everywhere. It was really sad to see.
Thank you so much from Puerto Rico. We need independence or else this will happen again when the next strong hurricane comes...
The facts that you stated near the end are so goddamn true that I am going to become a member of the channel right after I post this comment.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who saw this all go down.
Maria was something for us here in PR. Halfway through my mom had a major panic attacked but managed to calm down but the scope of it was shocking, we truly thought it would be similar to other hurricanes but it slowed down and pretty much just sat on us for an entire day, it felt like it would never end, then all the reports after the fact, the corruption, I assure you, the true story of what happened post Maria is buried by our goverment.
My family got off lucky, our house was extremely sturdy and took the hit with no problems, hell we had power back a month later, but those 2 weeks with no communication at all where horrible, lot of my friends thought I had died and where pouring through lists of people that had died to see if I was on them.
i saw many talking about what hurricanes were their first my one because i live in australia is called a cyclone and the 1st one i remember was Cyclone Hamish 2009 but that only indirectly impacted me, the first direct impact was cyclone Yasi 2011. i know global things won't appear unless it is especially requested
Excellent work. I live in mainland US, but I remember crying with rage over the response and cruelty the president showed the people in puerto rico. It was devastating.
Hurricane Irma: Can I be next?
Irma didn't make landfall on Puerto Rico... But she passed so close and we were left without power for over a week. Than about 2 weeks later, Maria made landfall. It was back to back.
7years later we still haven't received.
who's watching this when Hurricane Beryl is dropping?
Thank you for making this detailed video I moved to PR post Maria 2yrs after to fix the house my grandma left after passing thr eay literally a month before Maria hit. She was bed ridden and would not have made it thru that without power. So much went wrong and so many failed the Island but We are recilent and will always Keep trucking!
Your videos are amazing and so informational!!
As a Puerto Rican who lives in Puerto Rico I only have to say one thing: THANK YOU!
Don't apologize for being political. There's no politically neutral way to criticize lacking infrastructure and preparedness. Most disasters are, ultimately, caused by politics. They're a reflection of what society values and scorns. 90% of disasters happen as a result of lack of money for safety, and that's a decision someone- or many someones - had to make.
I never expected John Oliver style righteous fury from this channel, but here we are. Thank you for telling it like it is, and for not glossing over the fact that what happened in Puerto Rico SHOULD make any reasonable person extremely angry.
The response from the government and Trump specifically makes me wanna fight.
I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. That full week and half afterwards not knowing if my family and friends were alive was excruciating.
This was the first hurricane that I experienced back in 2017. It was so bad me and my family moved to Texas for like 7 years until things got sorted out in Puerto Rico. I actually remember recording the start of the hurricane in my 3ds lol.
Tropical storm Freddy just defeated the world record for the longest living tropical storm it started on Feb 6 2023
My Puerto Rican friend said that his roof was torn off & they had to put a tarp over it for 2 years. When they got their new roof eventually, it collapsed onto his Grandma which she was injured but okay.
I was in Puerto Rico not long after Maria hit. Lot of collapsed buildings and storm damage still.
Can you talk about the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season in retrospective? I think that would help
i lived maria and now i just relived the nightmare as it happen as you tell it is all true... idk how i survive but i did... noone understands no one can comprehence what we endure what it was like we have never witness such chaos nor lived true it.... many commited suice upon seeing the destruction and manys hearts fail them upon witnessing her pass the accounts of torture and death are many... manys houses blew away while they were left upon the storm and many had to climb to the roof top as they watch the water rising left alone helpless under the storm riding it out in the open... but we surivive and we seen how our government made fun of us and how they spoke of us and their cold actions taking care of their own while the rest went true it is all true... how in the middle of the storm nurses wer told to close the door in the intesive care unite and not to answer calls as the lights went out and the first to go were does in tensive care unite how they told us they were prepare when they were not and it show some hospitals were being run by the army cause the dead were great bodies lying in stretchers piling up yes many die and they down play it....there many guilty parities here but yeah zionist hate puerto rico cause they know who we are is why we are the last colony standing one they abuse and use as moderday slave we the people pay their debt after they stole our money one cant begin to understand the level of coruption in the island you have to lived it and witness it one cant speak of it it has to be seen same with maria it was a nightmare one i can speak off as i witness it i saw and observe...ty for the video i am happy i found ur channel.. new sub awesome work ty♥
the pain I feel when this storm is mentioned is immeasurable
and I didn’t even have any personal involvement in it or anything
this thing was just… a failure and disaster on so many levels.
Sometimes, even when being objective, the political aspect of a disaster is one of the most influential parts of the cost. And of course that’s when it’s the most infuriating
Ive seen a good share of hurricanes here in Puerto Rico but I never thought that an hurricane could be so ridiculously strong. The wind made a sound that sounded like something evil roaring. Some people still have not recover and I KNOW, not think that every Puertorican and non Puertorican that lived that have ptsd. Im scared as fuck of hurricanes now and like I said i have seen a lot, my first one being Hugo. Btw like I said some people are still struggling and the whole island still have problem with electricity, some loose porwe almost every day.
Hurricane Maria survivor here.
I’m a minute in and I feel the need to go ahead and put this out…
Does anyone else remember when the Puerto Rican governor blamed Trump for “withholding aid” from Puerto Rico only for it to come out that she was actually the one who ordered the hoarding of supplies sent to Puerto Rico… hope it sparks some memories.
I have family in Humacao, PR. The experience was terrifying. The response after even worse.
what a passionate video honestly
As a person who experienced this first hand
I remember waking up seeing our street completely flooded, seeing my parents in a complete panic, and my older sibling crying
My parents stared as we saw the roof of my neighbor's house was blown off completely. Not to mention, I was only 8 when it happened... it was surreal, to say the least
The problem in Puerto Rico is the corruption. Government and government officials have been doing this for years. It is no one land.
Worth the sub buddy. You've done a meticulous job on this.
My family lives in Puerto Rico and all of us had no contact with them during the time this hurricane happened. Thankfully, none of my family suffered but our home suffered a lot of damages. All of the trees in the neighborhood were bare, and my step father's old home was virtually destroyed. There was no power, no signal, nothing. They had to go to the center of the island just to find a signal to get a text message out to tell us they were fine. It was among the most worrying moments of my life but thankfully, my mom, step dad and my sisters are fine, but a lot of people were never able to fully recover. Even now, years after this hurricane struck, there are places that haven't fully recovered.
I was in Gilbert, Cat 5 1988 and Emily, Cat 4 2005 ...scary 😢
I love your channel, much love from México ♥️
What you said in the ending credits “I don’t know what I am doing” is mood. Everyday.
Great vid Alferia. You did really well on this one, thanks for the in-depth insight.
Just discovered your channel about a week ago.
Very informative, in the best way possible.
I've learned things regarding storms like Katrina and the Texas deep freeze I don't think I would've ever learned.
My one gripe...I get super depressed hearing about this stuff sometimes (especially the Katrina video), but it's interesting as all hell...so I keep listening.
Keep up the great work.
I've stumbled upon a gem of a channel.
You are right and you should say it.
People debating the federal government's role should review the Preamble to the Constitution which defines the fed's mission. The "general welfare" of the people is given the same priority as "common defense." The US is great enough it should be capable of meeting those obligations to all its citizens. Puerto Ricans are American citizens with U.S. passports who pay federal taxes, even if they don't receive all the benefits.
Katrina devastated the CITY of New Orleans, population 300K (and Biloxi and less populated coastal areas). Whereas Puerto Rico is the size of a STATE, population 3 million. It's large enough to have rivers, dams, mountains. By scale and population alone, this disaster was orders of magnitude larger.
Katrina damaged the coast, but aid could and did come from nearby states- as you point out, since the entire island of Puerto Rico was devastated, it lacked any such assistance. After Katrina, the Fed was slow to evacuate survivors (most of whom had lacked means to evacuate themselves) to Houston and other areas where they could get food, water, medical care and shelter.
When Bush realized the scale of the disaster, he appointed General Honoré, well-liked and respected hero of the Iraq war, to coordinate state, city, and federal efforts and apply the logistics of battlefield operations to speed up aid and recovery. After Maria, no federal agency or official made any attempt to provide leadership or organize search and rescue, food and water, evacuation or medical care to survivors of Maria in the interior of the island, despite the scale of the disaster being much larger, and that territory's leaders begging for help.
They needed logistics, not just paper towels. They needed helicopters, food drops, field hospitals, as the US has provided for Haiti and other countries suffering great disasters. They needed the army corps of engineers, of which my dad is a veteran, to help build emergency roads, bridges, lay power lines. Believe me, the troops would've been delighted to be doing the job they signed up for in US territory for a change, helping Americans, saving lives.
If Trump simply refused to allocate US money or resources for Puerto Rico, then he shouldn't have barred other countries and NGOs from deploying their own disaster relief teams and offering those kinds of services and supplies.
Trump indicated on many occasions that he only considered people who voted for him Americans, so it's no surprise he wasn't keen to help Puerto Rico. It's the same reason he made sure Houston got prompt federal aid for Harvey, MORE aid than Puerto Rico, despite being a single city with all the wealth and resources of Texas at its disposal and with far less damage and casualties. That's why he tried to block aid going to California for wildfires, although California usually pays more in federal taxes than it received, so it has historically supported disaster-prone states, including his hurricane-hammered state of Florida.
His shortsightedness hurt many other Americans besides those he was railing against, as often happened.
More than half of Puerto Rico's exports are pharmaceuticals- pills and latex gloves don't weigh much or take up much space - and almost every major pharmaceutical company had compounding facilities on the island, from Pfizer to Merck to Johnson & Johnson to... basically any medical brand name you've ever heard in a TV ad. TheJones Act's tariffs raised the price of doing business there, so those price markups get passed on to US consumers, who are used to paying more for medicines than the rest of the world. Maria badly aggravated that situation by trashing Puerto Rico's pharmaceutical industry and the infrastructure it depended on. Plus, most of its employees, now out of work, emigrated to the mainland to search for new jobs, removing a wealthy, well-educated class of Puerto Ricans whose disposable income used to be good for the economy.
The unforeseen knock-on effect of this brain drain and body blow to a significant cornerstone of the US pharmaceutical industry is that the US medical supply chain was suffering shortages, especially personal protective equipment such as latex gloves, just when covid hit. Two and a half years after Maria should have been ample time for Congress' aid package to see Puerto Rico's infrastructure largely rebuilt and its pharmaceutical industry back in action. Unfortunately, Trump's vindictive ongoing attempts to delay that aid package, despite signing it into law and taking credit for it, meant we weren't ready for a pandemic. ER doctors and nurses from Texas to New York died in the critical early months of the epidemic due to PPE shortages.
(Note that Trump's blocking the aid package already passed for Puerto Rico was just as illegal as when he did it to the Pentagon's aid package to Ukraine, passed by Congress, meant to help Ukraine shore up its defenses to deter a possible Russian invasion and so head off an expensive war. Trump was impeached the first time because of credible testimony he'd blocked that aid getting to Ukraine and hinted to President Zelenskyy he could have it if he provided dirt on Hunter Biden. Regardless of WHY he delayed the aid to Puerto Rico or Ukraine, the president is not legally allowed to block any federal program enacted by law, or add his own private conditions- a president is not a dictator. Trump frequently ran afoul of US law and the Constitution during his tenure, even tweeting he had the power to "terminate the Constitution," when things didn't go his way.)
Trump made $1.6 billion dollars during his presidency by hosting foreign dignitaries hoping to curry favor with him, and/or by moving government functions and international meetings from their normal federal premises to Trump properties. It's too bad Trump didn't own a resort in Puerto Rico; maybe then he might've been motivated to fix up its grid and other basic infrastructure.
[Feel free to fact check me on any of this. I'm over 50 and have a certain pragmatism about corruption like Trump's. Most of my family are Republican, after all, and I am a classics scholar who studies Rome (it never entirely fell; it became the mafia). But I was raised with the concept of "noblesse oblige." We have no patience with a politician who talks more about himself than his country or fellow Americans. W Bush was a bit dim, but he cared.)
I remember when Hurricane Maria as if it was yesterday, having to see the my aunt’s house getting destroyed by it was absolutely terrifying, I couldn’t sleep at all when it hit during the night, the winds sounded like it was screeching and it was like a monster was banging on my window trying to get in, my room was flooded and my hometown was completely destroyed. But Thank God my family was safe from its wrath.
I wanted to comment about stuff but I kept turning into a rant towards Trump. I'm pretty sure just listening to this video raised my blood pressure.
This video reignited my burning hatred of that man.
@@JessycaLunawoona Hope his heart gives out, but then again, that means we get DeSatan, who's Trump but with an actual brain.
Thank you!
@Hollow Knight Thank you so much for sharing this video 🙏 I always wish and pray for your safety in future
😊💕🌻❤
@@hollowknight6438 ❤
My girlfriend at the time moved to the US because everything her family had was gone. I made a documentary on it for a class project of her story. It was hard hearing her describe what she saw. Such a strong woman, she really was
"...and tells me I'm doing something right" subscribed bc yes, you are
Alferia... I like your content more and more every week. Thank you for this! 😁
Thank you I'm from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 I was there when hurricane Maria hits it was awful.
The U.S should just integrate all these territories as states!
I survived Hurricane Maria. I have ptsd from it
We actually relied on donations and family who were able to fly from the mainland. Comms were down at approx. 6am since we talked to my dad until everything came crashing down and I thought I didn’t have a house due to a landslide but the house didn’t even budge which was something short of a miracle. I was in Naranjito. The eye passed on top of me. And to finish, my family and I are scarred since I was afraid and my autism didn’t help at all.
Just had a cannabis fueled thought but you should do a video on the Hunga Tunga volcano explosion, since we're witnessing its effects right now and I'm guessing for the next couple of years. I'm a Arapaho and participate in our sweat lodges and reading about what power Hunga Tunga exhibited, it feels that explosion is similar to what we do in sweat. We pour water on hot rocks to generate steam and I have a feeling Hunga Tunga just did that same thing, it poured a dipper on the rocks and exploded an amount of water which we think we can calculate and comprehend. But my theory is that all that water that was shot out into the atmosphere and space even, is the same water that is fueling these "biblical floods" were witnessing, just right now with California's atmosphere rivers, the inland sea forming in Pakistan, Australia's floods. Fueling Ian, Fiona, the world's longest lasting recorded hurricane, that be Freddy. But good job on your videos, I immensely appreciate the hard work you put into them.
the lava background on the righteous fury definitely balances out the chibi avatar. seriously though, thank you for your coverage. it's an important facet of this issue since the inaction from US officials worsened and malingered negative effects from Maria, as it has with so many other humanitarian failures on the part of the US Feds.
46:00 Don't worry your fine you were just stating the facts as you knew them and again it makes me sick. That Porto Rico was and is treated so poorly like they voted to become a state twice know since and they haven't for reasons I have no idea...
Took my first vacation to the Dominican Republic and just before we left to head there, this hurricane popped up. Luckily it didn’t hit the region we stayed very hard but it was quite an experience.
Love your work. Could you please do a deep dive on the winter of 2015 in Boston? It was insane I remember only going to school for like 5 days in February. We basically got 110 inches in three weeks
You should try to make documentarys about western Pacific storms like typhoon haiyan (2013)
Typhoon rai (2021) or typhoon vamco(2020)
Btw love your vids
I don't think he knows what typhoons are
@@kyedeguzman2905 oh ok
i lived through irma, we had a patio outback that had those mosquito nets and the little door it had got fucking yanked so hard by the wind it could barely shut anymore
I watched your video on Sandy and it reminded me of something from when I livd back in PR. I remember that people were very complacent when storms were coming for the island. The last one I remember hitting hard before MAria was Georges. fter that one a lot of storms kind of just missed us or turned to nothing. I dont think that n any way made things worse, but I dont know how seriously some people took it. Though I think no one really could expect what happened, even if you were prepareed. No one could be prepared for that.
You should cover hurricane Fiona next, lots of Puerto Ricans that went through Maria and Fiona said that Fiona was worse.
As a puerto rican It was scary. Especially being one of those in the Danger zone of it... Lucky for us it only knocked down our trees and blocked us from leaving home. we cut the tree and went on our way to help loved ones... It was A shit ton scary. I remember being in my Parents Bed Scared out of my mind Drinking yoohoo As i prayed to god to let the house stand, The doors were hauling Windows were cracking Trees were falling and every second we would go blind for a split second due to lightning... The house was flooding and worst of all... Our animals were outside and were getting soaked Raising the chances of them dying due to hyperthermia or Sickness Luckily they survived, The worst part. It was on for what i tought was 2 days but in reality it felt like forever We were prepared and we set basic rules. Don't eat the food atop the table, Don't leave the fridge open for too long if the power comes on Do not use anything or plug in your phones as a surge might occur if the water goes out use the stove to get hot water for showers If debry is flying Go to Sister's Room [Safest room] and stay away from windows, Avoid using flashlights for long periods of time Have spare batteries incase of emergency Always carry your Walkie talkie if The house collapses. For us people in the danger zone of it, it was basicly the apocalypseeye