Caribbean Islands Battered By Hurricanes Face Food, Water Shortages, Humanitarian Crises
New York Times: In Battered Puerto Rico, Governor Warns of a Humanitarian Crisis
“Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló of Puerto Rico said on Monday that the island was on the brink of a ‘humanitarian crisis’ nearly a week after Hurricane Maria knocked out its power and most of its water, and left residents waiting in excruciating lines for fuel. He called on Congress to prevent a deepening disaster. Stressing that Puerto Rico, a United States territory, deserved the same treatment as hurricane-ravaged states, the governor urged Republican leaders and the federal government to move swiftly to send more money, supplies, and relief workers…” (Robles et al., 9/25).
New Yorker: “Eden Is Broken”: A Caribbean Leader Calls for Action on Climate Change
“…[O]n Saturday morning, … Roosevelt Skerrit, the forty-five-year-old Prime Minister of the Caribbean island of Dominica, addressed the United Nations General Assembly. … Skerrit, whose country was devastated by Hurricane Maria, declared that ‘Eden is broken,’ and demanded that world leaders acknowledge climate change. ‘To deny climate change is to procrastinate while the earth sinks; it is to deny a truth we have just lived. … We need action and we need it now’…” (Meade, 9/24).
U.N. News Centre: Storm-ravaged Dominica in urgent need of food and water, finds U.N. assessment team
“A United Nations disaster assessment official visiting the small island nation of Dominica, which was battered by Hurricane Maria, said today that an estimated 60,000 to 65,000 people, or 80 percent of the total population, have been affected and that food and water are the most immediate needs…” (9/25).
The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.