![]() |
A house destroyed by hurricane Irma still stands in disrepair in Big Pine Key, Florida, following last year's monster hurricane season (AFP Photo/Leila MACOR) |
Marathon (United States) (AFP) - Listen closely and you'll hear the groan of collective dread in Florida and the Caribbean: yes, it's already hurricane season again.
Both places
were pummeled last year by monster storms and both -- in the case of Florida it
was the plume of once-lovely coral islands known as the Florida Keys -- are
still struggling to rebuild.
"If a
storm comes through, we're screwed," said Cindy P., a 48-year-old waitress
who lives in the Keys and explained houses in the area weren't yet prepared.
In the
Caribbean, hit by two hurricanes in rapid-fire succession in September, the
pain and shock of all that is still quite raw. People can't seem to catch their
breath.
This week
alone, a new study concluded that in Puerto Rico, 4,645 people died as a result
of Hurricane Maria. The official toll in the US territory is 64 dead.
Against
that jittery and shell-shocked backdrop, the new hurricane season started
Friday.
Not even waiting for it, a plucky subtropical storm named Alberto caused flooding this week along the US East Coast.
![]() |
The model
of an affordable house built to withstand storms, is seen next to a house
with
the roof still unrepaired and covered by plastic bags in Big Pine Key (AFP
Photo/
Leila MACOR)
|
Not even waiting for it, a plucky subtropical storm named Alberto caused flooding this week along the US East Coast.
Authorities
in Florida say they have learned their lesson and are promising better telecoms
and management of relief funds.
In Puerto
Rico, the government is recommending that people amass provisions for 10 days,
rather than just three as had been the case until now.
Much of the
territory went months without water or power after Hurricane Maria.
But like
that waitress Cyndi, people do not feel ready.
The Florida
Keys are an archipelago that arcs out 180 kilometers (110 miles) southwest from
the southern tip of the state and are connected by 42 bridges.
In this
tourist destination, debris still clogs many canals. In working class
neighborhoods you see many destroyed homes and some people living in tents on
their front lawns.
"We
take care of people up to a point. However, there reaches a point where they
have to start taking care of themselves again," said Martin Senterfitt,
emergency management director of Monroe County, which includes the keys.
Latent problems
![]() |
A "now
hiring" sign in a construction area in the Florida Keys, which is still struggling
to rebuild after being pummeled last year by a monster storm (AFP
Photo/Leila MACOR)
|
Latent problems
Hurricanes
Irma and Maria accentuated problems that were already latent in areas that they
blasted with storm surges and more-than-200 kilometer per hour winds.
For
instance, of the 55,000 homes in the keys, more than 1,000 were reduced to
their foundations and 3,000 suffered major damage. Also lost were 1,044 mobile
homes and pre-fab houses.
More
expensive homes, especially those in the last island, Key West, were spared by
Irma, which scored a direct hit on the islands on September 10.
It was
devastating for the working class: restaurant workers, landscapers,
construction people and other low earners cannot find affordable housing. So
they packed up and shipped out, leaving many employers without a workforce.
Many
businesses have dusty "Help Wanted" signs in their front windows.
![]() |
Many
employers in the Florida Keys say they are struggling to find workers, after
many people fled during last year's hurricane season (AFP Photo/Leila MACOR)
|
"We
have major demand and there's no supply," Diane Eliopoulus, marketing
manager at a Hard Rock Cafe in Key West, said at a board of commissioners
meeting at which she said she had lost many employees.
"I get
a lot of applicants, not anyone from this area. I say to them, 'would you mind
looking at the housing market before making a decision to come?' I never get a
call back," she added.
In Puerto
Rico, Hurricane Maria laid bare the decrepit state of the territory's
electrical grid.
Eight
months after the storm hit on September 20, there are still regular blackouts.
And some 60,000 customers are still without power in the US possession of 3.3
million people, which was already saddled with a gargantuan debt crisis.
That
extended lack of electricity killed older and sick people who depended on
respirators or insulin, caused unemployment to rise and prompted nearly 200,000
people to leave the islands.
![]() |
Tarps cover
a house with the roof still unrepaired after the damage caused
by hurricane
Irma in Big Pine Key, Florida (AFP Photo/Leila MACOR)
|
Lessons
learned
Governor
Ricardo Rossello also says he has learned his lesson. The government filled
warehouses with spare parts and prepared agreements that will allow for
immediate assistance if the electrical grid collapses again.
"If we
once again have to wait 50 days for the US Corps of Engineers to reach Puerto
Rico, then we have not learned anything," Rossello said this week as he
announced the plan.
In Barbuda,
a tiny island in the Caribbean, Irma blew in like a bomb, destroying pretty
much everything.
It is still
recovering from damage estimated at more than $200 million. Just about
everybody fled.
To this
day, only 500 of the original 1,800 inhabitants have come back.
Related Articles: