Now It's Hurricane Relief

In the last month, Texas got slammed by Hurricane Harvey, Florida got smashed by Irma and Puerto Rico was devastated by Maria.  That's a series of major crises, any one of which would fully tax the ability of the federal government, especially FEMA, to respond to disaster.  Everyone agrees that the response by the government has been outstanding in Texas and Florida.  There is a difference, however, with regard to Puerto Rico.  The response has been slower on that island.  The reason is twofold.  First, FEMA and the military are already fully occupied responding to Harvey and Irma in Texas and Florida.  We just don't have the resources ready to deal with the third hurricane strike; many supplies were used in the first two response efforts.  Second, and more important, Puerto Rico has been cut off to a great extent.  Trucks could roll into Houston or Florida once highways were cleared.  That let help come in from all different sources and directions.  In Puerto Rico, the only way onto or off of the island is by ship or aircraft.  The airports were damaged and the volume of supplies that can arrive by plane is therefore still limited.  The same is true of the ports to a great extent.  As the docks and the airports are repaired, the flow of aid will increase, but it will still be more constricted than was the case in Florida and Texas.  Even with these obstacles, the amount of aid getting to Puerto Rico is immense.

So what is the media response to all this?  We hearing complaints that Puerto Rico is not getting the attention it deserves because its residents are Hispanic.  That's disgusting and untrue.  So much effort is being put in to help the people of Puerto Rico that it is appalling to blame the initial delay in parts of the response on racism.