Puerto Rico Crops Devastated By Hurricane Maria

Puerto Rico has endured tremendous destruction from the past two Hurricanes -- Hurricane Irma followed by Hurricane Maria.  Arriving in my e-mail box yesterday morning from 'Politico Agriculture' was a reminder of the devastation caused by such natural disasters:

PUERTO RICO CROPS TAKE MAJOR HIT Less than a week after Hurricane Maria battered through Puerto Rico, the island lost an estimated 80 percent of its crops, according to the Agriculture Secretary Carlos Flores Ortega, The New York Times reported Sunday. The category 4 hurricane devastated the island as the commonwealth government has still not made contact with a number of the island's 78 municipalities. Millions on the island are left without cell reception to reach loved ones or electricity, which officials estimate could take months to repair. POLITICO also reports that Puerto Rico has limited representation in Washington to help its gets the aid it needs.

Plantain and coffee crops were dealt the largest blow, but all agriculture - ranging from livestock to dairy - suffered major losses. Puerto Rican agriculture department preliminary figures put the price tag at a $780 million loss in agriculture yields.

In perspective, Puerto Rico imports more than 80 percent of its food. But as The New York Times reports, those food imports will "rise drastically as local products like coffee and plantains are added to the list of Maria's staggering losses. Local staples that stocked supermarkets, school lunchrooms and even Walmart are gone."

With the majority of crops devastated by recent storms, where do residents go to get food?  Puerto Rico is not a huge island and will need a tremendous amount of aid from the United States government.  Prior to the storms, Puerto Rico was in a state of 'Bankruptcy' owing a tremendous amount of money.  The recent storms have exacerbated the devastation on top of bankruptcy.



I have a friend who is finishing up Medical School down in Puerto Rico.  I have tried to reach him.  As of writing this post, he was traveling back on a 'humanitarian' flight back to Los Angeles airport.  I will have more to report after visiting with him.



We should keep the residents of Puerto Rico in our thoughts and wish them a speedy recovery.  Our politicians should be focused on directing the resources available to help them out.  Instead of dividing the nation, we should be bringing help and resources to each resident to help establish basic services (electricity, water, trash, etc.).  We should also be reminded that food (crops) do not grow over night.  Therefore, the recovery from such a large percentage of devastation to the available land for growing crops will take time to restore.  The adverse (devastation) caused by these tremendous storms has been enormous and will continue to shed light on much needed services and infrastructure.