iSurprised there hasn't really been a thread on this.
The NOAA posted these satellite images showing how widespread the power outages are:
NYT piece on agricultural devastation:
WaPo article on how the power outages are affecting the island:
PR's governor is requesting federal aid, but there's questions about whether Congress will sign off on a large enough funding package as well as if it will be quick enough, and whether the Trump administration and the DOD will send in the Navy for relief.
I have to wonder, with the debt issue making it impossible for the commonwealth to borrow money for relief, in the case that Congress and Trump don't act quick enough, will there be a mass exodus to the contiguous United States? Florida is the logical place to go, but it could pose a lot of logistical issues if/when people decide to leave the island.
There are a lot of Puerto Ricans in NYC, so that makes more sense than Florida, which is also very vulnerable to strong hurricanes (as Irma showed).
The large number of Puerto Ricans that have migrated to FL over the past two decades are one of the biggest reason Orange County (Orlando) and Osceola County (Kissimmee) have shifted from Republican to Democrat, and strongly.
Seminole County, which is directly north of Orlando, has been one of the most Republican counties in FL, but now it is narrowly Republican and the tide is Democratic. Hispanic immigration is a reason, and Puerto Ricans moving to Seminole County is another reason.
In the 1970s, one of my professors was Juan Carlos Silen, author of the book, "We, the Puerto Rican People". His class was one that was designed to bring one to believe that independence for Puerto Rico was the proper and best resolution to the "status" issue Puerto Ricans on the island have been dealing with almost forever. In one class, he spoke of the wave of Puerto Rican migration to the US in the postwar period, and stated in 1978 that the next wave of migration from Puerto Rico would be a wave of professionals. This, indeed, has happened, and it has affected Florida's politics as much as any state.
