Next month marks one year since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. But instead of talking about the thousands of people who died as a result of that disaster, the mainstream media will spend the next several weeks covering the death of John McCain. While McCain’s death is certainly newsworthy (although nearly all of the coverage has conveniently overlooked the incredibly problematic aspects of his personal life and professional record), it is very telling that Puerto Rico continues to be ignored by the media and federal government as its residents struggle to recover from the worst storm in island history.
In addition to all we now understand about how the island was completely unprepared for Maria (reports released just today suggest the death toll is now at 2,975), it is also clear that Puerto Rico’s government wasn’t able to meet the needs of disabled people after the hurricane. NBC News spoke with Janet Collazo, the head of Defensoría de las Personas con Impedimentos (DPI), the government agency that protects the island’s disabled communities and ensures compliance with local and federal laws regarding the disabled. Collazo says that she didn’t have the necessary support to prepare for Maria and that because they are a small agency, they are “clearly not a priority.”
Sadly, DPI only employs 52 people. That may not sound alarming except estimates indicate that more than 21 percent of the island’s 3 million residents are living with a disability. That number is higher than any of the 50 states. While the disabilities vary, the most common include deafness, blindness and conditions that require the use of oxygen tanks. Caring for those who needed oxygen was a huge challenge after Maria, given that medical supplies across the island were scarce and hard to obtain for months.
Puerto Rico also has no program that provides monthly cash benefits to the disabled, unlike the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program in the mainland. While there is a federal matching-grant program that exists called Aid to the Aged, Blind or Disabled (AABD), some of the disabled Puerto Ricans who participate only receive a tiny amount of money from it. The disparity between what a disabled person on the island receives in aid compared to a disabled person in the mainland is downright shocking and appalling. NBC notes that some receive “as little as $64 a month in aid” while “a disabled person in the mainland U.S. collects about $733 a month through SSI.”
Making problems for the disabled even worse is that the amount of aid has remained unchanged since Maria. Approximately 40,000 disabled people across the island are still only receiving the minimum amount of aid and DPI lost its entire headquarters during the storm. Their offices have yet to be rebuilt. Collazo explains that nearly one year after Maria, they remain in a temporary location and are “working with boxes and our personal cell phones.”
Let’s also not forget that Puerto Rico is simultaneously rebuilding from Hurricane Maria while also preparing for the next storm. Atlantic hurricane season is far from over, with another three months to go. Forecasters estimate that this year’s season may be lighter than usual. While that’s certainly a good thing, it wouldn’t take much for heavy rains or a tropical storm to wreak havoc on an already strained and struggling population in Puerto Rico.
But while local officials try to care for the island’s disabled on a shoestring budget and work with FEMA and other government agencies to get them to finally include people with disabilities in their emergency planning, the media will continue to ignore it. Instead, they’ll spend hours and days covering John McCain’s legacy, his funeral, and how Trump botches the response to his death. Maybe if McCain had died in Puerto Rico, people would finally start caring about what happens on the island. Though, probably not. Nearly one year later and Puerto Ricans, both those that died because of Hurricane Maria and those that survived it, are still not getting the attention, help, and respect they deserve.