AFTER-ACTION REPORT: HURRICANES MARIA AND IRMA IN PUERTO RICCO
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After Action Report: Hurricanes Maria and Irma in Puerto Ricco
Incident report.
On Wednesday, September 20, 2017, the southern coast of Puerto Rico was struck by Hurricane Maria. The disastrous hurricane came days after hurricane Irma laid waste to land property, causing the unfortunate displacement of millions of people from their homes. Hurricane Irma, which left at least 134 people dead, was a precursor to hurricane Maria which struck 14 days later, killing an estimated population of 2, 975 and displacing twice as much people as Hurricane Irma (Rivera & Willard, 2019). The two hurricanes impacted the coastal are through storm-forced tropical winds and massive storm surges. The trajectory taken by Hurricane Maria showed movement from cape Hatteras, North Carolina to the north-northeast. Recorded speed of 6 MPH propelled the hurricane with a 75 MPH speed of sustained wind (U.S. Department of Energy, 2017). The development of this After-Action Report (AAR) reviews all aspects of hurricane Irma and Maria, specifically in Puerto Ricco.
The affected areas at the first impact of Hurricane Irma included the U.S. Virgin Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Anguilla, Bahamas, Antigua, Barbuda, Turks, and Caicos. Approximately 75,000 buildings were laid to waste with winds that recorded speeds of 252km/h and higher (U.S. Department of Energy, 2017). When Hurricane Maria struck next, it worsened the catastrophe, particularly in Puerto Rico, when it hit on September 20, 2017. Generally, the Caribbean population was most affected, including Dominica and Puerto Rico. Hurricane Irma made Puerto Ricco more vulnerable to the subsequent hurricane maria, which crumbled the country’s infrastructure, including but not limited to the electric and power grid (Rivera & Willard, 2019).
The emergency response following the two hurricanes saw the involvement of key stakeholders in disaster management and response providing aid to the affected areas. Resource coordination of the global Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) was conducted under the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) (U.S. Department of Energy, 2017). Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided the necessary relief to mitigate the effects of the disastrous event not only in the U.S. but also mainly in the Caribbean. Provisions were low for necessities such as food and water, which saw FEMA respond by providing aid in addition to housing assistance for survivors (U.S. Department of Energy, 2017). Many households and affected areas were left without water and electricity supply upon the impact of hurricane Irma and Maria. Additionally, communication was equally disrupted on a high proportion, a situation that was worsened by the lack of power in Puerto Ricco (U.S. Department of Energy, 2017). Due to the country’s regressive economic situation, most households and areas did not have their power restored after Hurricane Irma.
A long-range power outage significantly challenged the response with Puerto Rico reporting a countrywide outage (Rivera & Willard, 2019). This greatly affected emergency response in hospitals and other essential facilities that needed to be energized for maximum support. Generally, emergency management agencies in Puerto Ricco were challenged by a lack of priorities for emergency response procedures and geographic difficulties (U.S. Department of Energy, 2017). Declaration of a major disaster following the hurricanes prompted the declaration of a state of emergency in the Caribbean countries, including Puerto Ricco. These significant challenges were attributed to previous financial strains that caused a total lack of preparedness for the disaster of that magnitude.
Observably, the government of Puerto Ricco did not apply the plan for catastrophic hurricanes during the occurrence and aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Emergency protocols constitute the hurricane plan, which was minimally affected (Miller et al., 2109). A resultant effect was the massive collapse of the Puerto Rican infrastructure, which can only mean a lack of implemented measures was responsible for the failure (Rivera & Willard, 2019). A fair conclusion is that procedures in Puerto Ricco to mitigate such a catastrophe were not accurately followed.
Emergency operations
The destructive effects of hurricane Irma and maria demonstrated that Puerto Ricco was not adequately prepared to handle the catastrophe. Initially, after hurricane Irma, the government of Puerto Rico did not exert the necessary urgency to the matter mainly because hurricane Irma did not affect the country as predicted (Miller et al., 2109). The expectations for hurricane Irma were highly projected as severe, and it was seen as a major hurricane. Because Puerto Rico had made previous preparations for a storm of Irma’s magnitude, the country’s residents felt confident of their ability to face hurricane maria.
Puerto Ricco underestimated the predicted force of hurricane maria in their process of preparation. Soon after the catastrophic development of hurricane maria to category 4, the country anticipated the severity of impact in some areas. Consequently, Puerto Ricco did not sufficiently affect the mitigation plan for the catastrophe. Notably, it relied on a satellite system of communication that suffered a breakdown in hurricane maria leaving the country without any alternative communication system. With difficulties in response to the hurricane experienced by the Puerto Rican government, FEMA assumed control of the management process in response to the devastating effects of the storm.
Various recovery estimations were made though none was sure. Planning strategies to address the disaster by FEMA were challenged by reluctance because of the country’s territorial status. Various litigation acts, such as the Stafford Act, limited FEMA’s involvement in addressing the catastrophe in Puerto Ricco. As a result, efforts to address the hurricane were divided, given the high demand for assistance. A shortage of resources was experienced due to this high demand. Hurricane Irma had already created a steep shortage of commodities for Puerto Ricco. This condition worsened preparedness for hurricane maria. Emergency response organizations recorded a considerable strain in addressing the catastrophe in Puerto Ricco because resources were in high demand in other affected Caribbean territories and the U.S.
The lack of communication challenged the coordination of logistics. Emergency response support was subsequently limited, which added to the unfortunate challenge of unpreparedness. Disaster relief by humanitarian bodies was diverted to support the vast number of territories affected. Historically, hurricane maria is one of the greatest natural disasters recorded by Puerto Ricco and other Caribbean countries. The damages impacted amounted to billions in U.S. dollars, which creates the need for disaster management strategies to mitigate catastrophes such as Hurricane Maria.
I would recommend implementing disaster management and response strategies on a legislative level to increase accountability if such a catastrophe ever strikes again. However, it is crucial for countries such as Puerto Ricco need to b prepared in more resilient ways to avoid future natural disasters such as hurricane maria. Further plans should be crafted to help to mitigate future hazards. Similarly, Puerto Ricco ought to restructure its governance system to strengthen the future response to affected individuals’ needs in the event of a natural disaster. A strengthening response system will give the country the necessary planning tools to confront any catastrophic event and cater to vulnerable citizens. Although predicting natural disasters may pose an undeniable challenge, Puerto Ricco and other affected countries must use the unfortunate experience to be adequately prepared for any unforeseeable catastrophe.
References
Miller, P. W., Kumar, A., Mote, T. L., Moraes, F. D. S., & Mishra, D. R. (2019). Persistent
hydrological consequences of hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Geophysical Research Letters, 46(3), 1413-1422.
Rivera, J. (2020). A Content Analysis of the Phases of Emergency Management for Hurricane
Maria in Puerto Rico. The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal (URJ), retrieved from https://www.urj.ucf.edu/docs/rivera.pdf
Rivera, J., & Willard, A. (2019). Humanitarian logistics in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria: the
experience of the American Red Cross in Puerto Rico. International Journal Of Emergency Management, 15(2), 166. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijem.2019.10020875
U.S. Department of Energy. (2017). Hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Harvey. Retrieved from
https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/09/f37/Hurricanes%20Maria%20Irma%20Harvey%20Event%20Summary%20September%2027