SUMMARY: Puerto Rico is under a state of emergency after experiencing a magnitude 6.4 earthquake Tuesday morning. The tremor, part of a series that has shaken the U.S. territory since Christmas, caused substantial damage along the southern coast. One man died when a wall caved in on his house, and many residents were left without power or water. John Yang reports on the island's worst earthquake in years.
SUMMARY: A wide-ranging disaster relief bill failed in the Senate Monday due to a disagreement about federal aid for Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, the island territory is struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria's damaging blow a year and a half ago. Lisa Desjardins reports on the stalled legislation, and John Yang talks to Associated Press reporter Danica Coto about what’s at stake for Puerto Rico's people.
SUMMARY: Celebrity chef Jose Andres has been on the ground in the Carolinas this week, helping victims of Hurricane Florence. As a "food first responder," Andres was also in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria tore through the island a year ago. Jeffrey Brown talks with him about how he uses his knowledge of and passion for food to help create a new kind of activism, and offering nurturing to those in need.
SUMMARY: The death toll from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year was far larger than known, according to a new study. At least 4,645 people on the island are estimated to have died as a result of the storm and devastation that followed, far exceeding the official number of 64. Judy Woodruff talks with Sarah Varney of Kaiser Health News.
SUMMARY: Houston is 627 square miles of urban development, highways, office parks, strip malls, and neighborhoods -- and it keeps growing farther and farther out. Five months ago, Hurricane Harvey devastated the Texas coast, dropping more than 50 inches of rain across Houston and raising questions about the consequences of limitless development. Hari Sreenivasan reports.
SUMMARY: Houston, known as the Bayou City, is no stranger to flooding. But the record-breaking rains and devastating deluge of Hurricane Harvey helped expose a disconnect between developers building on flood-vulnerable land and home buyers who might not have realized the risk. Hari Sreenivasan reports on how the region is confronting the likelihood of more floods, and long-term measures for mitigation.
SUMMARY: Five months after Hurricane Harvey tore through Houston with record rainfall and 130 mph winds, 33,000 Texans are still displaced and living in temporary federal housing. Meanwhile, 80 percent of hurricane victims did not have flood insurance, and for many, help is not coming fast enough. Produced in partnership with the Texas Tribune, Hari Sreenivasan looks at what keeps them from returning home.
SUMMARY: It’s been nearly four months since Puerto Rico was ravaged by Hurricane Maria, and the return to normalcy has been hindered by a painfully slow recovery. Jeffrey Brown talks to special correspondent Monica Villamizar for an update on how residents are coping amid rising crime rates, dwindling school enrollment, and devastated infrastructure and natural resources.
SUMMARY: It's been almost a month since Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico, killing at least 48 people, but citizens on the island are still coming to grips with the scale of the devastation. William Brangham speaks with David Begnaud of CBS News about new concerns of contamination and disease due to the island's lack of drinking water, medical facilities and a backlog of supplies in San Juan.
SUMMARY: Both federal and local authorities have faced criticism for the speed of Puerto Rico recovery efforts. A month after Hurricane Maria, some 80 percent of the island remains without electricity. Hari Sreenivasan speaks with José Sánchez, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to discuss the problems with the devastated power grid.
SUMMARY: Hurricane-battered infrastructure and limited electricity have taken a toll on the tourism-driven economy of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Home to 100,000 Americans, the islands took a hit from both hurricanes Irma and Maria at their peaks within a span of two weeks. William Brangham speaks with U.S. Virgin Islands State Senator Janette Millin Young about how the islands are faring and the progress made.
SUMMARY: After almost a week since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, millions of residents are without water, fuel or power, and cut off from the world with no way to communicate with family abroad. John Yang speaks with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló and Patricia Mazzei of the Miami Herald about the extent of the damage and the island's need for federal aid.
SUMMARY: Conditions are dire for more than 3 million Americans struggling to get water, food and electricity after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico. P.J. Tobia reports on the pressure President Trump has faced to send more aid, then Judy Woodruff speaks with FEMA Deputy Administrator Daniel Kaniewski and Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) about the federal response the island has received.
SUMMARY: As Puerto Rico reels a week after Hurricane Maria, much of the aid that has reached the island has not made it beyond San Juan. President Trump defended his administration's response while basic necessities remain scant John Yang speaks with Camila Domonoske of NPR and Phillip Carter of the Center for a New American Security, about the distribution of aid and what the military is doing.
SUMMARY: Across Puerto Rico, many residents still desperately need food, fuel and water. Meanwhile, thousands of cargo containers filled with supplies sit on the docks, unable to get inland. John Yang reports on how the Trump administration is taking steps to speed up relief efforts, then gets an update from the ground in San Juan from Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz.
SUMMARY: Long lines are a stark fact of life for the people of Puerto Rico, with little assistance from the outside world reaching small towns nine days after Hurricane Maria. But the U.S. military and Puerto Rican National Guard units are trying to get aid out beyond the capital, and help get hospitals up and running. Special correspondent Monica Villamizar reports on the frustrations on the island.
SUMMARY: The tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, in May 2011 was one of the most destructive in U.S. history. Five years later, the city seems to be thriving -- possibly even better off than it was before. One key to its success? Getting residents to stay, says Jane Cage, chair of the Citizens Advisory Recovery Team. But the emotional trauma from that day still lingers. Hari Sreenivasan reports.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): Storms, hurricanes and natural disasters clearly test the fortitude of any area, as we're seeing this weekend with Hermine, and just recently with the rains and flooding in Louisiana.
We tend to focus on the immediate aftermath and relief, but the devastation can last for years.
We have the story of how one city leveled by a tornado has spent years rebuilding, and in some ways is better and stronger for the future.
The tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011 was one of the most destructive ever in U.S. history; 161 people were killed, 1,000 were injured, and more than 7,000 homes were damaged.
When the “NewsHour” visited four months later, people were still literally picking up the pieces of their lives.
JANE CAGE, Chair, Citizens Advisory Recovery Team: It is certainly clean, compared with what it used to be.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Jane Cage, a businesswoman who chaired the Citizens Advisory Council to rebuild Joplin, told us back then she was worried people wouldn't come back to the destroyed areas.
JANE CAGE: In the beginning, I think everyone said, I want to rebuild my house. And now I think people are faced with the reality that what they wanted, their neighborhood and their friends may not be in that same spot.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Five years later, Cage took us on a tour of the same neighborhood.
JANE CAGE: I think this is, in some ways, one of the best recovered neighborhoods. They're nicer houses and larger houses overall.
HARI SREENIVASAN: She says one of the main things that Joplin got right in the aftermath was encouraging residents to stay.
JANE CAGE: We concentrated on keeping our population in Joplin, because we saw what happened in other cities that experienced disasters. And I think one of the first things that we did to make that happen was, our school superintendent made the promise that we would start school on time.
SUMMARY: When the Ebola outbreak struck West Africa in 2014, it took months for international agencies to funnel money into the affected areas. Eventually, more than 11,000 people died and the economic cost topped $10 billion. Now, the World Bank is creating a fast-disbursing fund to combat pandemics as soon as they unfold. Hari Sreenivasan talks to bank president Jim Yong Kim to learn more.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): Now, how the World Bank is changing its response to fast-moving crises.
In 2014, it took months before international agencies ramped up their approach to the Ebola outbreak, and that included getting money to hard-hit countries. Eventually, more than 11,000 people died in West Africa, and the economic cost topped $10 billion.
Now the bank is creating a fast-disbursing fund to provide assistance during pandemics.
Hari Sreenivasan spoke recently with the bank’s president, Jim Yong Kim, about that and other humanitarian crises.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): Dr. Kim, thanks for joining us.
You recently launched something called the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility. What is this?
DR. JIM YONG KIM, President, World Bank Group: So, Hari, we were thinking, what can we do to prevent what happened with Ebola from happening again?
The response was too late. The money didn’t start flowing really until about October, 10 months after we knew that there was an outbreak. So…
HARI SREENIVASAN: And during that time, people are getting infected.
DR. JIM YONG KIM: Absolutely.
And so we said, can we somehow use our experience with catastrophe bonds? We have now developed this way of pooling countries together. So, the Caribbean countries who couldn’t afford to get insurance policies on their own, we have pulled them together. And when a catastrophe happens, we have now got an instrument that immediately releases funds so that they can respond.
We thought, can we do something like that for pandemics? And so we started looking at it. We started talking to insurance companies. Insurance companies had never had an insurance policy for pandemics before. But they said we have learned how to insure lots of different things, let’s give it a shot.
Here’s what it’s going to do. It’s a $500 million instrument that has attached to it an additional $100 million that will be used right away whenever we see anything going on. The $500 million instrument is for three classes of diseases; (1) the flu orthomyxoviruses, which are the flu pandemics, (2) the filoviruses, which are the Ebola and Marburg viruses, and then also the (3) coronaviruses, SARS and MERS, that we have experienced in the past.
So, for those three, this $500 million instrument will disburse immediately to the poorest countries in our group, the 77 poorest countries. And our hope is that the instrument, the cash instrument plus the $500 million pandemic facility will go so far upstream in tackling pandemics that we will stop them before they become a big problem.
