I know, it’s been a while… This is just a quick post on the recent events in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. And no, this is not going to be a political profanity laced rant. Sorry. What I want to talk about is recognizing the global warming’s new normal and taking measures to deal with it. Hurricanes have always been a fact of life, but not at this magnitude and frequency. And you can bet your ass this is not only going to continue, it’s likely to get worse which means measures need to be taken to minimize loss of life.

One of the big lessons from Puerto Rico is that communicating with remote communities  getting critical supplies like water in the early days following the storm is impossible when there are no roads or electricity. So, here’s my idea…

Knowing these mega-storms are the new normal, issue each household  BEFORE  NEXT HURRICANE SEASON with a short term disaster survival kit containing:

• Lifestraw or similar device (less than $20 )
  

  “Filters up to 1000 liters of contaminated water without iodine, chlorine, or other chemicals; does not require batteries and has no moving parts. Removes minimum 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria, 99.9% of waterborne protozoan parasites, and filters to 0.2 microns; surpasses EPA filter standards”

• A hand crank/solar radio/light with cellphone charging capability (There are several on the market priced under $30.)
• First-aid kit ($25-30)
• Flint firestarter ($3)

That’s right folks, for under $100, disaster victims—families with children, the elderly—would have safe drinking water, the ability to keep warm, provide basic first-aid and have contact with the outside world until help could get to them.

The Las Vegas Go Fund Me campaign has raised over $8 million (that’s right,  million! Way to go America! ) for the 500+ victims in just a few days.  Now, not taking anything away from the victims of that horrific tragedy, imagine if we applied that same generosity to the  American citizens living in our US territories. Yes, thousands of fellow American, suddenly homeless, going days— weeks without electricity or clean water. Running out of food.   Cut-off from the outside world, wondering when… if help is coming as their loved ones die in hospital as their generators run out of fuel.

Since the President, after waiting days to finally dispatch an underwhelming amount of military aid, is too busy making cracks about the cost of disaster relief, launching Twitter attacks against public officials trying to save their dying constituents,

and lobbying Congress for draconian  cuts to an already anemic budget in order to give “tax relief” to himself and his cronies, it’s up to us to do right by our fellow Americans. Hopefully, there is  someone out there with better organizational skills than mine (as in any organizational skills) and an attention span longer than a toddler (unlike me) that can turn my ideas into action. Please if you’re reading this, organize a Go Fund Me campaign before the next hurricane hits.

ttfn