Could a Faster Communications Recovery in Puerto Rico Save Lives?

Sept 20th, 2018, marks the one-year anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Maria on the American island of Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on the island as it devastated homes and infrastructure, and caused nearly 3,000 deaths. The original death toll of Puertoriqueños was 64 victims according to the US government. Could the failure of the island’s communications infrastructure be to blame for the death undercount?

The Federal Communications Commission has done much less for Puerto Rico post-hurricane Maria than past Commissions (both Republican-led and Democrat-led) have taken. Hurricane Katrina is the closest rank to Hurricane Maria as far as devastation caused, and yet the FCC took considerably more action to aid victims in the aftermath of Katrina, like offering free devices and calling minutes to victims both displaced and still in the disaster zone. After Hurricane Katrina the FCC also immediately assembled an independent panel, and directed the panel to evaluate, in depth, the impact Hurricane Katrina had on the telecommunications and media infrastructure -- including public safety, the sufficiency of recovery efforts by the FCC in regards to communications infrastructure, and to make recommendations for the Commission’s future disaster recovery effort improvements. Just as other Americans have received during disaster recovery, the Commission and other government entities owe the people of Puerto Rico real aid, data collection, and recovery efforts that match the unprecedented levels of devastation during this critical time in the island’s history.