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AbstractWe clarify the distinction between direct and indirect effects of disasters such as Hurricane María and use data from the Puerto Rico Vital Statistics System to estimate monthly excess deaths in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane which struck the island in September of 2017. We use a Bayesian linear regression model fitted to monthly data for 2010–2016 to predict monthly death tallies for all months in 2017, finding large deviations of actual numbers above predicted ones in September and October of 2017 but much weaker evidence of excess mortality in November and December of 2017. These deviations translate into 910 excess deaths with a 95% uncertainty interval of 440 to 1390. We also find little evidence of big pre-hurricane mortality spikes in 2017, suggesting that such large spikes do not just happen randomly and, therefore, the post-hurricane mortality spike can reasonably be attributed to the hurricane.

As Puerto Ricans lived facing increasing precarity after Hurricane Maria, DiaspoRicans (Puerto Ricans living outside of Puerto Rico) rushed to get aid to their relatives. A lack of trust in the local government and Congress' refusal to lift the 1920 Merchant Marines Act limited direct international aid. This fueled narratives of genocide intersecting with relief efforts. In this article, I use digital ethnography and ethnographic interviews to discuss how and why DiaspoRicans engaged in grassroots recovery efforts through social media. I conclude with discussing the challenges of digital organizing faced by community organizers in Puerto Rico in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane and the potential contributions of digital research as catastrophic weather events increase.

This article examines graphic narratives of Hurricane María in independent comics published both in Puerto Rico and its US diaspora. Focusing on María (Rosa Colón and Carla Rodríguez 2018), Temporada (Rosaura Rodríguez 2019), and La Borinqueña (Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez 2016, 2018), it analyzes the ways these works bear witness to the 'foreshocks and aftershocks' of the hurricane while delineating a decolonial future for Puerto Rico (Bonilla and LeBrón). The analysis begins by reflecting on the comics' form, such as frames, text, and the space of the gutter, to explore the interactions between their structure and content and the ways in which they situate the reader in a generative process of memorializing. It then turns to questions of sustainability, particularly Rosaura Rodríguez's use of watercolors, and how these titles seek to overcome the current environmental and political crises the archipelago is facing by foregrounding a close, community-oriented relationship with the natural environment. In Miranda-Rodriguez's comics, this is framed within Indigenous and Afrodiasporic spiritualities and the need to reexamine Puerto Rican history in order to interrogate its experience of coloniality. Though distinct in their form and genre, these comics–alongside complementary short comics from Puerto Rico and the diaspora–critique the extractivist, colonial relationship with the US and invite readers to imagine sustainable futures drawn through a Boricua-centered, decolonial lens.

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island territory of the United States, making a significant and lasting impact on the island. The hurricane severely affected the well-being, livelihoods and self-sufficiency of the people with its impact on the agriculture sector. Because of its unique location, Puerto Rico is prone to hurricanes and has a rich history of experiences with these storms, yet the devastation Maria ensued was of a different proportion. Vulnerabilities on the island including financial struggles and weak infrastructure had been present in Puerto Rico leading up to Hurricane Maria. Recovering from the week prior Hurricane Irma, preparation time and resources were limited for Hurricane Maria. The existing risk factors meeting an immensely powerful category 4 hurricane created long-term losses and extended recovery for the agriculture sector of Puerto Rico. This goal of this study to explore perspectives on the impact and subsequent disaster management of Hurricane Maria on the agriculture sector in Puerto Rico as executed by various key actors involved, from local efforts and NGOs, to government interventions. It is by deconstructing perceptions on disaster relief efforts, particularly from the point of view of local farmers in Puerto Rico, that disaster management efforts during Hurricane Maria are understood. Attitudes about future climate events are another key element of this study along with new movements in agriculture in Puerto Rico. Perspectives on preparatory measures, loss, recovery efforts, climate change and the future of agriculture in Puerto Rico are highlights in this study. ; submittedVersion ; M-DS

Hurricane Maria had a devastating impact on Puerto Rico. The federal response to Maria was slow, leaving much of the population without basic necessities for extended periods. Lives were lost as a result. The federal government failed to rise to the challenges posed by logistic difficulties and strained agency resources due to preceding disasters. The response was hindered by unrealistic planning, by Puerto Rico's lack of political power in Washington, and by presidential indifference. In the end, despite its much greater needs, Puerto Rico received assistance much more slowly than Houston. This article analyzes the reasons for the flawed response and proposes improvements in future disaster policy. Like Katrina, Maria is a story of how systems failed just when they were most needed by our most vulnerable citizens.

Understanding the factors that lead Americans to racialize putatively race-neutral policies is increasingly important in a diversifying society. This paper focuses on the case of disaster relief for Puerto Ricans in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. I draw on a framework of racial and ethnic subordination with two dimensions: inferiority–superiority, operationalized by skin color, and foreignness–Americanness, operationalized by language. I conduct a nationally representative survey experiment that varies the skin tone (light or dark) and language (English or Spanish) of otherwise similar actors who portray hurricane victims. The results suggest that two stigmatized attributes, dark skin and foreign language, do not always render an individual "doubly stigmatized." Instead, for an already racialized group like Puerto Ricans, perceived foreignness may offset Americans' stereotypes about the cultural pathologies of a racial underclass. Therefore, this paper underscores the importance of a multidimensional and intersectional approach to the study of racial and ethnic politics.