Page 8 The Skanner October 25, 2017
News
Puerto Ricans Suff er Apocalyptic
Nightmare After Hurricanes
By Barrington M. Salmon (NNPA
Newswire Contributor)
A
AP PHOTO/CARLOS GIUSTI
I
t’s been nearly a month since
two historic hurricanes sav-
aged Puerto Rico, and despite
the utter devastation left aft er
the storms, the island’s 3.4 mil-
lion residents are still waiting for
substantive relief from the federal
government.
Help from the Federal Emergen-
cy Management Agency (FEMA)
has been slowed, because of glar-
ing lapses in coordination, a lack
of guidance of medical and other
personnel, as well as what critics
and Puerto Rican offi cials have
said was an almost total break-
down in distribution and supply
chains. The result has been a yawn-
ing gap between the burgeoning
humanitarian disaster and the
urgent life-and-death needs of the
shell-shocked populace.
Nearly 85 percent of the island
is still in darkness, because the
storms destroyed the electrical
grid. Governor Ricardo Rosselló
estimates that it will cost about $5
billion to repair the island’s power
grid that was decimated by Hur-
ricane Maria. Cellphone service
towers across the island are slowly
being restored; there is a critical
shortage of food, medicine and
other basic supplies; meanwhile,
more than half of the common-
wealth’s residents are living with-
out potable water.
The offi cial death toll is 48, but
there are reports that the medical
examiner’s offi ce in San Juan is
holding 350 bodies. There are also
fears that, as the authorities reach
the most remote parts of the island
and as water-borne and other dis-
eases take hold, that the death toll
will inevitably rise.
Last week, FEMA scrubbed im-
portant statistics about the avail-
Alberta Commons
Commercial
Aff ordability Program
In this Oct. 23 photo, a resident sweeps at a camp set up on the shore of Laguna de Condado
in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The man was homeless before the Island was hit by the hurricane
and was living at a shelter, but he is now living back on the street.
ability of clean drinking water
and the paucity of electricity on
the island, from its website.
The fi erce winds of Hurricanes
“
We’ve fought for
and bled for this
country. We’re
part of America
Irma and Maria left catastrophic
damage, tore roofs from buildings,
toppled power lines and trans-
formers; stripped trees bare; trig-
gered mudslides and fl ooding; fl at-
tened and demolished trees; and
blocked roads. Beleaguered Puer-
to Ricans can only buy food, sup-
plies and other materials in what
is now a mostly cash-only society.
Yet, in the midst of all this need,
more than 10,000 shipping con-
tainers loaded with food, medicine
and other needed supplies have
sat idle at the Port of San Juan and
elsewhere, because of red tape, bu-
reaucratic bungling and logistical
logjams.
Aurora Flores, a New York-based
activist, painted a harrowing pic-
ture that is slowly emerging as in-
formation seeps out of the soaked
island.
“Oh, my God! I have such a com-
bination of feelings. This is outra-
geous,” said Flores, a noted cultur-
al historian and musician. “This is
Trump’s Katrina. We’re in a dire
situation. There is no electricity;
people are waiting in line eight,
nine hours for gasoline, food and
other needs. Right now, we need
the United States Army trucks and
drivers. There’s no housing…we
need cruise ships to come in.”
Flores continued: “We also need
to secure the streets. Armed gangs
are roaming. This is horrifi c.
We’ve been shunned, pushed to
the side.”
Flores said that she had been in
contact with family in Puerto Rico,
despite the communications diffi -
culties. She assailed the Trump ad-
ministration for its slow response
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More than 20,000 members in the Pacifi c Northwest.
s the construc-
tion of Alberta
Commons nears
completion,
Prosper Portland is
beginning a fi rst re-
view of applications
for its aff ordable com-
mercial tenanting pro-
gram at the site. The
program will follow
a rolling, fi rst-come
fi rst-serve review pro-
cess until all spaces
are fi lled in the Natu-
ral Grocers-anchored
project on the corner
of NE Martin Luther
King Boulevard and
“
ic development agen-
cy, Prosper Portland
continues to support
small business and
maintains its commit-
ment to support devel-
opment opportunities
to meet community
needs. In addition, ev-
ery project, program
or investment now be-
gins with the question:
Who will benefi t, and
how will the agency
ensure that equity and
inclusion are central
considerations in both
the process and the
outcome?
The program off ers
small, diverse businesses
access to aff ordable
commercial space
NE Alberta Street.
Prosper Portland is
committed to the suc-
cess of Alberta Com-
mons to provide need-
ed goods and services
to the neighborhood
and create lasting,
benefi cial
relation-
ships with the North-
east community.
The agency launched
the aff ordable ten-
anting program to
address a recent dra-
matic increase in re-
tail rents and decrease
in vacancy rates in
the city of Portland
which have resulted
in the displacement
of small businesses
from Portland’s urban
neighborhoods. The
program off ers small,
diverse businesses ac-
cess to aff ordable com-
mercial space to grow
and succeed, advanc-
ing Prosper Portland’s
commitment to gen-
erating equitable out-
comes from its invest-
ments that contribute
to shared prosperity
throughout Portland.
As an agency, Pros-
per Portland has em-
barked on a strategic
direction that focuses
on building an equi-
table economy. We
work very intention-
ally on projects and
initiatives that realize
benefi ts for all Port-
landers – especially
Portlanders of color
and Portlanders with
low incomes – by fo-
cusing on four cor-
nerstones: creating vi-
brant neighborhoods
and communities, job
creation, advancing
opportunities
for
prosperity and collab-
orating with partners
for an equitable city.
As the city’s econom-
That is the thinking
behind Prosper Port-
land’s investment in
aff ordable commer-
cial space, not only at
Alberta Commons but
also at two sites in the
Lents Town Center
and other locations in
the future.
Alberta Commons
presents a unique op-
portunity for small
businesses, including
those owned by peo-
ple of color, women,
and those from low-in-
come neighborhoods,
to gain a foothold in
the retail mix of the
area. The new tenant-
ing program off ers af-
fordable commercial
space; lease priority
to existing local busi-
nesses, particularly
those owned by peo-
ple of color; tenant
improvement allow-
ance and/or reduced
rates;
opportunity
to build communi-
ty among tenants;
and connections to
business-building re-
sources, all designed
to lower the barriers
to entry for small and
emerging businesses.
Available space in
the aff ordable tenant-
ing program at Al-
berta Commons totals
5,125 square feet and
can be divided into
smaller units.
For more informa-
tion visit prosperport-
land.us or contact pro-
gram manager Alison
Wicks, 503-823-3949
or wicksa@prosper-
portland.us. Prospec-
tive tenants may also
reach out to the project
broker, Jessie Burke,
Workspace, 503-862-
3416 or jessie@urban-
nestpdx.com for more
information.
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