‘This is a game changer’: Humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló put it very bluntly on CNN’s “New Day“:

“This is a game changer,” he said. “We need to prevent a humanitarian crisis occurring in America.”

Hurricane Maria devastated the island, which is a U.S. territory. No power, no phones, no Internet. It’s as bad as it could get for many. Hospitals are not operating. People will die, and power could take months to restore.

“Puerto Rico is part of the United States, and we need to take swift action,” the governor said. “This is a major disaster.”

I am also a contributor for The Resurgent, and today we were challenged to devote nearly an entire day’s production to Puerto Rico, which is in desperate need of aid. Here are some of the featured posts.

Dams, Cuomo, Israel, Generators and Hope in Puerto Rico | The Resurgent

A 90-year-old dam has cracked and could at any moment send catastrophic floods through the northwest part of the island.

Relief teams continue to pour in from many places in the world. Although Israel has sent resources to Mexico City to help that metropolis dig out from a 7.1 earthquake, the tiny nation has also send an Israel AID team to Puerto Rico.

The largest number of Puerto Ricans outside of the island itself live in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo personally led a team to the ravaged island, and didn’t just make it a grandstanding tour.

My favorite relief group, Convoy of Hope, has a team heading to Puerto Rico to assist. Convoy of Hope was one of the first groups on the ground distributing meals and supplies in Houston’s flooding. Unlike the Red Cross, this organization is lean, without layers of management and red tape to steal away the impact of your donation.

Chuck Todd Highlights Top Rated Charities to Help Puerto Rico | The Resurgent

On Meet the Press, Chuck Todd highlighted the charities below as top rated and on the ground in Puerto Rico.

Please don’t forget about the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands | The Resurgent

“We are U.S. citizens that just a few weeks ago went to the aid of other U.S. citizens even as we’re going through our fiscal downturn and as we were hit by another storm,” said Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló. “Now, we’ve been essentially devastated. Complete destruction of the power infrastructure, severe destruction of the housing infrastructure, food and water are needed. My petition is that we were there once for our brothers and sisters, our other U.S. citizens, now it’s time that U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico are taken care of adequately, properly.”

In the meantime, we all have a role to play. Step up and donate. We have a list of orginaztions on our website that will help. The funds donated to these organizations go directly to aid.

Christian Charity Takes Charge of a Plane to Fly Supplies to the Caribbean | The Resurgent

When major hurricanes hit international locations, we deploy a disaster assistance response team (DART) to quickly bring in a variety of emergency supplies. We also leverage our Samaritan’s Purse aircraft, including our DC-8 cargo plane, to assist. Today we are working to help people on several devastated islands of the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, Dominica, St. Martin, Antigua, Barbuda, and Turks and Caicos. We have already airlifted generators, food, water purification units, hygiene kits, and heavy-duty shelter plastic for thousands of families. Our distributions are ongoing. As we minister in the wake of Hurricanes Irma, Jose, and Maria, we share the Good News of Jesus Christ alongside local church partners.