• Home
  • NEWS
  • SPORTS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • POWER HOUSE
    • MUSIC / VIDEOS
    • MOVIES / TV
  • LIVE
  • Contact Us
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Rihanna, A$AP Rocky attend ‘Iconic’ Beenie Man show in Barbados
  • Beenie Man injures ankle in bike crash — source
  • Will Smith Says He ‘Understands’ If Moviegoers Aren’t Ready to Watch New Film After Oscars Slap
  • Will Smith says bottled rage led him to slap Chris Rock at the Oscars
  • Drake Gifts DJ Khaled with Toilets
  • Soca Invasion Brings Caribbean Culture to Ghana in January
  • SVG days away from exporting first legal shipment of medicinal cannabis
  • Protect yourself and use condom properly- AIDS Secretariat
Magic 103.7
  • Home
  • NEWS
  • SPORTS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • POWER HOUSE
    • MUSIC / VIDEOS
    • MOVIES / TV
  • LIVE
  • Contact Us
Magic 103.7
Home»News»Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands Face Painful Hurricane Recovery
News

Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands Face Painful Hurricane Recovery

By Magic 103.7February 23, 2018No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Telegram Tumblr Email

The US territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will need to take painful actions to restore their economies amid the hurricane devastation, New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said Thursday.

The island territories, especially Puerto Rico, already faced dire economic realities even before hurricanes slammed into them late last summer, but the recovery now is complicated by shrinking populations, high debt, high unemployment and plunging growth, Dudley said.

“Puerto Rico now must not only complete the recovery from the hurricane, but also do what is necessary to get on a sustainable economic and fiscal path,” Dudley said in prepared remarks.

“Given the island’s high debt, unfunded pension obligations, declining population, and now the hurricane, the outlook may seem grim.”

While he provided few specifics on the steps needed, he said they likely would be unpopular.

Hurricane Irma strafed the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in early September and two weeks later the islands were hit again by Hurricane Maria.

New York Fed data showed the storms destroyed more than 80 percent of Puerto Rico’s crops amid communications outages and fuel shortages while transportation links were cut.

The White House has faced stinging criticism for its support of recovery and reconstruction in the storm’s aftermath, which left more than 1,000 people dead in Puerto Rico alone.

Even before the storms, both territories were in deep economic distress. Since 2006, economic growth is down 15 percent in Puerto Rico, which was facing a severe debt crisis as well. Growth had fallen 26 percent in the US Virgin Islands, and employment has fallen about 15 percent in both territories.

In the storms, Puerto Rico suffered “by far” the most severe power outage in US history in terms of total customer hours lost, according to the New York Fed.

And people have fled Puerto Rico for the mainland, with the net number of passengers by air leaving the island running 160,000 above trend between August and November.

Satellite imagery also showed electrical lighting on the island — a proxy for economic activity — fell sharply after the storms, with the landscapes of Puerto Rico still only 76 percent  as bright, while the US Virgin Islands is just 56 percent as bright.

As tourism has begun to recover, job markets on the islands have begun to stabilize after sharp drops following the storms.

Source: Jamaica Observer

Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands
Share. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Telegram Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleDrake Reportedly Leaving Jordan Brand For Adidas
Next Article Chris Tucker says ‘Rush Hour 4’ is Happening

Related Posts

Puerto Rico Braces For Heavy Rain As Tropical Storm Dorian Nears

August 28, 2019

Maria at Category 2, Expected to Be a Dangerous Major Hurricane Before Reaching Leeward Islands

September 18, 2017

Hurricane #Irma death toll hits 10

September 7, 2017

Comments are closed.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Listen To Magic 103.7 Live

Trending

Rihanna, A$AP Rocky attend ‘Iconic’ Beenie Man show in Barbados

November 29, 2022

Beenie Man injures ankle in bike crash — source

November 29, 2022

Will Smith Says He ‘Understands’ If Moviegoers Aren’t Ready to Watch New Film After Oscars Slap

November 29, 2022

Will Smith says bottled rage led him to slap Chris Rock at the Oscars

November 29, 2022

Drake Gifts DJ Khaled with Toilets

November 29, 2022
Magic 103.7 - Today's Music Yesterday's Hits
Today’s Music Yesterday’s Hits
Follow Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Popular This Week

Rihanna, A$AP Rocky attend ‘Iconic’ Beenie Man show in Barbados

November 29, 2022

Beenie Man injures ankle in bike crash — source

November 29, 2022
Copyright © Magic 103.7 | Designed by Delano Maloney Designs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.