Maybe instead of reading headlines in the MSM and cable news stations, you should read the local papers.
In Puerto Rico, local rescuers are on the scene, including their National Guard units:
but outside help is starting to come in.
ABC7 Sept 25 reports:
Riding along with NY Air National Guard in Puerto Rico
see also:
and the Miami Herald has this report: Sept 23:
But Military.com notes that the logistics for moving in help started earlier: This article is from Sept 22.
After Maria clobbered Puerto Rico, U.S. military relocates base for foreign relief efforts
The Joint Task Force-Leeward Islands, which is supporting relief efforts to the islands of St. Martin and Dominica after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, is moving its main command and control element to Martinique, the U.S. Southern Command said in a statement. Its fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft will be based out of Barbados and Guadeloupe respectively. The task force, which first deployed Sept. 9 in response to Hurricane Irma’s battering of St. Martin, was also tasked Friday with assisting the government of Dominica after it was the first island to be bashed by Maria’s punishing, then-Category 5 winds. The U.S. Navy amphibious ship USS Wasp, with about 1,100 people and two helicopters aboard, was tapped to join the mission. About 300 military personnel, eight other helicopters and four C-130 Hercules aircraft will be moved, Southcom said.
I was going to post an excerpt, except that too many units are mentioned. And note: A lot of them are already in the area, helping with the disasters on other islands nearby.
and if you google or check youtube, you will find the military and the National Guard are already helping in the previous hurricanes in Houston and Florida.
For folks who don't know how the US military works: Combat units are combat units, but do have units whih cn help in disasters.
However, the National Guard is the part time "weekend warriors" who are trained for "support" units: military police, water supplies, providing food, mechanical stuff (electricity and construction), etc.
My unit was a tiny clinic which included not just us but our equipment and medical supplies. We never did et called up while I was in (I resigned due to medical problems a couple months before Desert Storm). So my information might be out of date, but you get the idea. Yes, we were taught how to fight, mainly for self defense if something went wrong, but we also trained for civilian disasters.
The National Guard are under not just Washington but the local governors, who can call the up to help in local disasters, and this is good because it means help is nearby.
Indeed one reason so many National Guard units were called up for Iraq or Afghanistan was their expertise was needed.
Logistics mean getting the right help to those who need it. Some loudmouths think you can snap your fingers and voila, instant fix. Nope. it doesn't work that way.
Finally, I am happy that my son in Florida said his place is a mess but his family is okay: Since he is able to get on the internet, that is comforting. When we had the big typhoon here, we were off line for three weeks (and no electricity or water for two weeks).
Florida and Houston are flat, so prone toward storm surge and flooding. Puerto Rico is hilly, and that makes getting help to isolated areas is hard.Landslides, a dam threatening to burst and other problems come with hills.
call in the helicopters:
If I am a bit cynical about the politicization of the problem, it is because "been there, done that".
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