This video was shot 4 days after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 24th, 2017. It is quite riveting to say the least. In the video I talk about how Hurricane Maria was very reminiscent to 9/11 in the sense that we went to bed in one life and woke up in another life. I also talk about the similarities in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and the Great Depression. Lastly, and just as importantly, I talk about how I truly understand what it’s like to live like an animal and the daily struggle to survive.
You can listen by Audio, or read the transcriptions below the audio:
Good evening friends, thank you very much for stopping by I really appreciate that. Thank you for all the texts, the voice mails, the comments and all the help that’s been offered, that really rallied my morale, which to say the least, needed some rallying. I have a lot to comment on, I’m going to just read what I wrote so I don’t forget it. For the purposes of this video, just assume right now that it’s Sunday night September 24th at 7:15 pm that’s when this is intended to be posted. Puerto Rico has been devastated, it’s not an exaggeration, you see it on TV, you probably see it better than I do, you have the bird’s eye view from the helicopters from the main network so we don’t see on the ground but it has been that devastating.
To be honest, to me it felt like another 9/11 I remember going to bed on September 10th, 2001 not realizing that would be the last day that I ever slept downtown in New York City again. This was very reminiscent that four days ago on Wednesday September 20th. I remember the night before going to bed obviously we were expecting it the following morning. I went to bed on September 19th, 2017 on a Tuesday and we woke up on Wednesday and our lives changed on a dime, just like that. Here we are in recovery mode, so to speak, assessing the damage. Let me say why Hurricane Maria to me had extra bite and teeth even beyond the physical damage that it did; Hurricane Maria, despite being expected, caught people off guard. People in Puerto Rico, like myself were still exhausted from Hurricane Irma. Many people were still without power since Hurricane Irma hit on September 6th, so two weeks before Hurricane Maria even struck we had been dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and the no power and just the complete just down of Puerto Rico, if you will, in terms of operating normally. The roads, the power, the communication had been annihilated. Although some of the stores are starting to open again, they only take cash and because the power is out, the banking system is paralyzed. So people find themselves in a catch 22, you can only use cash but you don’t have cash. Where are we going with that? Obviously people have some petty cash, but thats gonna have to be rectified as quickly as anything else. As many of you know, Puerto Rico was already dire straits financially, the truth is they’ve been struggling since 2006. And unlike the US, who had a financial crash in 2008 but then bounced into recovery and now prosperity, Puerto Rico never bounced. I did notice some signs of stabilization pre-hurricane, at the moment I can’t say that with confidence anymore. When the dust clears I will make sure to keep prepared for hurricanes in the future. My family and I used to travel to Puerto Rico in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s I don’t remember experiencing such hurricanes, but that might have to do with the fact that we didn’t travel in the hurricane season.
Friends, you know I’m a slow learner, I just caught on to that, hurricane season means hurricanes could happen, but we didn’t travel during that time of the year in those years when we used to travel to Puerto Rico. The being is I’m very fond of this Island and I’ve felt this way for decades. So, where do we go from here? Here’s where: we’re going to suit up and show up. We’re going to man up because the sun will shine again, nothing lasts forever even cold November rain, Guns N’ Roses had that one right, didn’t they? I certainly need to remind myself about that now. With that, Peace and Love, friends. Here’s a toast to brighter days ahead because they are coming.
Sincerely, Scott Smith