Thanks NYTimes and Luis Ferré-Sadurní for an honest and difficult job of reporting a universal (not just Puerto Rican) truth. I have heard the exact same conversation in Burkina Faso.

“I see it as a safety issue,” Magaly said from behind the wheel. “I don’t care about my father’s will. He’s going to fall.”

“He falls here,” José answered.

“But we’re here to rescue him and keep him safe,” she said.

“They’re sitting in that hotel room crying, wanting to be home,” he said.

Magaly fired back: “So we’re just dumping them in Puerto Rico?”

One of the biggest threats Enrique and Emma faced right after the hurricane was the collapse of the health system. Hospitals lacked power and the sweltering heat could be deadly to the sick and the elderly. Concerned for her parents’ poor health, Omaira, who lived with them in Puerto Rico, flew with them on one of the many humanitarian flights ferrying Puerto Ricans to the mainland.