Hurricane Irma, a 185MPH Category 5 hurricane that has set records as the worst Hurricane ever to cross the Atlantic, made its way through the Caribbean. It made its way through the Northern cost of Cuba and now its making its way through Florida. Besides the fact that this is totally devastating and that the hurricane is going to cause catastrophic damage, I sadly only saw the media documenting in detail when the hurricane was passing through Florida. I have family both in the Caribbean and in Florida. Not only Puerto Rico but all the islands were getting a hurricane warning and were in a lot of trouble. I was listening to people around me, and people legitimately forgot that the hurricane was passing through the Caribbean first. The media wasn't saying anything and I found out through my mother. Barbuda, Guadeloupe, St Martin the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico all suffered the damage. Barbuda was declared inhabitable.
There's a lot of countries that have catastrophes going on, like the floods happening in Middle East Asia, the 8.1 earthquake that happened in Mexico recently and tornadoes that happen in the Mid West frequently and literally leave people without a home. I'm going to talk about the Caribbean right now because it wasn't documented on the media until the day of. Meanwhile, the potential damage that it could cause Florida was being documented days ahead of time. In addition to this, while it was passing through the Caribbean islands, the media chose to spend time interviewing Floridians on how they were preparing, while Irma was passing through Barbuda at that very second. That is not okay, and everything should have been covered equally. It's ridiculous that I even have to say it.
Here are some articles that you should read:
Article about St. Martin DamageArticle About Turcs and Caicos After Hurricane Irma
And some videos you should watch:
Something needs to change. This natural disaster was horrible for everybody affected by it. My friends and family in Florida were worried, my immediate family in Puerto Rico was worried, and my sibling and I were in Maryland and worried. I definitely think that the islands were not a documented priority at the moment that it was happening. This is problematic because people that weren't native to the islands didn't know, and the locals felt insulted and not cared about. There's so much happening in the world that is devastating, and it all needs to be covered. One natural disaster is not more important than another, and one area being hit by the same hurricane is certainly not more important than a different area getting hit by the same hurricane, suffering the same damage. CNN and Fox should think about that next time a record breaking natural disaster comes around and threatens multiple places.