>>Good morning and welcome to Global Perspectives.

I'm David Dumke.

Once again, I'm joined by guest co-host Zoe Colon.

Today, we will talk in our second show of three on Puerto Rico five years after Hurricane Maria.

This time looking at the impact on central Florida.

Today we are joined by Jennifer Marshall Locascio, award winning journalist who has written for the Orlando Sentinel El Sentinel and now is working for the Orlando Economic Partnership.

Thank you.

>>No, thank you for having me.

>>And we also have our our friend, Dr. Fernando Rivera, who is the director of the UCF Puerto Rico research hub.

Thank you.

>>Thank you for having me.

>>So we're having this conversation about the impact of Hurricane Maria.

And we want to talk today about what happened locally in some of this.

Zoe was working in a different capacity at the time, working with groups too.

So I think she - all three of you have very unique perspectives on this.

So I want to I want to talk with start with you, Fernando.

What are we talking about in terms of the impact?

First of all, from the people side.

>>Tracing back to September 20th, 2017, I think people here locally were expecting some type of damage to the island, but it never cross our mind that there was going to be 100% loss of electricity.

100% loss of communication.

And that things were going to get so dire that all of a sudden, central Florida, specifically Orlando, became sort of this center of immediate recovery for a lot of people in Puerto Rico.

So that was for me, it has always - that experience serves as a re-introduction of the Puerto Rican population here in central Florida and a lot of people started getting aware of “Hey, you know, there's a lot of Puerto Ricans in this area.

How can we help?

” And I think that led to that process a week, two weeks after the storm in Puerto Rico, that a lot of people started coming here and sort of Orlando and central Florida became sort of the principal actor out there in terms of the recovery.

>>Agreed.

I think folks that were tied to formal nonprofit organizations and people that just wanted to help were gathering and asking for information on where to go to help and bring supplies and goods and water and we found hubs congregated at CASA the at the time, Puertorriqueno over on the east side of Orlando.

And and I also saw what's really interesting is kind of the development of infrastructure during that time.

Right?

Groups that had never had to respond to something like this influx of folks that were not coming prepared necessarily, right?

To flee their homes because of obviously the disaster back home and not being able to stay and whatever needs came with that experience.

And so you see the development of infrastructure in the nonprofit sector also just, you know, kind of civic groups.

And and I think that was the beginning of, I would say, you know, tremendous growth, exponential growth in that sector and also advocacy with local government in how to respond and how to do it in a culturally competent way.

>>I think it was kind of like a blank canvas that everybody started like drawing on top of it and figuring out what the next steps were.

Like it was very unknown.

And when at the time I was working for the Orlando Sentinel and then El Sentinel, and every time we wrote about it, it was like unprecedented.

And then that kind of like became the famous word when COVID happened.

And now with Ian here in central Florida as well.

But like that unprecedented time when nobody knew if it was so new to everybody, we didn't even know, as Fernando was saying, whether they were coming here, whether they were going to go to New York, anywhere else.

Like, why Orlando?

Why Central Florida?

And that became kind of like that, that debate between every single organization that you mentioned, several of them.

But there were some that even were created during that process, like CASA and other organizations, that they were already serving the community.

But they had to like kind of like reevaluate how they were providing those services and if there was ever a need for the Puerto Rico Research Hub, I think that was a very like before and after moment for you.

>>So we will ask you about UCF's response in a minute.

But Jennifer, I want to get a question to you, which is who came?

We're talking about large numbers of Puerto Ricans who came to central Florida.

Are they from a specific socioeconomic group, young or old, who are they?

>>Everybody.

Everybody and their mother how we joke, right?

Like it was people from all sorts of economic status.

There were people that came here just because 100% of the island lost power, nobody had power.

So there were people that had money and they could come here because they didn't want to be without power.

And there were people that lost everything and had nothing but what they were wearing and got here to the airport and what they had in their backpacks.

Like it was people that didn't even have any idea where they were going.

They were asking, “What's my next step?

” There were people opening their homes at the time.

There weren't even like vouchers that were given out.

Eventually, little by little, there were like the FEMA assistance and the vouchers.

And then those were time limited as well.

So the spectrum of people that came here was from every socioeconomic status, from every age.

It was younger generations.

It was older people.

I was able to bring my family here for a couple of months and taking my grandmother out of Puerto Rico was the biggest hassle ever because she didn't want.

>>You couldnt take the Puerto Rico out of her though.

>>She didn't want to leave the island at all.

And they had no power, no water, nothing.

They didn't even have a generator at the time.

So my family was literally in the dark with candles, period.

Now they have a generator because lessons learned, of course.

Right.

Which is what happened here as a community, as a whole, as central Florida, as Orlando, Orange County.

We learned we learned so much from that blind canvas of how do we approach this sort of situations and hopefully it won't ever be a Maria again.

But unfortunately, there's been very comparative situations.

>>With Hurricane Fiona, too.

We heard, you know, we've been on phone calls with community leaders, faith leaders, and everyone's wondering, is this going to be another exodus out of Puerto Rico and into central Florida?

And what does that mean?

And are we prepared?

What are some of the lessons learned from that time?

And I'm glad you brought up CASA.

That was a coalition of 15 organizations that came together and, you know, pre Hurricane Maria, I think, and it exists today.

But I remember, you know, there was a lot of division in terms of what you know, what you think the status of Puerto Rico should be and political, you know, just different sides of the political spectrum.

And everyone came together during that time.

And so there was some of that recently, you know, just are people going to start coming?

You know, what do we need to do?

And a lot of organizations were gearing up, are gearing up still, right?

Because we're still not sure what's happening there standing water is just as detrimental as hurricane winds.

Right.

Depending on, you know, your your ability to come back from that.

And if you have access to capital, if you, you know, your class or your access to resources on the island.

So so yeah, I mean, it took a village, you know, as they say, everyone coming together.

And it really just changed how how involved the Hispanic community is and the dollars that are going to Hispanic organizations to be able to respond to emergencies like this here, because we know that we're a major hub.

>>And not only the Hispanic community, but it was a moment where everybody learned who the allies of the Hispanic community are, too, because there were a lot of people.

>>Was the response instantaneous from political leaders?

Obviously, in central Florida, you have Puerto Rican people of Puerto Rican descent who are in government.

So they are there.

So it's not like there is-- >>More so now.

Yeah.

>>So.

So how quickly was the government response here.

>>Here in central Florida?

I think that I mean, it also depends on who you ask and what political party.

But unfortunately, many of these situations tend to be politicized, especially when it's an election year.

So there was a lot of movement of people that needed that Puerto Rican vote, quote unquote, which I always say, like, what is the Puerto Rican vote?

Just the same as what is the Latino vote?

It's not like we vote in just one certain way.

Right?

But naturally, I think that even before looking at what the politics of it are, people became human about it like it was literally a disastrous situation.

It was people that were getting to this to the airport where the government set up all this or opened it up for all these organizations to be able to have like tables and assistance and all the resources there.

But there were woman getting there with their periods and they didn't even have a pad to use.

So it was like personal things like that that I saw on a daily basis of woman walking up to me and whispering in my ear, Do you have a tampon that I can use?

And they were getting off airplane and it's impossible not to get teary eyed or get goosebumps when you hear something as basic as that and what it takes for someone that just lost everything, having to come to a stranger and just ask for that.

So it was a moment of a lot of necessity in which luckily, regardless of what political party you are, you were a member of or are a member of.

People wanted to help like it was everybody together packing boxes we were distributing, like separating the cans of beans with the rice and clothing and every single size and all the help that could potentially be sent.

>>Working around the clock, I remember it.

So at the time, Mayor Teresa Jacobs, she approved the use of the warehouse over on the east side on Goldenrod.

I forget it was like 6000 or 8000 square feet that was allowed to be used and it was Commissioner Bonilla was on staff at the time and help advocate for that and you know, others that came together and said this is important, you know, so let's not make it political.

I remember though at the airport there being all these hiccups too, you know, where FEMA was there and folks were you know, I've heard of cases where people were being accused of fraud because they went ahead and applied for assistance because they weren't sure of the applications on the island with no Internet, you know, and something electronic or digital was really going to get through.

Right.

And or hadn't heard back.

And so so there were so many hiccups that we that we have to learn from, you know, and not just at the local level, right.

At the federal level.

>>And I think to contextualize as well, I think Central Florida was a little bit more sympathetic because we had Hurricane Irma just hit us two weeks prior, so people weren't going to like that.

That's true.

Kind of like in that mood that they had, you know, store water, you know, how to generate generators, all those sort of things.

So I think that we're a little bit more sympathetic to the emergency context of what's happening.

And, you know, we're saying we were glad that we didn't have that that that level of damage out here.

But I think that was a positive thing for the reaction out here, as you were saying, you know, in terms of the politics of it, you know, it was it was a very quick move.

But then Governor Scott, that he basically declared a state of emergency that allowed the 67 counties in Florida to actually respond to what's happened to Hurricane Maria.

And eventually their in-state tuition was given to students out here that it actually draw a lot of people out here because we have to remember that Puerto Rico, especially for public education, there was a major strike at the UPR system prior to Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.

So a lot of students were very desperate even before the storm because they have lost a significant amount of time about 6 to 8 months, where the university was on strike and just when they opened Hurricane Maria struck.

So that was another kind of like pushing factor.

>>Hurricane Irma, because they went through both of them.

>>Yes.

>>So Puerto Rico went through Irma and then that was already like everything was shaken up.

And then Hurricane Maria happened and we kind of like had Irma after it went through the Caribbean and that's why we were already prepared for that.

So the moment that Puerto Rico is going through this humongous natural disaster, like it kind of becomes a disaster for us too, because then we're the ones receiving this like a huge influx of people that nobody was ready for.

And I think that five years ago now, the transformation that our area has had has been literally kind of like a sink or swim situation.

We all had to grow together and figure so many things out that have brought us to where we are at now.

>>One of the new things.

Excuse me.

Go ahead.

>>Oh, no, I just thought it was it's it's really interesting that, you know, folks are coming into central Florida or have been.

And so just this past few months, if you think about our own situations with Hurricane Ian, right.

It was right after on the heels of Hurricane Fiona and so, you know, because of climate change and our own, you know, I guess what is a disposition to have hurricanes, it's how do people get away, right?

So people used to kind of migrate to New York and Chicago and all these historical epicenters of the Puerto Rican diaspora.

And because of the climate here and, you know, just proximity to the island, people prefer Florida, but now we're being hit because of global warming and everything is just changing.

And so people are re-experiencing the trauma, right?

And there's a lot of PTSD in our community.

So and then now I think we're also becoming a little desensitized too to the needs of other people when we're seeing our own needs, you know, in terms of experiencing these things.

So it kind of comes full circle.

But I wonder how that's going to impact migration, but also how we work with Puerto Rico when we have our own circumstances here.

>>Well, I'd like to ask Fernando, since we're talking about this cycle of people coming from Puerto Rico.

Many return, but not all.

To - for Fernando to give us a little context and first of all, why the UCF created the Puerto Rico Research Hub.

And you are the founding director, not just the director.

And a little about Puerto Rican migratory patterns, because Zoe was just describing how Puerto Ricans traditional went to New York or Chicago or some of those epicenters.

And this is Orlando is now one of the largest and certainly the fastest growing.

So if you can give us a little.

>>Insight, so there's a there's a a connection between the economic fortunes of Puerto Rico and the growth of the Puerto Rican population here in in central Florida.

And again, just to remind Florida, it's one it's the third largest state.

This is this state continues to grow when we have seen outmigration for the northeastern states, regardless of if you're Puerto Rican or not.

And Puerto Ricans are going to follow those migration patterns as well.

But what happened in Puerto Rico, the economic situation was getting dire and Florida became a very attractive alternative for a lot of people.

There were jobs, so it was relatively cheap taxes.

So obviously at that time, housing wasnt as expensive as it is right now.

>>Its not cold.

It's now cold.

Right.

And, you know, there were some similarities and even, you know, we you know, we have a certain theme park that a lot of people do visit.

And it's sort of their exposure to the continental United States as a vacation spot.

Everything is is perfect and it's magical.

And a lot of people, you know, had that belief and even, you know, there was a big push.

You know, we tend to forget that the Orlando area is a relatively new metro area.

You know, if you look at the 1980s, Orlando is wasn't what it is right now.

And there was a push.

A lot of developers actually went to Puerto Rico and sold land in Kissimmee to the Land Start Ventures that they had out there.

People were advertising in the newspaper in Puerto Rico, selling land in Florida because they were trying to populate this area.

So there's a lot of historical context out there in terms of the relationship with Puerto Rico and especially central Florida out here.

And I think, you know, that was that was a, you know, so that connection, I think, one, when the hurricane did actually happen, we already had this nucleus of Puerto Rican population here.

Kind of like theres mixed emotions, right?

That a lot of people still have family in Puerto Rico.

How can I help?

What the things that we can do and then specifically locally here, you know, all of a sudden we saw the pain and suffering of people firsthand.

You know, I remember people coming to my office and saying, like, hey, look, you have to apologize.

This is the only résumé that I have.

Can you give me a job?

You know, people were camping out in the administration building trying to get their students in, you know, so this is we came from this hypothetical scenario to something that you can actually see and feel.

And I think that that changed a lot of minds in terms of, you know, why do we need a Puerto Rico Research Hub?

Right?

I think that was a catalyst moment where people said like, now we know it's is a big sector of the population.

We need to understand this.

Things are not going to go away.

This significant group of people.

Right, is it's almost more than a million Puerto Ricans in the state of Florida, a large concentration here in central Florida.

You know, and at the same time, in 2019, UCF becomes a Hispanic serving institution.

A lot of it was a growth of the Puerto Rican student population as well.

So it was it was almost impossible not to pay attention to these issues.

And we were in the right position at the right time to make sure that we had this hub of information for people to feel that this public good, which is public a public university, could be accessible.

And in helping out in so far in the in the four years that we have been in existence, you know, I think we have provided, you know, our friends in the press, our friends in government, you know, those tools and that entryway into the resources that we have as a university.

>>I think that data, it's it's so it's super important because every single sector, whether it's private business, whether it's organizations, whether it's the government with all that information, it's how we can determine for us in the in the media when I was working as a journalist, like, how do you determine what type of audience are you serving?

How do you determine what type of stories are you covering?

How do you determine what businesses are opening?

That's why we've seen a huge amount of Puerto Rican restaurants opening left and right.

And it's it's very different when you talk to the different types of Puerto Ricans, the ones that came in the eighties, in the nineties, the pre Maria after Maria.

And they all have very different experiences.

And I think that the data that comes out from the Puerto Rico Research Hub helps everybody.

Kind of like put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

>>So I want to ask each of you, you know, what makes this central Florida Puerto Rican community unique?

I mean, Zoe is - is a native of New York, very familiar with the Puerto Rican community there.

Your both of you are a Puerto Rican born.

What makes this unique and differentiates it from New York or Chicago or some of the other older, established communities?

>>I guess I'll start since I'm the Nuyorican in the room, born and raised in New York.

And of course, those waves were the largest in the fifties and sixties.

So I you know, my mom was the one that made the move, you know, from Puerto Rico to to New York.

And I find that it's different.

You know, first of all, you know, when I first came to Orlando, I could get a taste of home of Puerto Rico.

And I consider it home because you can't tell a Nuyorican and that they're not Puerto Rican.

So I consider it home.

And I visited often, whereas in New York City you already had this outmigration of Puerto Ricans who had kind of made it second, third generation, leaving the urban cores, if you will, moving out to the suburbs, to New Jersey, to Pennsylvania.

You know, there were very few people left in my community.

So, you know, the places I work, Cuchifritos which is where you get fried, you know, Puerto Rican delicacies became Taquerias, right?

And restaurants of other groups coming in from Latin America and the Caribbean.

So so it just wasn't the same.

And so when I when I came to Orlando, I just saw this newly arrived population.

And of course, they were pre Maria, you know, people who had been have been here for 20 or 30 years.

But you can still say it's not second, third generation.

Right.

So it's really interesting to see the dynamics here.

And, you know, I kind of revert back to speaking about infrastructure because it's so important when you have decades and decades of Puerto Rican leadership in a place like New York, you grow up very empowered.

Right.

And understanding that there are people there and institutions that are going to advocate for your well-being as a Puerto Rican, as a Latina, as a person of color.

Right.

Whereas here we're still developing those.

Right.

And so interestingly, I came to Orlando with Hispanic Federation, really strong Puerto Rican-led Organization, 25 years strong, started in New York, became national.

And then, you know, I came here with, you know, tasked with opening up the chapter here.

Why?

Because they knew that this influx was coming, because even pre-Hurricane Maria, as you know, Dr. Rivera, we had waves of people, doctors and lawyers coming in.

Right.

So it's different because it's newly arrived.

It's different because we continuously have waves of people chain migrating into this region.

So you get that flavor over and over again, right?

It's not like 30, 40 years later and now you have other groups coming in.

So it's very much a new community.

And when it comes to, again, government institutions, we're still developing those.

So it's an exciting place to be because you can help make that change and you can, you know, you can influence that.

>>No, no.

And I think you're right in terms of still building the institutions.

But I would say that even in the area, at least Central Florida and even Orlando has a reputation of being a very welcoming community.

And I think that's a little bit different from from other migratory movements out here.

I think a lot of the Puerto Rican population, you know, older ones were kind of like under the radar, I might want to call, they were just not trying to, you know, have any type of, you know, thing that well.

>>Everybody was doing their.

>>Own work and all that sort of stuff.

But then, you know, we had, you know, with the economic issues happening in Puerto Rico, then kind of like the exodus of a lot of people from New York City.

And then we have kind of like this interesting coalition of things, right, that we need to do a parade, right?

And then somebody from Puerto Rico, it's like, yeah, let's do a parade, but let's do the Caravana, you know, which is kind of like, you know, the the loud trucks and the flags and all those type of things.

So kind of like an interesting mixture that we didn't have in the past.

So we have kind of like different strains of Puerto Rican movements at the same time here, because you have the long time Puerto Ricans that have been here, you have the Puerto Ricans recently arrived from the island, and then you have the the Nuyoricans coming here and people from the Northeast, even from Chicago.

And everybody is everybody's been attracted here.

And it's bringing about a very interesting dynamic that is probably a new dynamic that is different from those past movements that we had, you know, in Chicago and in the Northeast and other places.

>>I always joke that with my friends that we're different breeds of Puerto Rican, but we're kind of like from the same family still.

Like we're all Puerto Ricans, but my mom grew up in New York.

She was part also of that big exodus of Puerto Ricans that moved from Puerto Rico to New York.

She was two years old, so she grew up in New York again.

After she graduated from college, she decided she wanted to go back home and home for her with Puerto Rico, even though she left at two.

And that's why I ended up being born and raised in Puerto Rico.

And my mom is still is still there.

But one of my best friends here, she's from Jersey, so we call her the Jersey Rican.

And every time she talks about me, she's like, Oh, I'm from Jersey, but she's Puerto Rican.

Puerto Rican.

And I'm like, What does Puerto Rican Puerto Rican mean?

So we're always joking about this type of, like, definitions that people like or boxes that people want to put us in, like, Oh, you're the Nuyorican and they were born in Puerto Rico.

But at the end of the day, I think that our culture is so strong that whenever there's anything about Puerto Rico, we come together.

And especially in a situation like Maria happened, we were all together and it was very interesting because now with Hurricane Ian happening here, Puerto Ricans have the best sense of humor, I think, ever, even in the worst moments.

Right.

So when Hurricane Ian was happening here, they were posting all of this memes about like, “oh, we just went through Fiona now don't go to Florida because you're getting Ian now.

” And they were all tracking what Ian was going to do here.

And they were the ones that were still without power, without like water, some of them.

And we're still reaching out to Florida.

and being like, If you guys need anything, let us know.

So it's that type of community, whether you're from New York, New Jersey, Chicago, you're here for 20 years or came after Maria like Puerto Ricans look out for each other and it's that big of a community that became like this, kind of like a big hub here in central Florida.

Then now everybody's looking after each other locally here.

Whether you were here 20 years ago or recent or you're still back on the island.

>>I will add, though, that in moving to Orlando, being here in Florida and being surrounded by so many people that are Puerto Rican, Puerto Rican from the island, you know, there's a sense of humility that came over me and I was like, hold up.

I thought, I believe that this was the best thing for Puerto Rico.

Now I want to kind of sit back and see what people from Puerto Rico who have lived there want, which is different, right?

Because when you're part of the diaspora, especially in woke communities and places where there's advocates and, you know, decades and decades of all this leadership, you kind of feel really firm about what you believe.

And you're right.

And it's easy to speak to certain issues.

But then when you're encountering people that have lived through Maria, you know, when you're encountering people that are, you know, again, experiencing power loss all the time, there's a sense of humility that is part of the I don't know necessarily what's best for the island.

I can I can do my research, but I've never lived there.

And I and I've it's a newfound kind of respect for different perspectives that I didn't have coming from New York.

>>I got goose bumps you saying that because even though I was born and raised there, having now living here, it I get the same feeling when people ask me like, Why do you think Puerto Rico should be?

But I'm like, I don't even think I am allowed to say that now because now I'm living here.

How dare I say that they should be something else when I'm taking advantage of living in the States, right?

So it's kind of like you turn the wheel into the okay, now from this area, how can I use my resources?

How can I use my voice to help what they want over there?

>>Jennifer, Fernando, Zoe, great conversation today.

Really appreciate it and I look forward to having you on again as the guests and as we continue talking about Puerto Rico and the impact on Central Florida community.

And thank you for joining us.

We'll see you again next week on another episode of Global Perspectives.