Two years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico, residents were still struggling to rebuild. Then, just days into 2020, earthquakes began to rattle the island, leaving even more damage behind. Now one of the U.S. territory’s top architects is making the case for short-term assistance combined with long-term vision.
“Remember, two years ago, we went through two hurricanes, not one,” said Ricardo Álvarez-Díaz, chairman of the architectural firm Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón and a member of the Construction Council of Puerto Rico. “There is a lot of PTSD, trust me, after everything we’ve been through in the last couple of years.”
In the aftermath of the latest quakes, about $16 billion in federal funds was allocated to help the U.S. territory with disaster relief and prevention, pulled from the $20 billion approved by Congress a year ago to help with hurricane recovery. However, the Trump administration has decided to impose strict restrictions on the money, citing corruption and financial mismanagement.
Álvarez-Díaz said these concerns were largely overblown, but he’s glad the money is on its way.
“We hope that by next week the grant agreement will be signed, and hopefully you’ll see those funds start to trickle in and help with the recovery,” Álvarez-Díaz said.
In the long-term, though, Puerto Rico must invest in better infrastructure and building standards, Álvarez-Díaz told Cheddar.
“A lot of construction was done before 1987, and the codes were not amended to include seismic until 1987,” he said.
Puerto Rico, he added, is in a unique geographic position: It has to consider both horizontal (wind) and vertical (earthquakes) pressures on its structures, meaning durability is key.
Outside of retrofits and reinforcements, Álvarez-Díaz touts his own recent mixed-use development, Renaissance Square in San Juan, as an example of what the future may hold for the territory. The mixed-income development used higher quality materials with an eye toward sustainability.
“It has become a case study for what you can do,” he said.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
The two-sentence footnote raised serious concerns about accuracy and credibility.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
