In a cashless world, you better pray the power never goes out…
When Hurricane Maria knocked out power in Puerto Rico, residents there realised they were going to “need physical cash—and a lot of it.” Bloomberg reports that the Fed was forced to fly a planeload of cash to the Island to help avert disaster.
“William Dudley, the New York Fed president, put the word out within minutes, and ultimately a jet loaded with an undisclosed amount of cash landed on the stricken island. [Business executives in Puerto Rico] described corporate clients’ urgent requests for hundreds of thousands in cash to meet payrolls, and the challenge of finding enough armoured cars to satisfy endless demand at ATMs… As early as the day after the storm, the Fed began working to get money onto the island.”
For a time, unless one had a hoard of cash stored up in ones home, it was impossible to get cash at all. 85 percent of Puerto Rico is still without power…
“When some generator-powered ATMs finally opened, lines stretched hours long, with people camping out in beach chairs and holding umbrellas against the sun.”
In an earlier article from September 25, Bloomberg noted how, “without cash, necessities were simply unavailable.”