Puerto Rico’s Recovering since Hurricane Maria

It has been little over a month since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico as a category 5 hurricane with maximum winds of 175 mph, and rebuilding has been a slow but moderate process. At the height of the storm, the entire island was without power but now it decreased to an 85% electricity loss, which puts Puerto Rico at risk of a massive humanitarian problem. The few hospitals still operational on the island are struggling to care for the sick; many Puerto Ricans without access to safe drinking water are resorting to dangerous alternatives, which includes contaminated water that’s been exposed to toxic waste or even human waste. There’s been a lot of criticism on the United States’ government for offering minimal help to their territory, especially when they don’t have the resources to rebuild.

Supplies are difficult to transport, and people to fix the power problems have to travel through ports and airports that are overwhelmed by aid deliveries- building materials, bucket trucks, helicopters, and every other necessity- which slows down the delivery where’s needed. Puerto Rico’s power grid which has had problems for years due to financial mismanagement was already weakened because of preventive maintenance. The Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority (PREPA) struggled with increasing debt reaching $9 billion before the hurricane even hit, which resulted in filing for bankruptcy.

Many have condemned the president and his administration for not doing enough for the island of Puerto Rico, even though President Trump said “that his administration has been doing 10 out of 10.” He was also being looked down upon for three weeks ago for saying: “What is your death count as of this moment? Seventeen? Sixteen people certified? Sixteen people versus in the thousands?” This is before the death toll was added up for a higher number, now at 70+ people. Another situation that produced people’s anger was that he was throwing paper towels to the Puerto Rican citizens as if he was throwing t-shirts or something of the like.

The governor of Puerto Rico has stated that he wants 70% of the power back up by December but he said that it’ll take a lot of work to get there. Puerto Rico might take months or even years to fully recover but there is a lot of hope that the Trump Administration and the U.S. Government keeps by their word. This helps their territory to succeed in the future and make sure that if a major natural disaster happens again, it won’t completely devastate the island like it has now.