Puerto Rico Still Feeling Impact of Hurricane Maria

Puerto Rico experienced far more damage from Hurricane Maria than we could have predicted. The Category 5 hurricane, which hit in September 2017, wreaked havoc on the island’s power grid and cellular networks, and diminished public access to medical care, clean drinking water, food, and fuel. Although the official death count was released as 64, researchers now estimate that the death toll exceeds 4,600—over twice that from Hurricane Katrina.

Puerto Rico, although a United States territory home to over 3 million US citizens, suffers from unequal treatment under government programs such as Medicaid relative to US states. Even before the storm’s onset, the island had suffered from an ongoing economic recession, which likely damaged the territory’s ability to deal with natural disasters like Maria.

And now, because of road damage from the storm, much of the population cannot even drive to hospitals to receive medical attention. The lack of power in many areas even after eight months has had severe consequences on human health and the ability for hospitals to care for the injured or sick. The blackout that affects Puerto Rico to this day is now considered the worst blackout in US history.

US aid efforts have not only been half-hearted and insufficient in dealing with this epic humanitarian crisis, but have been accompanied by counterintuitive austerity measures. In such a state of disaster, Puerto Rico could not hope to pay back its debt according to timelines demanded by the US government. Furthermore, according to an analysis of data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) by newspaper El Nuevo Día, those impacted by Hurricane Maria have, on average, received as much as three times less aid than those affected by eight other hurricanes, such as Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey, in US states since 2005.

Hurricane season is again approaching with the summer months. This means that Puerto Rico must make rapid adjustments to its infrastructure to ensure that its hurricane-related death toll does not climb any higher. With limited federal aid, Puerto Rican communities must come together to create potential solutions for dealing with future tropical storms. It seems clear that the island must turn to other power sources—perhaps solar energy—to satisfy its need for electricity.

The island has indeed been implementing measures to increase solar power capacity. For instance, a grassroots initiative called Resilient Power Puerto Rico has been raising money from private donors and organizations to buy and install cheap solar panels at community centers with no cost to its local populations.

Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Roselló has also pushed for structural reforms in order to incorporate more solar and wind power into the energy sector. At the end of January 2018, he announced plans to privatize the national power utility Prepa to increase its sustainability and reliability. According to Roselló, companies such as Tesla, Puma, and Sonnen have voluntarily submitted proposals for energy projects. Such companies have been installing microgrids consisting of solar panels, battery storage, and electrical inverters, which operate separately from the island’s main power grid.

A combination of increased federal funding for healthcare in Puerto Rico, the lifting of austerity measures that plunge the island into even more debt, and higher support for renewable energy projects may help the island’s population get back on its feet, but it still has quite a long way to go. It will take quite a hefty sum of money and time to repair the damage done to Puerto Rican roads, businesses, hospitals, schools, and housing. Yet despite lagging US relief support, Puerto Ricans overall have shown resilience and intense determination to move forward in the wake of this disaster.

Featured Image via: Flickr/Abdallah Issa