After Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, it turns out that the unusually active 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season has not finished unleashing its devastation yet. On the morning of Sept. 20, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane, demolishing the island with heavy rains and high winds.
Many areas in the Caribbean were still recovering from the damages of Hurricane Irma when a tropical wave entered an area southeast of the Caribbean on Sept. 16. This area had conditions favorable for tropical system formation and strengthening, which allowed the tropical wave to organize and rapidly strengthen into a Category 5 hurricane over the next few days. Hurricane Maria then moved northwest and became the first Category 5 hurricane on record to strike the island of Dominica. Maria continued to move northwest, impacting other islands in the process, before making a direct landfall in southeastern Puerto Rico on the morning of Sept. 20. The hurricane had only weakened to a Category 4 hurricane by this time.
Maria brought incredible wind and rain to Puerto Rico. Peak wind gusts of over 110 mph were recorded in many parts of the island, including San Juan. Feet of rainfall could be measured, peaking at 37.9 inches in Caguas. Storm surge and flash flooding also destroyed many coastal regions. Thousands of houses were either completely destroyed or sustained major damage, and large swarths of vegetation were shredded. At least 24 lives in Puerto Rico were lost from direct impact from the storm, and another 27 fatalities have been confirmed in Dominica, which suffered similar damage from the storm.
Damages from Hurricane Irma a few weeks prior and aging infrastructure across the island made the Puerto Rico power grid vulnerable. Consequently, Hurricane Maria effectively destroyed the power grid, leaving over 95% of the island without electricity and without cell phone service. More than half of the island’s population couldn’t even access potable water after the hurricane since electricity is needed to access water.
Hurricane Maria will have massive consequences for Puerto Rico’s future. Economic damage from the storm has been estimated to be as high as $50 billion, damages that will be difficult for the island’s government to handle. It is estimated that it could take four to six months before power is restored. In addition, the Guajataca Dam was damaged by the hurricane, and if it collapses the homes of nearly 70,000 people will be affected.
As reported in The Slate, Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rossellรณ, called Hurricane Maria “The biggest catastrophe in modern history for Puerto Rico in terms of the damage to infrastructure and in terms of damage to the island as a whole.”
It will take years to recover from the disaster, but comprehensive aid from the United States Government is expected to come in the near future. However, some Americans believe that the Trump administration is not doing enough to help the recovery. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz is one of these critics. Cruz fears that without more aid from the federal government, the current recovery progress will not be enough and people will die. Trump responded to Cruz’s criticism by claiming his administration has done a great job in aiding an almost impossible situation, while mentioning that Puerto Rico was already facing crippling debt before the storm.
No matter the amount of aid the federal government is currently giving to Puerto Rico, the situation remains dire. While aid has arrived, most notably through the Federal Emergency Management Agency shipping millions of gallons of water and meals to the island, these goods are unable to be delivered to the residents. Without electricity and fuel, aid simply cannot be moved across the island.
