Study: Health woes in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria shows effects of climate changeįranceliz Trishkina, 35, is also on the crew and she and Manny talk of other jobs - like the one for a mom with five kids forced to live with neighbors since the hurricane. “Come to the countryside, it’s not even close.” “Tourists think everything’s recovered here,” Manny tells me. One wall, ripped up by the hurricane, is still patched with old plywood. “You get bats, pigeons, rats,” Manny says. He worked previously with a disaster relief nonprofit called All Hands and Hearts out of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts.Īs we stand in the small house, he points out the open spaces between the concrete walls and the temporary metal roof sheets. If you want to help, their website is Watch Video: Seven weeks after Maria, many Puerto Ricans are still struggling PRoTechos has a budget around $1 million a year, from government grants and donors, some of it going to train and pay local workers.īut founder Emily Roisman will tell you grants are released slowly, so it’s a struggle. “They’re on the phone crying,” says Luis Re. Some have kids with asthma, and the mold makes it worse. Gorbea's career path rooted in her native Puerto Ricoįolks tell Luis Re they are desperate, living alone managing illnesses like diabetes or heart problems in homes no longer tight to the weather. The requests come in through municipalities or Facebook - even direct calls. They mostly prioritize the elderly, the ill, and those with little means trying to take care of kids. Luis Re tells me PRoTechos has a long list of people who need help. “The rain comes in and the houses get moisture and mold,” says Luis Re. Watch Video: After Hurricane Maria, San Juan still floods during heavy rains But they are corroded and leak everywhere, often many times a day, because that’s tropical Puerto Rico - brief passing showers all the time. Luis Re explains that many are shy of publicity, embarrassed by their lack of means and need for help.īlue tarps, of course, don’t last forever, and the family has put up old metal sheets found lying around as roof cover. It’s the home of a mom and three kids who aren’t here at the moment. The family uses hung sheets for privacy, though the PRoTechos crew has decided to add an interior wall both for roof support and dignity. I walk inside and you can feel the poverty two mattresses with old bedding are part of the cluttered living area. Now in the Toa Baja barrio, I pull up to a small, scruffy home where one of the crews is working.įrom Katrina to Maria to COVID: The disasters that proved the US needed more emergency health care workers It has repaired over 100 roofs, a big step for a small nonprofit, but there are thousands to go. Years later, PRoTechos is still chipping away. They had the means to repair, but afterwards, Emily felt called to do something for those who didn’t. It sounded to her like a loud train, and destroyed some of the building’s windows. They rode out Maria in their San Juan high-rise. It was founded by Emily Roisman, an attorney from Connecticut who moved here with her husband a decade ago. The system hit Puerto Rico on the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which slammed into the island in 1989 as a Category 3 storm.View Gallery: Puerto Rico one year after Hurricane Maria: Before and after photos President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency as the eye of the storm approached the island’s southwest corner.įiona previously battered the eastern Caribbean, killing one man in the French territory of Guadeloupe when floodwaters washed his home away, officials said. Tropical storm-force winds extended for 140 miles (220 kilometers) from the center. On Monday evening, it was centered about 130 miles (205 kilometers) southeast of Grand Turk Island and heading northwest at 10 mph (17 kph), with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph). “I was sleeping and saw when the corrugated metal flew off,” he said as he watched rain drench his belongings and wind whip his colorful curtains into the air.Īfter roaring over the Dominican Republic, Fiona moved into the open Atlantic, where it was projected to strengthen, according to the National Hurricane Center. The system also ripped asphalt from roads and washed away a bridge in the central mountain town of Utuado that police said was installed by the National Guard after Maria hit as a Category 4 storm.įiona also tore the roofs off homes, including that of Nelson Cirino in the northern coastal town of Loiza. Brown water poured into streets and homes and closed airports in Ponce and Mayaguez.
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