Array
Six days after Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico, Alexiz and Roberto Núñez still don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
The couple, whose home in Arecibo flooded during the storm, is relying on a neighbor’s cooking and some canned goods delivered by the government to get by.
Núñez woke up to a flooded house the day of the storm, and she stood up only to find the water reaching her waist.
She and her husband saw rescuers from afar and screamed until they were saved. They were later taken to a shelter, and then stayed with their daughter for two days, where the power and water still hasn’t come back.
“I’m just grateful I’m alive,” said Alexiz. “My throat hurt a lot from all the screaming.”
Uncertainty over food, drinking water and restoring power is most severe in the areas far from the capital of the island, San Juan.
Residents in the southern and western part of the island of 3.3 million are complaining of feeling ignored in the efforts to bring utilities back to their homes. Roughly 63% of 1.47 million customers remained without power Friday, while more than 358,000 clients remained without water.
US president Joe Biden approved on Wednesday a disaster declaration for Puerto Rico, granting access to emergency individual funds and public assistance for residents affected by the hurricane.
But the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) makes individual assistance available to only 55 of the 78 municipalities.
Cabo Rojo, a municipality in southern Puerto Rico that was strongly affected by the storm, was not included in the list.
On top of the hurricane, the south-western coast of the island is still suffering the damage caused by major earthquakes in 2020.
