Lin-Manuel Miranda marked the six month anniversary of Hurricane Maria by sharing stories of the storm’s aftermath.
Six months after Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, wreaking havoc on the island, much of the world’s aid and attention has moved on. Puerto Rico, however, is still feeling the effects of the devastating storm.
In a bid to bring that attention back, Lin-Manuel Miranda brought stories from Hurricane Maria and the rebuilding process to the front and center of Twitter timelines Tuesday. The Hamilton creator and Broadway actor asked his followers to tweet their stories to him Tuesday so that he could amplify them.
Miranda, who has family living in Puerto Rico, fundraised and participated in relief work following the hurricane and urged Congress to send aid to the United States territory as well.
He continued his work Tuesday, aiming to spread awareness about the problems the territory faced by bringing the stories of those who experienced the hurricane six months ago to light. In the weeks and months following the hurricane, thousands were without water and electricity.
He shared stories of people who were scared for their lives during the storm and are now succeeding, attending school or working to achieve their dreams. Other stories, however, were less uplifting: People told of friends and family that left or died along with homes, schools, possessions and more that were lost.
Keep up with this story and more by subscribing now
Miranda also translated some of the tweets he got from followers to bring the stories to an even wider audience.
He added that his aunt and uncle, who live on the island, only got power back at their home three weeks ago, more than five months after the hurricane hit.
As of Saturday, 98.5 percent of people on the island had potable water and 99.3 percent of people had electricity, according to Status PR. But that took months. FEMA announced in January that at the end of the month it would stop providing water and aid to the island, National Public Radio reported.
