The most powerful hurricane to hit the U. S. territory in almost a century has hobbled the island’s telecommunications system, destroyed its power grid and left communities flooded.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—Puerto Rico is emerging crippled after the most powerful hurricane to hit the U. S. territory in almost a century hobbled its telecommunications system, destroyed its power grid and left communities facing widespread devastation.
Puerto Rican authorities warned the island’s 3.4 million residents that they face a long, difficult and expensive path to recovery from Hurricane Maria.
Abner Gómez,
executive director of the island’s emergency-management agency, said residents should be prepared to sustain themselves without aid for 72 hours, given the severity of the damage, the obstacles to reach people and how thinly stretched government resources are.
“It’s a crisis,” said Gov.
Ricardo Rosselló
in a news conference aired at the only radio station that can still be broadcast across the entire island. He confirmed that there has been one death attributed to the storm.
Flooding and mudslides are a “giant problem” especially in rural, mountainous areas, he said, adding that damage to the island’s infrastructure was enormous and the cost to fix it will be “humongous.”
The government’s main goals are to open seaports and airports so aid shipments can flow in, as well as to restore telecommunications. The governor said he hasn’t been able to make contact with 85% of the island’s 78 municipalities. “I haven’t been able to communicate with my parents,” he said.
More than 95% of Puerto Rico’s wireless cell sites are currently out of service, the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday. That is worse than immediately following Hurricane Irma, which knocked out 56% of the island’s wireless network. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator
Brock Long
said restoring electricity to the island “could take weeks or many, many months.”
Authorities are still trying to reach communities that are dealing with historic flooding that has stranded residents.
In the town of Canóvanas, 30 miles east of San Juan, a combination of heavy rains and rising waters from nearby streams flooded the Medianía Alta neighborhood with about 5 feet of water.
On an inspection tour in military transport vehicles, Mr. Rosselló stopped to help evacuate two women and two children.
Residents used jet skis, kayaks, and a backhoe to get people out of the flood zone. “The community got together to get the people out,” said Luis Laurean, 34, who works for the flooded municipality.
Carlos Fajardo, a local resident, estimated about 500 people, a third of the local population, had been evacuated Thursday. But many chose to stay even as floodwaters coursed through the ground level of their homes.
Pedro Matos said from the second floor of his home that he wasn’t leaving. “I’ve got everything I need right here,” he said. “Why should I go anywhere? My business is downstairs.”
Maria and Irma hit at a time of financial strain for Puerto Rico. The island’s government and its state-owned public-power monopoly are under bankruptcy protection after years of overborrowing and a decade of economic recession. The U. S. Congress installed an oversight board last year to renegotiate roughly $73 billion in debt and to coax business interests back to the island.
The dire circumstances have prompted deep cuts to municipal finances including education budgets, leading to the shuttering of schools. The island’s downward spiral has led to a mass migration of residents to the U. S. mainland.
Mr. Rosselló ordered an overnight curfew from Wednesday to Saturday and banned liquor sales. The move appears to be an effort to prevent looting and to maintain security. After Hurricane Irma, there were reports of incidents of looting in St. John in the U. S. Virgin Islands, some of the British Virgin Islands, and in St. Martin.
“Puerto Rico was absolutely obliterated,” President
Donald Trump
said Thursday. “Their electrical grid is destroyed. It wasn’t in good shape to start off with. But their electrical grid is totally destroyed.”
FCC Chairman
Ajit Pai
said the agency is reaching out to telecom providers to look for ways to help get the communications networks back online. About a week after Irma hit, all but 6% of Puerto Rico’s cell sites were back online.
“Unfortunately, getting Puerto Rico’s communications networks up and running will be a challenging process, particularly given the power outages,” Mr. Pai said. About a week after Irma hit, all but 6% of Puerto Rico’s cell sites were back online.
Mr. Trump declared a major disaster in Puerto Rico on Wednesday and ordered federal assistance to complement local government efforts. Under his action, 54 of the island’s 78 municipalities are eligible for federal aid, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.
He said the U. S. Virgin Islands, which he also declared a major disaster, had suffered severe damage.
FEMA has hundreds of staff members in Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands conducting initial impact assessments and helping to get seaports and airports open, said Mr. Long, the agency’s administrator, in an interview Thursday.
He said additional teams specializing in areas like search and rescue and emergency power are headed to the U. S. territories. And the agency has ships and cargo planes poised to deliver meals, water, cots and emergency power generators.
“Today is all about lifesaving missions,” Mr. Long said.
As the recovery process advances, Puerto Ricans will be eligible for the same federal benefits that Americans in other disaster areas receive, including grants to fix homes and low-interest loans for small businesses.
“Anything that’s available on the continental U. S. is also going to be available to the U. S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico,” Mr. Long said.
U. S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp on Thursday declared a 24-hour curfew for all the territory’s islands as it continues assessing the damage from Hurricane Maria and marshaling resources to the region. Phone communication remains down for most of the territory.
Tiny Dominica was just starting to get an assessment of Hurricane Maria’s damage after it hit the island Monday night as a Category 5 storm. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said Thursday that 15 people died in the storm and another 20 people remain missing. The death count and the number of people missing are likely to climb, Mr. Skerrit said. He said Maria decimated the entire island.
