Hurricane Maria Devastates Puerto Rico

By Natalie Wysokowski

October 3rd, 2017 - Greenville, New York News

On September 20th, hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. It has been classified as the worst storm the U.S. territory has experienced in 90 years. With the initial blow, the hurricane killed 19 people. As of today, October 3rd, it has been confirmed that 34 people have died as Puerto Ricans struggle to survive through the destruction.

The island now has $90 billion worth in damages. People clamber to find drinking water, food, fuel, and money. Outages across the island aren’t expected to be resolved until months from now. Trump recognized that Puerto Rico has managed to escape an even higher death toll from such a merciless natural disaster; however, the U.S. Congress received a $29 billion hurricane relief request from the White House with Trump stating, “you’ve [Puerto Rico] thrown our budget a little out of whack.”

Although resources and many forms of aid have been sent to the territory, there has been a major distribution issue. Deliveries of food and water haven't reached many people due to the lack of transportation. As a response, General Russel L. Honoré has offered to send 5,000 troops to Puerto Rico as an attempt to speed up the delivery process. Along with this task, gathering up the debris left behind from Maria’s demolition has also been a struggle.

The people of Puerto Rico are in need of many necessities such as health care and shelter. Many citizens scramble to locate their loved ones as the entire island is without any trace of cellular service. The devastation of hurricane Maria brings little hope for those who remain too poor to relocate.

Puerto Rico is not the only island Maria tore through. The storm hit Dominica, the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos, a British overseas territory.

UPDATE: January 2nd, 2018 - Greenville, New York

It has been a little over 100 days since hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, more than half of the island is still without electricity. By the looks of it, full power will not be repaired until May. The problem doesn’t derive from the inability to generate the power; instead, the amount of damage holds restoration workers back from moving into houses and get underway with their job. Although months have passed, is important to remember that hurricane Maria is still affecting thousands of lives and small donations can go a long way.