Natural Disasters

Hurricane devastates Puerto Rico

Hurricane Fiona causes major ooding to U.S. territory

Ameera Tai taiame000@hsestudents.org

Two men stand in knee-high water a er Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico. Many people living in Puerto Rico are with no electricity and ooded homes. Photo courtesy of picryl.com.

“If the U.S. is going to claim that Puerto Rico is their territory, then we should de nitely be giving them the resources and helping them,” said junior Isabella Torres.

Amonth following the destruction caused by Hurricane Fiona, upwards of half of the people living in Puerto Rico are still without clean water. e U.S. territory with a population of 3.2 million nds itself in panic living without electricity and supplies. On Sept. 18, category four Hurricane Fiona made landfall on the southern coast of the U.S. territory, Puerto Rico. ey were hit with over three feet of rain during the storm, more than half of what some areas get in a year. is has caused major ooding, displacing hundreds of people. “With the ooding, it will obviously dissipate, but in the process it can oat cars [and] ood homes,” oceanography teacher Dan Reddan said. “Depending on the severity of it, it can even just wash out homes. Even if you are a half mile or a mile [away].” While the damage caused by Hurricane Fiona is tragic, this is not the rst major tropical storm Puerto Ricans have faced in recent years. In 2017, category ve Hurricane Maria hit the island and caused over 3,000 deaths and $91.6 billion in damage. “ e biggest thing with the last hurricane that hit Puerto Rico [was that] some places were without power for months and months on end,” said Reddan. While Hurricane Maria hit the island ve years ago, there are still many cities that have not fully recovered. Junior Isabella Torres has family living in a ected areas of Puerto Rico, and said despite the length of time in between the two disasters, there have been very few precautions put in place during that time to protect Puerto Ricans. “ e U.S. government’s response is nothing but disappointing to me due to the negligence and lack of action that’s been taken,” said sophomore Lucía Freese-Goyco, who’s family is from Puerto Rico. One of the controversies surrounding Hurricane Fiona is the response the U.S. government has made in helping those a ected. As Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, it is the responsibility of the U.S. to help with recovery. According to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), resources and personnel were rst released on Sept. 23, ve days following the storm. When helping those impacted by a natural disaster, Reddan believes that the faster assistance is sent in, the better o the situation will be. As of Sept. 28, over 1,000 U.S. federal workers were in Puerto Rico to help with “supporting operations, planning, power restoration, debris removal, and urban search and rescue,” according to the White House. However, Torres and FreeseGoyco believe these responses do not take enough action to help those a ected. “With the war in Ukraine and Russia, we’ve been sending money and materials over to Ukrainian refugees,” said Torres. “I’m not saying we should stop

doing that, but I think that we can de nitely be using some of that money in those resources and sending them to Puerto Rico to help them rebuild their towns.” Another point of discussion surrounding the U.S. response is how the government has provided little in relief compared to other countries, despite having responsibility over Puerto Rico. According to Freese-Goyco, they are used as a tourist trap with little given back in return. “I think that if the U.S. is going to claim that Puerto Rico is their territory and we’re gonna use them to bene t us, then we should de nitely be giving them the resources and helping them with these national disasters,” Torres said. One way the government can help assure protection for Puerto Ricans is through infrastructure improvements. During hurricanes, homes and buildings are destroyed, however, implementing stronger construction standards can help limit the damage. “You need to start when you go back and rebuild,” said Reddan. “Try and make improvements that are gonna be able to withstand the next one because it’s going to happen again at some point.” According to Torres, the best way for those in our community to help people living through this devastation is to simply learn about Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria is still impacting the daily lives of Puerto Ricans, and Hurricane Fiona is adding to the distress. By spreading awareness on natural disasters such as these, it will become easier to nd solutions and improvements on the lives of those a ected. “We can’t control storms, but we can control how we react to storms,” Torres said.

Over a dozen deaths have been attributed to Hurricane Fiona. There have been $2.68 billion in damage.

1.2 million people were without power for three days following Fiona. Entire communities have been destroyed.