Carlos Barria / Reuters
- Two years have passed since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico.
- About 30,000 people still live under blue tarpaulins. Washed out roads haven’t been fixed. Neighborhoods have been abandoned, and businesses have closed. And now Hurricane Dorian is approaching.
- Despite Congress authorizing $20 billion of recovery funds, work to fix homes and infrastructure has moved slowly. Even before Maria, Puerto Rico was in a dire financial position, with its government bankrupt and owing $70 billion.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico like a nuclear bomb.
Maria brought winds up to 140 mph and doused the island with up to 38 inches of rain. An estimated 3,000 people died.
Two years later, as Hurricane Dorian heads its way, the US commonwealth has not fully recovered. This time, officials are hoping they’ll be ready, and luckily it doesn’t look like Dorian will be as brutal as Maria.
Earlier this week, 300 shelters were being prepared, and far more blankets, tarps, food, and water will be ready to use this time. The electrical grid, which was down in some places for almost a year, has also been bolstered.
But still, on August 27, almost two years since the storm, an estimated 30,000 people don’t have permanent roofs. Roads remain washed out. Neighborhoods and businesses have been abandoned, as 4% of the population left the island.
These photos show what Puerto Rico’s slow recovery looks like, as Hurricane Dorian barrels down on the island.
Around 30,000 people in Puerto Rico are still living without solid roofs over their heads two years on from Hurricane Maria. Blue tarpaulins are a common sight.
Carlos Barria / Reuters
Source: AP
Congress has allocated $20 billion for work on houses and infrastructure, but as of April 2019, less than $14,000 had been spent on the rebuild, largely because most of it was tied up in red tape. Here, a woman stands in her home without walls or a roof, in 2018.
Alvin Baez / Reuters
Sources: NPR, The Economist
Towns are dealing with abandoned homes as people move away. About 130,000 people left Puerto Rico after Maria. In Toa Baja, a town that experienced intense flooding during Maria, about a third of homes were abandoned, according to a local.
Angel Valentin / Getty
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- 20 photos show people in the Caribbean preparing for Dorian as the hurricane heads for Puerto Rico
- 5 artists who don’t deserve their 2019 VMA awards — sorry
- A Florida high school teacher and former US Marine has been put on leave after he allegedly said he could “rack up a 1,000-person body count” during a school lockdown
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (James Pasley)