Stunned Puerto Rico seeks to rebuild after Maria
SAN JUAN: Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans, stunned by a hurricane that knocked out power for the whole island and paralysed the US territory with landslides, flooding and downed trees, vowed to slowly rebuild amid an economic crisis as rescue crews fanned out.
The extent of the damage was unknown, given that dozens of municipalities remained isolated and without communication after Maria hit the island on Wednesday morning as a Category Four storm with 88 kph winds, the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in over 80 years.
Uprooted trees and widespread flooding blocked highways and streets across the island, creating a maze that forced drivers to go against traffic and past police cars that used loudspeakers to warn people they must respect a 6pm to 6am curfew imposed by the governor to ensure everyone’s safety.
Previously a Category Five with 281 kph winds, Maria hit Puerto Rico as the third-strongest storm to make landfall in the United States, based on its central pressure. It was even stronger than Hurricane Irma, which roared into the Florida Keys earlier this month.
In the capital of San Juan, towering eucalyptus trees fell nearly every other block over a main road dotted with popular bars, restaurants, and coffeeshops.
At an apartment building nearby, tourism company operator Adrian Pacheco, 40, spent eight hours in a stairwell huddled with 100 other residents when the hurricane ripped the storm shutters off his building and decimated three balconies.
“I think people didn’t expect the storm to reach the point that it did,” he said. “Since Irma never really happened, they thought Maria would be the same.”
“Months and months and months and months will pass before we can recover,” Felix Delgado, mayor of the coastal city of Catano, said.
Edwin Rosario, a 79-year-old retiree, said an economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of nearly half a million Puerto Ricans to the US mainland would only make the island’s recovery harder.
“Only us old people are left. A lot of young people have already gone ... If we don’t unite, we’re not going to bounce back,” he said. — AP