Puerto Rico's pain: 'Maria destroyed us'
Millions lack electricity as remnants of powerful storm unleash up to 3 feet of rain on ‘devastated’ U.S. territory.
Puerto SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — Rico remained in the throes of chaos and devastation Thursday as the remnants of Hurricane Maria continued to dump rain on the island — up to 3 feet in some areas.
Flash flood warnings persisted, according to the National Hurricane Center, with “catastrophic” flooding “especially in areas of mountainous terrain.”
The strikingly powerful storm had left an estimated 3.4 million people without power, and with the territory’s energy grid all but destroyed, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló predicted a long period of recovery. Anxious relatives in the main
land U.S. and elsewhere took to social media in an effort to find news of their loved ones.
Puerto Rico faces numerous obstacles as it begins to emerge from the storm: the weight of an extended debt and bankruptcy cri- sis; a recovery process begun after Hurricane Irma, which killed at least three people and left nearly 70 percent of households without power; the difficulty of getting to an island far from the mainland; and the strain on relief efforts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other groups
already spread thin in the wake of several recent storms.
“Irma gave us a break, but
Maria destroyed us,” said Edwin Serrano, a construction worker in Old San Juan.
The storm churned off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic as a Category 3 hurricane Thursday, and the National Hurricane Center issued warnings for the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos.
Forecasters say Puerto Rico will see about 2 feet of rain by Friday, with as much as 35 inches in places. Storm surges were expected to raise water levels as much as 6 feet in the Dominican Republic.
There is significant concern about the expected “life-threatening” storm surge of 9 to 12 feet in the Turks and Caicos and Bahamas, according to Michael Brennan of the National Hurricane Center.
The death toll from Hurricane Maria had risen to at least 15 on the small Caribbean island of Dominica, according to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit. Two people were also killed on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, officials said.
Rosselló told CNN late Wednesday that officials knew of only one fatality in Puerto Rico.
The U.S. Coast Guard reported the death of a man aboard a capsized vessel near Vieques, Puerto Rico. A woman and two children were rescued from the boat by a British Royal Navy heli- copter crew, it added.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would visit Puerto Rico, but gave no details on the timing of the trip.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp announced a 24-hour cur- few for four islands until fur
ther notice. In Puerto Rico, Rosselló had previously set a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew effec- tive until Saturday.
Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico’s nonvoting member of the House of Representatives, told CNN on Thursday that the island appeared to have been “dev- astated,” with power lines lying on the ground and riv
ers flowing over bridges. Gonzále z -Colón, who spent much of the hurricane in a closet, said restor-
ing power was crucial, but added that the governor had estimated that it could take a month or more to get elec-
tricity back for the whole island. She suggested that without electricity, many of the pumps that supplied residents with running water would not be functioning.
Complicating matters, more than 95 percent of the island’s wireless cell sites were out of service, said Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Ricardo Ramos, chief executive of the govern- ment-owned Puerto Rico
Electric Power Authority, told CNN on Thursday that the island’s power infrastructure had been basi- cally “destroyed.”
Residents and business owners in the Condado area of San Juan began to trickle into the streets Thursday to assess the havoc. Joggers ran past what resembled a beachside battlefield. Bik- ers pedaled slowly, taking in
the overwhelming damage. Co n dado, t he tourist district of the island that has seen a reawakening of sorts with the opening of new hotels and restaurant chains over the last couple of years, was ravaged. Windows were blown out in the apartment buildings and hotels that line the prom
enade. A restaurant lost its roof. Parque del Indio, a pop-
ular seaside park for skaters and joggers, was blanketed with sand and water.
In Old San Juan, which like most of the island was with- out reliable cell service, people were thirsty for informa-
tion. At Plaza de Armas, residents sat on benches and stoops to share what information they had. Those with radios were tuning into the only station broadcasting in
the entire island.
Cristina Cardalda, 55, had just gotten her first phone call since Maria hit — it was her cousin in Florida check- ing in.
“I haven’t heard anything from anyone,” she said.
For Puerto Ricans living on the U.S. mainland, the tragic news coming from
the island was magnified by the fact that many of them have been unable to get in touch with friends and relatives, given the sharp blow that Hurricane Maria dealt to the island’s communications infrastructure.
“We’re all anxious, we’re all desperately seeking information and we’re all on call to help Puerto Rico and give it whatever it needs,” said David Galarza Santa, 48, a Brooklyn, N.Y., resident who said he has been unable to reach his family in the municipality of Florida, west of San Juan, since noon Wednesday.
But Galarza was optimistic that his family there, including his father and two older sisters, were doing well, in part because they had all hunkered down at his father’s sturdy concrete house. He also noted that Puerto Ricans were old hands when it came to surviving devastating storms.
More than 5 million Puerto Ricans live on the U.S. mainland, more than the population of the island itself, and the worry and stress were widely shared Thursday among those watching from afar. It was a feeling of “impotence,” said Eliezer Vélez, 44, of Atlanta.
Vélez, who works for the Atlanta-based Latin American Association, said that he was hoping to get in touch with his mother, two brothers and a number of uncles and cousins. He said a sister who lives on the island was able to send him a message through WhatsApp on Thursday; she relayed that everyone was OK.
“We’re praying for them and hoping for the best,” Vélez said. “It’s really sad
that you’re here, but your mind and your heart are on the island. We are here, but we belong there. I cannot describe the frustration
that I’m not there.”