Many still trying desperately to reach relatives in Puerto Rico
WESTGROVE» Ted Trevarrow doesn’t know when he will see his brother.
Trevarrow, of Kennett Township, is now trying to charter a plane from Miami to Vieques, a six-mile long island just to the east of Puerto Rico, which was pummeled by Hurricane Maria.
“It’s a survival situation now,” Trevarrow said. “It’s been nine days and the countdown has begun. We have to get help within the next week or so or there will be serious consequences. There are people there who are on dialysis and have not had dialysis for eight days now, babies in incubators and people on life support. They need deliveries of fuel (for the generators).”
Anna Rivera and her husband Elliott of West Grove were born in Puerto Rico and many of their friends and family still live there. She said she has been trying constantly, but has not been able to establish communication since the hurricane nearly two weeks ago. That’s because a majority of the U.S. commonwealth is without power, with the exception of people and facilities using generators, the U.S. Energy Department reported.
“We still haven’t heard from my husband’s daughter who lives on a coastal town (in Puerto Rico),” she said. “And she hasn’t been able to find her father yet. It just breaks my heart. We don’t want to help through the Red Cross, we want to do it personally. That’s how we do it. But we haven’t been able to (communicate) with them.”
Communication remains elusive because 92 percent of the island’s cell towers are down. It could be months before they are all operational again.
About 3,000 crates of private-sector goods – such as food meant for grocery stores – have been sitting idle at the Port of San Juan, mainly because not all drivers have reported back to work since Maria but also because of other logistical challenges, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said Friday.
President Donald Trump on Thursday authorized a 10-day waiver of the Jones Act, a federal law that limits shipping to U.S. ports by foreign vessels. Rosselló and other U.S .officials had argued that a waiver would expedite the shipping of supplies to the island.
And nearly one million meals and about two million liters of water have been handed out as of Friday, according to FEMA.
Jose Colon from West Grove was born in Puerto Rico and came to the United States at age 5, but returns often. He said the situation there is “terrible.”
“Everybody is safe, but they have no power or water,” he said. “My family has houses built from blocks, so everything is solid but there is nothing they can do. My mom’s brother just moved down there within the year and his apartment is flooded and now he is living in a shelter. They can’t get money out of the banks and even if they did, there is nothing to buy.”
Water service has been restored to about half of the island’s customers. That’s up from about 33 percent from Thursday.
Hospitals in Puerto Rico have been struggling to treat patients. Some don’t have enough medication, while others have a shortage of fuel for generators. FEMA said Friday that 56 of the island’s 69 hospitals are partially operational and one is fully functioning. Earlier, Rosselló said 36 hospitals were open, with power delivered regularly or through diesel-powered generators.
The U.S. Army has been delivering fuel to hospitals as part of a rotation plan developed by FEMA to ensure the facilities have continuous power, officials said.
“There are 3.5 million American citizens there, that’s the hard part,” Colon said. “I really don’t think Trump knows that Puerto Ricans are Americans.”