Puerto Ricans help each other in recovery
Islanders lack power, face long lines for food
NARANJITO, Puerto Rico - Just 20 miles from the capital, San Juan, residents here are still marooned after Hurricane Maria destroyed the once-lush landscape more than a week ago, but people are finding ways to help each other.
They have no running water, electricity or reliable communication with the rest of the world, since Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on Sept. 20 as a Category 4 storm with winds of 155 mph and devastated the U.S. commonwealth.
Obtaining water, food, and fuel for cars and generators is a daylong mission for each item.
Across the Plata River, where a long line of cars and people waited for drinkable water from a tower, a smaller line formed near a PVC pipe that had water trickling from a hillside spring.
Nicolle Ramos, 29, of nearby Toa Alta, said her family uses the water for bathing, flushing toilets and — after it’s boiled — drinking.
“When it rains, we don’t come,” Ramos said as she watched people fill coolers, pails and bottles to put in their cars. “We gather water from the downspouts and wash clothes by hand.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Puerto Rican National Guard are working to deliver food and water to hard-to-access places, to set up telecommunications in municipal centers and to deliver supplies to hospitals, Gov. Ricardo Rossello said.
He said Saturday that 714 gas stations, more than half the stations on the island, were operating and receiving fuel. But many stations that line the roads near Naranjito were closed or had signs saying “no hay gasolina” — no gasoline.
Puerto Rico will receive more fuel in coming days with eight deliveries from Sunday to next Saturday, Rossello said.
Much of the recovery reaching average people in towns like Naranjito is a result of Puerto Ricans helping each other.
Rebollo, whose tour company Aventura Total is temporarily out of business, said she has turned to assisting her neighbors trying to find water and gasoline.
“Where I live, there’s a lot of old people living,” she said. “Sometimes they need medications. I help them.”
At a nearby health center, Centro de Salud Entegra en Narajito, administrator Felix Ortiz Baez said one of the most common ailments the staff is treating is gastroenteritis from drinking tainted water. People are also seeking treatment for pinkeye, cuts from chainsaws and machetes, and falls.
The health center, which has never closed since the storm, has treated an average of 125 cases a day together with two sister facilities in the area.
“We had a fairly robust plan for emergencies, but we weren’t ready for such a catastrophic event,” he said.