‘Reminiscent’ of Iraq invasion
PUERTO RICO reminds him of a war zone.
The devastation, impending humanitarian crisis and long road to recovery are reminiscent of the work left in the wake of the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, according to a top official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Col. James DeLapp, commander of the Recovery Field Office for Puerto Rico at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is among the leaders of the daunting task of rebuilding the island’s infrastructure. The enormity of the challenge has a familiar feeling, he told the news site Vox.
“We had a very similar situation following the opening of the Iraq War,” DeLapp said Saturday. “This is very reminiscent of that type of effort.”
Restoring power to the island’s 3.5 million residents will take a Herculean effort after years of neglect from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, officials said.
“PREPA, as they’ve described it, 80% of infrastructure is down, meaning literally on the ground,” DeLapp said.
Workers are hampered by the same impassable roads and fuel shortages that are slowing the delivery of basic necessities for Puerto Ricans across the Caribbean island.
Eleven days after being pummeled by Hurricane Maria, more than half the island’s residents lack access to drinking water, and 95% remain without power, the Pentagon said. Scores of people are struggling to access medical care, food, water and other supplies that remain stuck in port or at airfields due to a lack of drivers, fuel and passable roads.
Only a handful of Puerto Rico’s 63 hospitals have generators operating at full power.
Even those with some power have been placed in a precarious position due to the shortage of diesel fuel. Dozens of critically ill patients have been airlifted from the island.
“We need to do a lot more in order for us to get out of the emergency,” Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said in San Juan on Saturday.
Rossello later ordered evacuations for three communities — Quebradillas, Isabela and San Sebastian — near a dam facing possible collapse ahead of another round of expected heavy rain.
While there were glimmers of hope over the weekend that aid was beginning to reach those in need, there were still dramatic signs of the long road ahead.
In Loiza, residents waited for more than 10 hours on Friday for gas. The town’s deputy mayor, Luis Escobar, told CNN that a sad cycle was becoming a daily routine. “No fuel, no work, no money,” he said.
Airports on the island continued to increase the number of flights in and out over the weekend, but there remained limited access to gas, cash and cell phone service.
Only 714 of 1,100 gas stations are open. A little under half of the island’s 456 supermarkets have reopened, but many are understocked. Only 10% of cell phone towers are working. Puerto Rico’s antiquated electrical system could remain out for months.
Maria, the most powerful storm to strike Puerto Rico in nearly 90 years, killed at least 16 people, according to the official death toll. But critics fear that number will rise and say the slow federal response has only added to the catastrophe.