FEMA aid cutoff stirs desperation

Time ran out Friday for hundreds of Puerto Rican evacuees in New York and across the country who were relying on federal assistance to pay for hotel rooms after they were displaced by deadly Hurricane Maria when it hit the island a year ago.

As the deadline for vouchers arrived, individuals and families already displaced by the apocalyptic superstorm were thrown into a desperate search for shelter.

A Massachusetts judge set the chaos in motion with a recent ruling that halted efforts to force the Federal Emergency Management Agency to continue the voucher program.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Timothy Hillman, who expressed anguish over his decision, ended almost three months of legal challenges and extensions.

Among those upended by the voucher cutoff was Jenyffer Ortiz, 46, who was living in a room at the Holiday Inn Express on River Ave. in the Bronx with her daughter, Valerie Rivera, 14, and her son Carlos Ortiz, 20.

Her hometown of Orocovis, a mountain hamlet on the center of the island, was destroyed when Maria hit on Sept. 20, 2017. The months since have been a harrowing odyssey for Ortiz, whose medical conditions, including diabetes and hypertension, could not be treated on the devastated island.

Her new stop is a shelter in the Bronx.

"No one deserves to live like this,” said Ortiz, surrounded by boxes of items she has been able to collect since arriving in New York in December.

The Holiday Inn was also home to Josue Lopez and his wife, Cricely Fuentes, who were forced to abandon their Puerto Rico home after Maria pounded the island.

Lopez, 43, said they miss their family, and that life in New York has been tough.

"We're just little by little taking it easy. At least we're working. That was the most important thing," said Lopez, who works at LaGuardia Airport doing customer service. Fuentes works as a secretary in Manhattan.