ISLE OF MISERY
P.R. in ruins after ’cane Crushing blow on top of fiscal crisis
Hurricane Maria could not have slammed Puerto Rico at a worse time, with the i sland already reeling from a financial crisis. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz (left) broke down in tears as she discussed the devastation.
Puerto Rico still faced “catastrophic flooding” Thursday, even as storm-scarred residents began to survey the devastating damage wrought by Hurricane Maria and braced for months without power.
Gov. Ricardo Rosselló called the monster hurricane — which knocked out electricity to the entire territory — the “most devastating storm to hit the island this century, if not in modern history.”
“It’s nothing short of a major disaster,” he told CNN.
Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million residents will remain without power for “months as opposed to weeks or days,” he said.
On Thursday, there were two confirmed deaths in Puerto Rico as a result of Maria, which killed at least 17 others in the Caribbean before making landfall on the US territory early Wednesday as a Category 4 storm packing 155-mph winds.
One man was hit by a piece of flying lumber he’d used to cover his windows, while another died aboard a boat that capsized near Vieques.
A mom and her two kids were rescued from the overturned vessel, but the man’s body could not be retrieved, the US Coast Guard said.
The boaters had issued a distress call Wednesday, saying their vessel was adrift at sea, facing 20-foot waves and 100-mph winds.
“Many parts of San Juan are completely flooded,” Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said, breaking down in tears as she spoke in one of the city’s shelters. “Our life as we know it has changed.”
Puerto Rico endured another day of punishing rains Thursday and forecasters said the rainfall total in some isolated areas could be as much as 40 inches by the weekend.
“Flash-flood warnings continue in portions of Puerto Rico due to per- sistent heavy rainfall from Maria’s trailing rain bands,” the US National Hurricane Center said Thursday.
“Catastrophic flooding is occurring on the island, especially in areas of mountainous terrain.”
President Trump, who approved disaster declarations for the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, said the latter territory was “absolutely obliterated.”
“Their electrical grid is destroyed,” he said. “It wasn’t in good shape to start off with. But their electrical grid is totally destroyed. And so many other things.”
Puerto Ricans began to face the possibility that they won’t have electricity for months — with some collecting rainwater to flush toilets and scouring for gas canisters so they can cook.
“You cannot live here without power,” said Hector Llanos, 78, an ex-NYPD cop who plans to live on the US mainland temporarily. “The only thing I have is a flashlight. This is never going to return to normal.”
Gregorio Cortes, 39, a doctor living in the coastal town of Carolina, compared the devastation to a war zone. “This morning, I wasn’t able to get across several major highways here since there’s flooding everywhere and fallen trees,” he told NBC News. “I’ve never been in a war zone, but what you see in movies — it’s like that.”
FEMA said Thursday that three or four military planes will fly to Puerto Rico every day with water, food, generators and shelters.
“There’s a humanitarian emergency here,” Rosselló said. “This is an event without precedent.”
New York leaders vowed to help Puerto Rico by sending emergency responders to the island and encouraging city employees to assist with recovery efforts.
Gov. Cuomo announced Thursday night he’ll go to Puerto Rico to help deliver supplies.
“The physical damage looks like it will take not just weeks but months to be repaired,” Mayor de Blasio said. “There’s 700,000 New Yorkers who are of Puerto Rican descent. There’s a lot of fear, a lot of pain right now.”
Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn) said she has seven siblings in Puerto Rico and has made contact with only one of them. “It’s a very painful situation,” she said.
Bronx native and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she hasn’t heard from half her family in Puerto Rico.
“The island is suffering a great tragedy right now,” the court’s first Hispanic justice told a panel at the Newseum in Washington. “We ask for your prayers.”