Maria’s lesson: Plan now to aid isolated areas

ARLINGTON, Va. – The United States isn’t prepared to respond to disasters in Hawaii, Alaska or on Pacific Islands as fast as on the American mainland, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.

Islands such as Guam could suffer the same fate as Puerto Rico, where thousands of residents are still waiting for power to be restored five months after Hurricane Maria struck the island.

In the rest of the country, the Corps has plans in place for emergency generators,

Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite hopes to get power to 95% of Puerto Ricans by the end of March, but it’s unclear when 100% will have power.

debris removal, bucket trucks and linemen to roll into mainland states as a storm recedes. Those plans did not apply to Puerto Rico, where the Caribbean was an obstacle to getting supplies and people to the island.

Lessons learned from the slow pace of restoring power to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria last September should be applied to other isolated states and territories, including Hawaii, Alaska, the U.S. Virgin Islands and U.S. atolls in the Pacific, said Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“I don’t think you can treat the (U.S.) Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska and the atolls the same way you treat the Lower 48,” Semonite said at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

Future planning should include identifying priorities in every city and permanently parking supplies and equipment on isolated states and territories for emergencies, Semonite said.