On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria touched down in Puerto Rico. More than 100 days later, substantial portions of the island are still without power and clean water. Months after the powerful Category 4 storm, the death toll continues to rise as the prolonged blackout has left some of the island’s most vulnerable patients without access to medical treatment, respirators, and dialysis.
At the height of tourist season, there are no visitors in the resort community of Humacao, leaving many residents without work and income and to add insult to devastation, many residents of the US territory, feel mocked and abandoned by their government. "This area has been the last to receive help, has been the area that help has come to the slowest, even though it's where Maria got its start," Puerto Rico Sen. José Dalmau Santiago told Euro News. Local drugstore owner Jahaira Paris, whose business is operating on generators, echoed that sense of despair saying, "We are still in Maria. Maria has not left Humacao."
While the media has largely shifted focus away from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, activists, influencers, and everyday citizens are using their social media platforms to maintain focus on the tragedy.
Half of Puerto Rico still has no power and ***a thousand people died*** there largely, it appears, because of insufficient storm response.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) January 1, 2018
Activist Bree Newsome called foul on what she refers to as "intentional deliberate neglect" on the part of the US government.
The U.S. treatment of Puerto Rico is a crime against humanity. In addition to long history of colonialism, the open hostility of this administration toward the people of PR is well-documented. These deaths were caused by intentional, deliberate neglect https://t.co/YhtKnG44iG
— Bree Newsome (@BreeNewsome) January 1, 2018
Aside from the sloppy optics from President Trump's visit to the island, recovery efforts have been hampered by a laundry list of mishandlings at multiple levels, including FEMA's slow distribution of goods and supplies which were stalled at island ports at a crucial time of recovery, the Trump administration's initial refusal to wave the Jones Act to free up cheaper accessibility of vessels to haul supplies to Puerto Rico at recovery time, and a frail power grid that is beyond repair.
While there is no shortage of diagnosis for the problems that continue to plague Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria, citizens of the island are more interested in solutions. Wilfredo Rodriguez, owner of Humacao School Supply has seen his sales plummet by 50 percent in the wake of the hurricane. "The people are trying to get back up, but the crisis is still very much here," Rodriguez told Euro News. "Humacao is in crisis."
