Nearly five years have passed since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory of 3.2 million people
Jetsabel Osorio leans against a doorway in her hurricane-battered home, in Loiza, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. Nearly five years have gone by since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, no one has offered her family a plastic tarp or zinc panels to replace the roof that the Category 4 storm ripped off the two-story home tucked in an impoverished corner in the north coastal town of Loiza.
Puerto Rico’s governor and Deanne Criswell, head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency who recently visited the island, stressed that post-hurricane work is underway, but many wonder how much longer it will take and worry another devastating storm will hit in the meantime. The slow pace has frustrated many on an island emerging from the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
“That’s what we’re seeking, to not depend on anyone,” said Francisco Valentín with the Primary Health Services and Socioeconomic Development Corporation. “We’ve had to organize ourselves because there’s no other option.”In the southern coastal town of Peñuelas, Mayor Gregory Gonsález said he sought permission to hire special brigades to repair roads, ditches and other infrastructure, with work starting in mid-September.
Norma López, a 56-year-old homemaker, has a post leaning just feet away from her balcony in Loiza, and it exasperates her every time she sees it.
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