Puerto Rico Faces It’s Worst Enemy

Jasmin Suarez, Contributor

 

    It has been a pretty tough few months for Puerto Rico. The island got hit by a category 5 hurricane, Hurricane Irma. Irma left 1 million people without power. Twenty days later, Hurricane Maria made a direct landfall on Puerto Rico.

    Maria came with strong winds, up to 150 mph, it was categorized as a category 4. It arrived on September 20, 2017. Right before Maria came, 60,000 people did not have power because of the impact of Irma. It has been a month and a few days since Maria has hit Puerto Rico and some people still do not have power, and news reporters says that majorly affected areas like San Juan, Puerto Rico will still not have power for months. The worst part is that cell phone towers are knocked out, so some people can’t communicate with their families.  

    There is still very little power in the island. Krysti Tirado, who lives in Manati, Puerto Rico said, “We are ok, still no power, no water in the house, but we go to other places to find it and we always have [water] in pots and plastic containers. Signal comes and goes, that’s why I don’t get to communicate with my family sometimes. A lot of mosquitos too, but I have a job, I have a home, I have food, my family is ok, I have a power generator coming sometime soon.”

    Krysti likes to keep things positive even in hard situations. She says that she has to go to a town park to get signal to communicate with her family from the United States and even some in Puerto Rico. The hurricane has left people from towns right next to each other, to not be able to communicate with each other. It’s sad how this hurricane even left people from Puerto Rico without water to drink or bathe in. Most hospitals are running on generators with limited fuels.

    Puerto Rico’s hurricane has changed the lives of 3.4 million people. Below here, are pictures of a student’s grandfather’s house in Puerto Rico. Trees have fallen, and are all over the street. Isis Monserrat’s grandfather has been left with a fallen tree on his house. Hurricane Maria has affected the nation worldwide. People in Puerto Rico are seeking for help. People from all over the world are are donating anything that might help for people that have been affected with this hurricane. “At this point, Puerto Rico would take anything”, Isis said

.