By Bill Weir; editing by Rachel Clarke 20 December 2017 (CNN) – “We need help.” I’ve heard those three words repeated in the mountains of Puerto Rico, amid the wreckage of Big Pine Key and from the mayor who thinks his Texas town may die. I’ve heard them spat in anger and mumbled in resignation […]
By Lin-Manuel Miranda 13 December 2017 (The Washington Post) – Since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico 84 days ago, my Uncle Elvin hasn’t had electricity. You read that right. Eighty-four days without being able to turn on a light, or stock a refrigerator, or take a hot shower. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans on […]
By Arelis R. Hernández, Whitney Leaming, and Zoeann Murphy 15 December 2017 (The Washington Post) – Puerto Rico’s apagón, or “super blackout,” is the longest and largest major power outage in modern U.S. history. Without electricity, there is no reliable source of clean water. School is out, indefinitely. Health care is fraught. Small businesses are […]
By Omaya Sosa Pascual 7 December 2017 SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO (Center for Investigative Journalism) – It’s official. In the 40 days after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, at least 985 additional people died, when compared to the same period in 2016. And if the entire months of September and October are included (since Hurricane […]
The Eagle Creek wildfire burns as golfers play at the Beacon Rock Golf Course in North Bonneville, Washington, 4 September 2017. [more] Pictures of the year: Natural disasters Extreme heat in Indonesia: A freshly-scorched landscape in Pekanbaru, Indonesia in August 2017, after a fire caused by hot temperatures and lack of rain. [more] The impact […]
By Neil Collier, Ora Dekornfeld, and Ben Laffin 30 November 2017(The New York Times) – Hurricane Irma was ruthless to Barbuda. It damaged or destroyed pretty much all the buildings on the island. It left everyone vulnerable, their homes open to the sky. Walls collapsed. Windows shattered. And it opened a door for the government. […]
By Carmen Sesin 30 November 2017 MIAMI (NBC News) – The exodus of Puerto Ricans to Florida following Hurricane Maria has reached a whopping 200,000 in just over two months, obliterating initial conservative estimates that had put the number at 100,000. Maria Teresa Rosado, 37, and her husband Luis Flores, 33, arrived in Miami over […]
By Leyla Santiago, Khushbu Shah, and Rachel Clarke 20 November 2017 San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN) – Whitefish Energy is stopping its work to restore Puerto Rico’s broken electricity grid because the company says it is owed more than $83 million by the island’s power authority. Whitefish CEO Andy Techmanski told CNN that repeated requests […]
By John D. Sutter, Leyla Santiago and Khushbu Shah 21 November 2017 San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN) – Puerto Rico is asking for help with its efforts to tally deaths from Hurricane Maria. Héctor M. Pesquera, secretary of Puerto Rico’s Department of Public Safety, issued a statement Monday night imploring local funeral home directors to […]
By Faiz Siddiqui and Kelyn Soong 19 November 2017 (the Washington Post) – Demonstrators packed the Mall on Sunday for a Unity March in support of disaster relief for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican flags flapped in the wind as speakers made impassioned pleas for funding and support for Puerto Rico, which is still recovering […]